Another great session tackled the sport in the 2030 Vision, showing that sport is now considered a top priority in Saudi Arabia’s development plan. 

A program which was described by Janet Paterson, Managing Director of Sport at NEOM as a: ‘vision that has transcended an entire society where sport is a dynamic, a proven tool for social change’ Before adding that: ‘using sport, in its broaden sense, from grassroot to elite sport was aiming at initiating dialogue and understanding’.

Nadia Nadim looked back on her exceptional journey which took her from Afghanistan to the United States, via Denmark and France. Nadia highlighted the immense luck she had in discovering football, which allowed her to learn many languages, push her limits and achieve her dreams. She observed the many advances in terms of media exposure of women in sport before encouraging young women to believe in themselves and dream big. Her testimony was a true symbol of peace through sport, resilience and accomplishment. 

‘Sport can bring people together, and if you share the same values it’s easy to find solutions, and it’s easier for people to set a sustainable peace culture’

During this session, participants highlighted the capacity of sport to empower young people. Through surpassing oneself, learning discipline and community life, sport is indeed a fantastic tool for equipping young people with life skills. The benefits of sport do not stop at health because sport allows us to go beyond clichés and take others into consideration. As a common language, sport brings people from different backgrounds together and promotes the establishment of a space for dialogue. 

The participants insisted on the importance of addressing issues of education through sport from a holistic point of view, compiling sport, education and empowerment. Finally, everyone agreed that for the impact of sport to be sustainable and maximized, it is essential to educate young people so that they become educators themselves afterwards.

In a nutshell, the culture of peace session was perfectly synthesized by Gerson Flores who runs a peace through sport program in Colombia when he said fittingly: 

'If we want to use sport as a tool for peace we need to educate children, families and communities to love sport, not competition'.

A memorable moment was the Peace through Sport session: when the myth becomes reality staring Nobel Peace Prize 2014. 

Kailash Satyarthi came back on his incredible journey fighting child’s labor and acknowledged the tremendous capacity of sport to establish a culture of peace when he declared: ‘sport helps breaking walls and building bridges. Sport don’t see borders’.

The session highlighting the immense role of football on society showed that football player must be role-models inside and outside the pitch in order to inspire young people and trickle down the youth. 

A statement which was confirmed by the CEO of Saudi Olympic Academy, Al Batool Baroom when she said during the sport for youth empowerment session that: 'Sport impact can be huge. It influences your character, it develops your leadership, your discipline and resilience. You can instill so many values through sports by breaking stereotypes and barriers'.