| Founder(s) | Johann Olav Koss |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Origins | Olympic Aid |
| Key people | Johann Olav Koss, President and CEO Dennis Lepholtz, CFO |
| Motto | "Look after yourself. Look after one another." |
| Website | www.righttoplay.com |
Right To Play is an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play builds local capacity by training community leaders as Coaches to deliver its programs in 20 countries affected by war, poverty, and disease in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Founded in 2000, Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has national offices in Canada, Norway, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The national offices raise funds, build awareness for Right To Play programs and advocate for Sport for Development. The organization has its international headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Right To Play evolved out of an awareness and fundraising organization called Olympic Aid, which was conceived in 1992 by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) in preparation for the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. The focus of Olympic Aid during these Games was to show support for people in war-torn countries and areas of distress.Olympic athletes were chosen to be Ambassadors of Olympic Aid to assist in the fundraising efforts. The lead Athlete Ambassador was Norwegian speed-skater and four-time gold medalist Johann Olav Koss, who donated a large portion of his winnings to Olympic Aid and challenged fellow athletes and the global community to donate money for each gold medal won. An unprecedented $18 million US was raised. The funds supported five main projects in 1994: building a hospital in Sarajevo; building schools in Eritrea; supporting a mother/child program in Guatemala; supporting refugees in Afghanistan; and a support program for children living with disabilities in Lebanon.
Between 1994 and 2000, Olympic Aid continued to raise funds for children in disadvantaged situations, building on the momentum of subsequent Olympic Games. In 1996, Olympic Aid formed a partnership with UNICEF and raised $13 million US prior to and during the Games in Atlanta. The funds assisted UNICEF in vaccinating approximately 12.2 million children and more than 800,000 women.
This vaccination effort was extraordinary as it resulted in temporary Olympic Truces in Afghanistan and the Kurdish region in northern Iraq. All fighting stopped in the regions so the UNICEF staff could safely immunize the children and women of these areas.
With its incorporation in late 2000, Olympic Aid (which became Right To Play) made the transition from “fundraising vehicle” to implementing Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). In March 2001, the first sport and play programs began in refugee communities in Angola and Côte d’Ivoire.
During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Olympic Aid hosted a Roundtable Forum entitled “Healthier, Safer, Stronger: Using Sport for Development to build a brighter future for children worldwide”. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave the keynote address while global leaders in health, sport and development participated in a moderated discussion of the role of sport in relation to four development issues: vaccination, tobacco-free sport, HIV and AIDS prevention and the rehabilitation of refugees. With participants including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Aid Roundtable placed Sport for Development firmly on the UN agenda.
Building on the founding legacy of the Lillehammer Olympics, this transition allowed Right To Play to include both Olympic athletes and other elite sports figures as Athlete Ambassadors; increase relationships to non-Olympic sports; partner with a wider variety of private sector funders; and deepen involvement at the grassroots level.
Today, Right To Play has a permanent presence in the field of Sport for Development. In addition to its sport and play programs, Right To Play is established as a pioneer in international advocacy on behalf of every child’s right to play, and it is actively involved in research and policy development in this area. The organization's vision is to engage leaders on all sides of sport, business and media to ensure every child’s right to play.
Sport for Development and Peace refers to the intentional use of sport, physical activity and play to attain specific development and peace objectives, including, most notably, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Successful Sport for Development and Peace programs work to realize the rights of all members of society to participate in sport and leisure activities. Effective programs intentionally give priority to development objectives and are carefully designed to be inclusive. These programs embody the best values of sport while upholding the quality and integrity of the sport experience.
In October 2008, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced that Right To Play would be banned from an official role at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[1] The two committees cited sponsorship conflicts as the reason behind the ban, identifying Right To Play sponsors such as Canon, Scotiabank, and Mitsubishi as competitors to Olympic sponsors Kodak, Royal Bank of Canada, and General Motors.[1] Right To Play had been present in an official role at every Summer and Winter Olympics since 2004, and since 1994 as Olympic Aid.[2]