Logo UNICEF Innocenti
Office of Research-Innocenti
menu icon

Getting into the Game

Understanding the evidence for child-focused Sport for Development
Getting into the Game: Understanding the evidence for child-focused Sport for Development

 

Publication series:
Innocenti Research Report

No. of pages: 194

Download the report

(PDF, 2.75 MB)

Related Project(s):

Abstract

Sport is a powerful means by which to engage all children in activities for personal and social development and to help them achieve their full potential. From an early age, sport provides children – including the most marginalized – with the opportunity to develop their physical abilities and health, to socialize, to build leadership skills, to foster lifelong learning and to learn as well as to have fun. Furthermore, to engage in play and recreational activities is a child’s right: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 31.1) clearly establishes “the right of the child to … leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child…”.

As first of its kind global study, this report aims to address the dearth of evidence on the implementation and impact of S4D policy and programming for children. To do this, the report assesses, systematizes and maps existing evidence on S4D policies and programmes through desk-based research. Quality counts, so each chapter first assesses the evidence for its conceptual coherence, methodological and analytical strength, relevance/generalizability to the S4D field at large, and ethical considerations, before discussing the main messages and recommendations to come out of the evidence.

The key messages and main conclusions have also been developed by seeking programming information from S4D programming both within UNICEF, the Barça Foundation and around the world.

Available in:
English

Tags

More in this series: Innocenti Research Report

Data Must Speak: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance in Togo
Publication

Data Must Speak: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance in Togo

The Togolese government, through the education sector plan (ESP) 2014-2025, aims to achieve universal quality primary education. With this goal, they recognize the challenges in education access, participation and retention. School performances is among the areas by which they are understanding and addressing these challenges. What resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performances in Togo? By merging and analyzing existing administrative datasets in Togo, this report helps to identify positive deviant schools – those that outperform other schools despite sharing similar contexts and resources. Data Must Speak – a global initiative implemented since 2014 – aims to address the evidence gaps to mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. DMS research relies on mixed methods and innovative approaches (i.e., positive deviance approach, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science) to generate knowledge and practical lessons about ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the broader international community of education stakeholders. DMS research is currently implemented in 14 countries: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, the United Republic of Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.
Data Must Speak: Comprendre les facteurs de performance des écoles ivoiriennes
Publication

Data Must Speak: Comprendre les facteurs de performance des écoles ivoiriennes

Pour faire face aux défis auxquels son système éducatif est confronté, la Côte d’Ivoire a décidé, au-delà d’une analyse sectorielle classique, d’approfondir l’analyse des données existantes afin de trouver des solutions innovantes. Pour y parvenir, la Côte d’Ivoire a sollicité l’appui de l’UNICEF, dans le cadre de la recherche Data Must Speak (DMS), afin d’identifier des pratiques et des comportements modèles positifs. Quelles ressources et quels facteurs contextuels sont associés à de bonnes performances scolaires en Côte d’Ivoire ? En fusionnant et en analysant les bases de données administratives existantes en Côte d’Ivoire, ce rapport permet d'identifier les écoles modèles positives - celles qui obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les autres écoles bien qu'elles partagent des contextes et des ressources similaires.  La recherche DMS sur les modèles positive est cocréée et mise en œuvre conjointement avec les ministères de l'Éducation et des partenaires clés. La recherche DMS s'appuie sur des méthodes mixtes et des approches innovantes (c'est-à-dire l'approche modèle positive, les sciences du comportement, la recherche sur la mise en œuvre et la science de la mise à l'échelle) pour générer des connaissances et des enseignements pratiques sur " ce qui fonctionne ", " pourquoi " et " comment " mettre à l'échelle des solutions locales pour les décideurs politiques nationaux et la communauté internationale travaillant dans le secteur de l'éducation. La recherche DMS est actuellement mise en œuvre dans 14 pays : Brésil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Éthiopie, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Népal, Niger, République démocratique populaire lao, République-Unie de Tanzanie, Tchad, Togo et Zambie. 
What works to increase uptake of childhood immunization: a rapid evidence assessment of the impact of interventions targeting caregivers, healthcare workers and communities
Publication

What works to increase uptake of childhood immunization: a rapid evidence assessment of the impact of interventions targeting caregivers, healthcare workers and communities

Vaccination is one of the most effective measures for preventing illness, disability and death among children. However, current vaccination coverage provides insufficient protection for all children, and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases account for an estimated 21.7 per cent of deaths in children under 5 years old globally. This rapid evidence assessment (REA) looked at the global evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions to increase uptake of vaccination services. The findings have global relevance but were also used to make more specific recommendations to address challenges identified in consultations with UNICEF’s Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO).
Teachers for All: Improving primary school teacher deployment in Zambia
Publication

Teachers for All: Improving primary school teacher deployment in Zambia

The equitable and effective deployment of teachers is critical to achieving quality education for all. However, the uneven distribution of teachers – both across and within schools – contributes to significant disparities in class sizes and learning conditions. Recognizing the critical role that teachers play in learning, the Government of Zambia has committed to addressing teacher allocation through large-scale teacher recruitments. This report aims to provide policymakers an overview of the magnitude and distribution of teacher shortages, and inform ongoing efforts to address teacher shortages and improve teacher allocation.