A/79/299 nation. They serve as gathering places for people to celebrate their shared cultural heritage, as well as to create new memories and traditions. 11. The promotion of culturally diverse sporting programmes can be used by national and local authorities to invest in multiculturalism, inclusivity and community integration, and to recognize and celebrate diversity and social cohesion. The co-creation, with various communities, of programmes featuring sports that are typical of those communities but less well known in the wider national context can build bridges of understanding. Examples include programmes that support sepak takraw or kabaddi in South Asian communities, including in India. 10 Educational initiatives through which the cultural significance of different sports is taught can help to promote understanding and respect among diverse groups and could be included in school curricula or community-based education efforts. Sports can also strengthen alliances and cooperation, and help to achieve other objectives, such as the establishment of the African Union Sports Council, which aims to promote development through sport, for example by advancing gender equality and women’s agency. 11 Sports give us a sense of our world and promote cultural exchanges between people who would otherwise never meet or spend time with each other. 12. Sport as a system may also be seen as a cultural framework in itself, with its own rules, traditions and unspoken norms. Like all cultures, sports include toxic elements, such as the glorification of competition and of the body, the emphasis on winning and the cult-like adoration of individuals and clubs. Human rights violations often occur in those power structures. Also like all cultures, sport as a system is not static, but evolving and changing over time in response to broader cultural, social and economic forces. Globalization, for example, has led to the spread of certain sports and sporting values around the world, leading to new cultural forms and practices. 13. An understanding of sport as a separate and overlapping cultural framework, with practices that reflect and shape the values, identities and experiences of individuals and communities, provides a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective on the role and significance of sport in society, and on the human rights obligations related to it. The right to participate in and shape that cultural framework is essential for the full realization of the right to take part in cultural life. III. The right to participate in sport in international law 14. The right to participate in sport per se is not included in human rights treaties. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in the Revised International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport , recognizes that “every human being has a fundamental right to physical education, physical activity and sport.” 12 In the Revised Charter, a comprehensive framework for promoting inclusive access to sports at all levels, without discrimination of any kind, is outlined, and the role of sports in fostering social inclusion, education and health is emphasized. In the European Sports Charter, the Council of Europe also calls upon States to enable every individual to participate in sports, to “protect and develop values-based sport, which is a precondition for maximising the individual and social benefits of sport” and to ensure that “the human rights of those involved in or exposed to sport-related activities are protected.” 13 In 2004, the International Olympic __________________ 10 11 12 13 6/24 See https://kheloindia.gov.in/. See https://sportscouncil.au.int/en/introduction-sport-development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, document SHS/2015/PI/H/14 REV, art. 1. The Revised Charter was adopted on 18 November 2015. See https://rm.coe.int/recommendation-cm-rec-2021-5-on-the-revision-of-the-european-sportcha/1680a43914, art. 1. 24-14354