Any time is Sports Time: Online Campaign in Response to COVID-19 crisis

More than 1 400 000 people participated in #IDSDP2020 online campaign in Kazakhstan.

In this day and age, sports and physical recreations play a critical role in our daily lives. From our childhood to today, we have involved to play sports and game constantly. We always hear and keep attention to the latest updates from all major sports teams, whether it is professional or anything else. Sports bring us athleticism and competitiveness, but more importantly, sports is a recognized instrument for promoting peace, as it disregards both geographical borders and social classes.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19, the global sports calendar has been shifted dramatically, such as the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. At the individual level, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of gyms, stadiums, pools, dance and fitness studios, physiotherapy centres, parks and playgrounds. Under such circumstances, there are concerns that lack of access to regular physical activities and sports may pose challenges to both physical and mental health of people. In light of these issues, the UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office, in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, launched an online information campaign within the framework of the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace to support people’s well-being in times of anxiety, crisis, and fear.

The campaign implemented six interactive activities online, attracting more than 1.4 million people, of which interactive games on social media played a proactive role. For example, as part of the campaign, the interactive basketball game in the Instagram live stories has ignited people’s interest to experiment, fail, and try again in sports game until they succeed.