For them, Raise your #WhiteCard why protecting access to sport means protecting children’s future

Across the world, children are growing up in environments marked by conflict, polarization, exclusion, and instability. Their access to education is disrupted. Their sense of safety is fragile. Their opportunities to develop and thrive are increasingly uneven.

The 2026 #WhiteCard campaign is built on a simple conviction: providing access to sport means protecting children’s future. Because practicing sport can help children grow today, and build more peaceful societies tomorrow.

Behind the symbolic gesture of raising a #WhiteCard lies a strong body of grassroot practice, evidence, and policy frameworks that demonstrate why sport matters: not as entertainment, but as a strategic tool for peace, inclusion, and child development.

Peace is the daily practice of dialogue, respect, and cooperation. It is not built overnight. Peaceful communities emerge, or re-emerge, over time through education, trust and opportunities for positive interaction. Ensuring children’s access to sport should not be seen as a cost for society, but as a long-term investment in their well-being and in the foundations of peaceful communities.

Life skills and peace values: what 251 million children are missing

At a time when education is an essential resource for rising to contemporary challenges, 251 million children are out of school across the globe[1]. Education is a fundamental human right. It is crucial for the personal development and well-being of individuals, as well as for societies to achieve social justice[2].

In the first ever global report illustrating the costs of leaving children and youth behind in education: “The price of inaction: the global private, fiscal and social costs of children and youth not learning”[3], UNESCO, OECD and the Commonwealth Secretariat highlight not only the economic cost of lost education, but also the profound social cost of missing socio-emotional development.

When children are excluded from structured learning environments, they miss critical opportunities to develop:

• Empathy
• Cooperation
• Emotional regulation
• Resilience
• Conflict resolution skills

These are not “soft” skills. They are the foundations of peaceful societies.

Sport, when intentionally designed and safely delivered, provides children-friendly learning environments that can reinforce precisely these competencies. Through rules, teamwork, shared goals, and guided mentorship, children learn to manage frustration, respect differences, and collaborate across divides.

When we promote access to sport and sport-based education, we help safeguard the development of these peace-enabling skills. Without them, the social cost builds up over time.

Social cohesion and inclusion: a world at risk of polarization

The global context makes this work even more urgent. The World Economic Forum, in its Global Risks Report 2026[4], identifies societal polarization as the third most severe global risk. Polarization erodes trust, weakens institutions, and fractures communities.

Sport can counter these dynamics by creating inclusive environments where children interact across social, cultural, and economic lines. On a playing field, identities can shift from “us versus them” to “team.”

This does not happen automatically. It requires intentional inclusion, values-based coaching, and safe programming. But when these conditions are filled, sport becomes a practical mechanism for building, or rebuilding, trust at community level.

In increasingly divided societies, providing access to sport means protecting a cost-effective platform for social cohesion.

Collective action: peace is built together

Building and thriving in peaceful communities is a shared responsibility. The 2025 CSO–UN Dialogue on Peacebuilding[5] reaffirmed a critical principle: no single actor can create lasting peace alone. Governments, civil society, the private sector, sports organizations, educators, athletes and communities must act together.

Sport offers a rare shared platform where these actors converge:

• Public authorities can integrate sport into policy and allocate relevant fundings
• Civil society can deliver inclusive programs that are adjusted to community needs and capacities
• The private sector can invest in community projects and infrastructure
• Educators and sport coaches can translate principles into daily practice
• Athletes can amplify effort and rally communities behind them

Coalition-building is not optional; it is necessary. Children’s futures depend on systems that work together.

When we raise a #WhiteCard, we are not making a symbolic gesture alone. We are joining a global movement that calls for collective responsibility and coordinated action.

The meaning of the #whitecard

The #WhiteCard is the symbol of peace through sport.Raising a #WhiteCard means:

• Standing for children’s rights
• Recognizing sport as a strategic tool
• Calling for inclusive sport policies
• Supporting cross-sector collaboration

Raising a #WhiteCard transforms a simple gesture into a visible statement: peace does not happen by chance. It must be actively built, day after day.

In this effort, no tool should be overlooked. Sport is one of the most accessible and cost-effective tools available to communities striving to build peace in everyday life.

The 2026 campaign is centered on children because they are both the most vulnerable and the most powerful agents of future peace.

 For them, raise your #WhiteCard. Protect their right to learn, play, and grow in peace.

 

[1] UNICEF Droit à l’Éducation : Comprendre l’Éducation des Enfants – UNICEF

[2] UNESCO

[3] UNESCO, OECD, Commonwealth Secretariat 2024 The price of inaction: the global private, fiscal and social costs of children and youth not learning – UNESCO Digital Library

[4] World Economic Forum 2026 The Global Risks Report 2026 | World Economic Forum

[5] CSO – UN Dialogue 2025 | PEACEBUILDING

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