Strengthening youth agency and safety in sports

Image © Centre for Sports and Human Rights

When Camilla joined the Youth Media Forward initiative, it was an opportunity to step out of her comfort zone. “For my first assignment, I did an interview, which was new to me. Even reaching out to the person I wanted to talk to made me a bit nervous, so did sharing my draft with professional journalists for feedback,” she says.

The initiative, part of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights’ Generation 2026 programme, allows teenage journalists to report on the impact of sport and the FIFA World Cup 2026 in their neighbourhoods, cities and beyond. The Men’s World Cup will be held in the US, Canada, and Mexico in June and July 2026. Leading up to the event, more than 25 participants of the Youth Media Forward initiative are gaining skills through workshops, receiving feedback from professional journalists, and by connecting with one another. “My favourite part of the experience was the Sportsnet head office tour, where we got to see the different machinery and gain insight into the extensive operations that take place behind the scenes,” says Naomi, another participant.

Since 2022, Generation 2026 has been working with host cities committees, local communities, and sport organisations in Guadalajara (Mexico), Toronto (Canada), and New York and New Jersey (United States) as they prepare for the World Cup. The organisation includes youth voices in all aspects of its work through surveys and programmes such as Youth Media Forward and a Youth Leadership Council starting in autumn 2025, with support from UNICEF USA.

“It is often said that young people are the future. And that’s true. We are the future players, fans, organisers, and leaders,” says Camilla. “However, young people are also part of sport in the present: watching sport, talking about it, playing at the park. Young people are undeniably a part of sports – what we have to say is undeniably worth at least listening to.”

Generation 2026 includes surveys to hear directly from children (ages 10-18) who live in cities where the World Cup will take place and who are travelling to attend events. The surveys explore the risks and opportunities children experience in and around stadiums and fan zones. Youth are asked about topics such as their experiences of the local environment or of moving around between locations.

“It is crucial that, as adults, we break the adult-centric vision we have. We cannot think for children. We have to listen to them, open our minds to their proposals and make it a part of adult life, because the decisions we make impact their lives,” says Luz del Carmen Godínez, president of the Jalisco State Human Rights Commission, one of Generation 2026’s local partners in Guadalajara.

Convening professionals to share best practices
Generation 2026 works with local partners to share knowledge about how to improve safeguarding strategies, which prevent and respond to child abuse. The initiative includes: a peer learning series highlighting risks to children during sporting events; guidance on trauma-informed and preventive approaches; and safeguarding workshops held in Guadalajara, Toronto, and New York and New Jersey. These workshops brought together over 130 people from different sectors, creating a collaborative approach to planning for child safeguarding during the World Cup. There’s now stronger coordination among sport organisations and child safeguarding groups – laying the groundwork for a more cohesive and effective safeguarding system.

Generation 2026 has also released a report on best practices to keep children safe at large sporting events. Sporting organisations, host cities, and venues can take steps such as requiring safeguarding training (where participants learn to recognise signs of abuse and reporting mechanisms), considering children’s needs when designing venues, and standardising response procedures to minimise the risk of harms, such as sexual abuse or human trafficking.

Sports organisations, host cities, and venues can receive additional support through the Assessing Safeguarding in Sport Tracker (ASSIST) tool. The tool is based on the International Safeguards for Children in Sport and helps organisations find areas where their safeguarding strategies can be improved while they are in the process of planning a large sporting event. The guidance is adapted for each type of organisation, and developed with Loughborough University and through expert working groups.

After ASSIST is piloted during the 2026 World Cup, it will be made available for use in other large sporting events. Generation 2026, in collaboration with the Child Rights and Sports Alliance, will also create a best practice guide to enable future hosts of sporting events to centre children’s rights and apply the lessons learnt along the way.

Although the World Cup is still a year away, the young journalists in the Youth Media Forward Initiative are already seeing the benefits of participating. “I think this experience has helped me grow as not just a writer but also an athlete and a person,” says Camilla.

Oak Foundation supports the Centre for Sport & Human Rights through the Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme’s Safe Sport priority funding area, which supports efforts to safeguard children in sport. The Centre for Sport and Human Rights brings together a coalition to share knowledge and ensure strong safeguarding practices in sport globally. You can find out more about the Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Programme by clicking here. For more on Generation 2026 and its projects, click here.