A Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the World Ethnosport Confederation (WEC), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey for cooperation in safeguard and promotion of traditional sports in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the New Urban Agenda of the United Nations.
WEC President Necmeddin Bilal Erdoğan, UN-Habitat Executive Director Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Hamza Yerlikaya signed the Memorandum.
Signed at the WEC headquarters in Istanbul, the Memorandum aims to provide a framework for cooperation among the signatories for the promotion of traditional sports and games. The signatories will contribute to the setting-up of a traditional sports platform which will bring together representation from ethnosports experts, youth, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey, the UN-Habitat and WEC.
In addition, the parties pursue opportunities to implement joint actions for safeguarding and promoting traditional sports and games as a driver of cultural heritage in the domains of education (training teachers, developing schools, programs), leisure or tourism (festivals), research (seminars, conferences, publications) of mutual interests.
Finally, the Memorandum of Understanding will aim at improving capacity, in particular by working on the introduction of traditional sports and games into school programs, by sharing knowledge and experiences.
