A young leaders fellowship to fund sports and human development projects was launched, yesterday (22 May), at the opening of the third United Nations Values Summit for Peace and Development, held at the organisations’ headquarters in New York.

The project aims to advance sports’ power to promote peace building and development by funding new projects, associated with the summit, under the mentorship of a prominent sports figure.

“We must look to the world of athleticism to find constructive strategies on how to overcome today’s challenges,” said the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.

“I believe that this can be drawn from one of the most prominent principles of modern-day athletics: just and fair play,” he added.

The Values Summit for Peace and Development is the third part of a series of annual international symposia on the topic. The first event took place in London, in June 2012, and a second was held in Tokyo, in July 2013.

“The goal is to facilitate a visionary and rigorous conversation among young athletes, leaders, academics and experts about the values that the world of sports can advance including, diversity and inclusion,” said the UN in a statement.

The event, which will come to an end today (23 May), is being hosted by UNAOC and sponsored by World Faiths Development Dialogue, Worldwide Support for Development and International Sports Promotion Society.