Leveraging the Games to make society more inclusive
Sport boosts inclusivity and social cohesion, while also reducing isolation by uniting people from all backgrounds around a common passion or even a simple moment on the field of play.
Team spirit, solidarity in the face of challenges, creativity, fair play—all these qualities are just as useful in sport as they are in everyday life and work. Sport fosters greater harmony in society but can also offer innovative recruitment approaches, for example through sports job fairs.
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An incubator for elite athletes
In partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), Paris 2024 has launched an incubation programme reserved for elite athletes. Each year, 20 people leading high social and/or environmental impact projects receive long-term support to develop their entrepreneurial projects. This unique incubator builds on the skills and values of exceptional athletes, harnessing them for meaningful economic activities both in France and in Africa.
The athletes whose projects are selected bring about genuine change in our societies and enjoy a seamless, long-term career transition. For example, Cameroonian table tennis player Sarah Hanffou set up a social business to reduce the environmental footprint of manufacturing and distributing table tennis tables in Africa. French decathlete Bastien Auziel created a sports coaching service to provide personalised support for those getting back into sport.
Kabubu: Friendship through sport
The Kabubu association was born out of its founders’ commitment to the Paris 2024 bid and was one of the first winners of the Talents 2024 call for projects held by the Paris City Council, Paris 2024 and the Departmental Council of Seine-Saint-Denis. Set up for refugees and to promote communication through sport, this group organises sports tournaments where locals and refugees can team up and play together, forming friendships and fostering inclusivity through sport.
Inspired by Kabubu’s founders, each year the Talents 2024 programme enables innovative project leaders who share Olympic and Paralympic values to benefit from six months of personalised support and a financial endowment to get their projects off the ground.
There's a place for everyone in sport
Although one person in seven around the world has a disability, there are still too many physical and social barriers that restrict people from living full and independent lives in urban areas. The Games will help accelerate the changes needed to ensure that everyone enjoys the same rights, access and opportunities.
Nearly 350,000 visitors with disabilities will travel to Paris in 2024 to watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games, making it a priority for Paris 2024 to ensure these fans have proper accessibility to have a truly inclusive experience at the Games.
Paris 2024 is also committed to extending these efforts long after the Games to build a legacy. We want to harness the Games to show that sport boosts inclusivity in ways that benefit society.
Sport is a booster. I’ve met so many people through sport, some who have gone through really tough times, but all of whom show considerable strength of character. That’s what sport is all about, and above all it is something I love. This is also what I want to bring to young people living with disabilities, who want or need it, because it is vital to have a positive outlook, to combat the prejudices and stereotypes that society forces on you when you are disabled.
“All Disabilities, All Sports!”: A network of clubs that cater to people with disabilities
“All Disabilities, All Sports!” is a groundbreaking initiative from Paris 2024, the French Paralympic and Sports Committee and the Paris City Council. It has been expanded as part of the legacy programme of the Games, with support from the French State, to enable every person with a disability to take up a sport of their choice close to where they live. To achieve this, we need to build up a network of clubs that are well structured and developed enough to accommodate people with disabilities.
Female athletes, female Olympians, female leaders!
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be the first gender-balanced Games in history; we will have the pleasure of seeing the same number of men and women taking to the field of competition! We are proud to set this powerful precedent as we know it will provide an example and inspiration for the whole of French society that together, we can fight prejudice to enable women to play a full and active role in sport!
However, it is impossible to make progress on gender equality without reflecting on the reality of women’s place within French sports clubs. This is the very essence of the FDJ-Paris 2024 barometer “Sport for Women,” which measures the changes in how many women play sports every year in France. The latest results show that only 59% of women play sport or exercise at least once a week, compared to 69% of men. Given the benefits of sport, Paris 2024 and its partner Française des Jeux see it as a key priority to encourage women to get involved in sport. Both parties aim to support more than 400,000 French women in sport from now until the Games by setting up a separate category in the Impact 2024 call for projects.
These efforts can only make a tangible difference to society if women are in control of their sporting destiny. With the CNOSCF’s Club of 300 women leaders, we strive to identify, promote and support a substantial number of women to help them secure management positions by 2024. This would allow federations to take another step towards gender parity, thereby helping to make the French sporting community a fairer reflection of society.
Paris 2024 is committed to supporting female victims of violence
With the help of the pan-African digital platform, Paris 2024 is proud to support “Les Kombattantes”, a project that supports women suffering from trauma caused by sexual violence. The project does this by providing these women with an opportunity to rebuild their lives and their self-confidence through sport by helping them to see their body as a source of resilience and central to their recovery process.
While the Paris 1900 Olympic Games were the first to allow women to compete, the Paris 2024 Games will be the first gender-balanced Games in history. In two years’ time, just as many women as men will be standing on that starting line. It is a powerful milestone in and of itself, but we wanted it to really resonate across every region, particularly in the Terre de Jeux 2024 communities that are all committed to amplifying the legacy of the Games.
