Topic: 2025-Safeguarding and Promoting Traditional Sports and Games
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Davis Mortenson
South Africa is a highly diverse country that possesses a multitude of cultural practices and traditions which make the country what it is today. Along these lines, South Africa has twelve official languages, the third most among all countries in the world, and has strong protections for cultural and religious traditions and practices. These protections encompass the many games and sports that people partake in, as Sections 30 and 31 of the South African Constitution (effective 1997) guarantees the right of every person to participate in the culture of their choice and entitles all persons belonging to these cultural communities to enjoy their culture. Thus, this confers protection to the many traditional sports and games (TSG) that individuals partake in in South Africa.
As a country that has undergone vast social, political and cultural changes throughout its existence, South Africa understands the necessity of protecting the cultural traditions of all groups. South Africa played a pivotal role in establishing the International Council of Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG) in 2018, and has supported many initiatives to guarantee the continued existence and practice of TSGs across the world. UNESCO itself has promoted TSG as a form of intangible cultural heritage, and has a designated TSG advisory committee, and has begun an effort to create an online and interactive encyclopedia on TSGs.
In Committee, South Africa wishes to initiate a multi-pronged approach to protect and celebrate Traditional Sports and Games, beginning ensuring the continued effort to creat eehe online encyclopedia on TSGs. Additionally, South Africa wishes to work to establish a TSG festival circuit, where Countries/Ethnic Groups can celebrate and educate others about the many unique TSGs that they partake in. South Africa envisions this festival to take place every 4 years, each festival in a different country that can put its unique spin on the festival. South Africa also wishes to encourage UNESCO members tates to incorporate TSG into educational curricula and into physical education programs, as this will ensure that the younger generations of the world grow up respecting and participating in a vast variety of TSGs.
