Issues concerning governance in both sport-for-development policy and existing information

Ghana and Tanzania (East and West of Africa) provided the context for this article.

Five universities (United Kingdom, Ghana, Tanzania and Australia) collaborated for the research on the topic of sustainable development in sport-for-development provision in Africa. The following people and institutions took part in the research:

• International agencies
• Local governments
• In-country NGOs involved with sport-for-development

• Narrow, project-based approaches in sport-for-development contributes to:
  • Excessive donor influence to determine the type of programme and envisaged outcomes
  • Fragmentation to focus on certain areas without networking within the local context
  • Competition among implementing agencies (NGOs) for donor funding
• Project based approaches limits meaningful impact to address real problems and also sustainability as the local community does not have ownership of the programme
• Sector-wide approaches present a more systematic model of governance appropriate for development work.

• Sector-wide approaches depict governance models of development based on leadership by the government and coordination among stakeholders and donors.
• Key features of sector-wide approaches, include:
  • Country-led (governmental) leadership
  • Inclusive platforms for policy engagement and dialogue between different agencies, including civic society
  • The coordination of funding, support and implementation

• The Sport-for-development sector can learn from the established field of international development
• Three overarching issues of sector-wide approaches, relate to:
  • The scope and boundaries of the SfD sector (what effects can be expected)
  • How to engage the local government sector
  • How international agencies can assist with capacity building in SfD

• How can a SfD NGO ensure that a project avoid a narrow-project approach and link to existing work of the organisation?
• How can local agencies influence international donors to invest and assist to ensure that all the relevant stakeholders (from different sectors) collaborate for implementing programmes?