democratization and social inclusion. Resolution No 5, enacted on June 14, 2005, by the
Ministry of Sport, established the National Sport Policy and recognized, in its preamble, the
"access to sport as a right to be guaranteed to the Brazilian citizen".
The Brazilian government, through the Ministry of Sport, is also acting through the
promotion of networks involving research groups, higher education institutions, research
institutes and scientific community centres, as well as through the creation of Recreational
Sport and Leisure Centres ("CEDES" Network) and Centres of Sport Excellence ("CENESP"
Network). It also promotes the development of sports science and technology, methodologies
about sportive and playful education, theory and practice of sports training and sports
excellence. Besides, the government has been working on the assessment of public policies
for sport and leisure, on protocols to monitor the implementation of projects and on the
training of personnel for sports and leisure activities, among other initiatives.
The basic principle of the National Policy is to place sport as a matter of national interest,
with the objective of developing the nation and strengthening cultural identity and social
inclusion. The actions carried out by the Ministry of Sport have a wide scope and take into
account the fulfilment of a set of economic, social and cultural rights, the rights to education,
health, work, adequate housing, social security, protection to motherhood and childhood, and
assistance to underprivileged people. Furthermore, the objectives and guidelines of the
National Policy are founded on the promotion of development and the fight against inequality
and discrimination of any kind. Brazil believes that every person, without any distinction,
exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin,
or any other status, must be able to enjoy the right to practice sport in its different dimensions
and manifestations. The government is also aware that specific conditions should be met in
order to reach the Policy's goals while dealing with such social diversity.
In order to put it into practice, the National Plan for Sports was divided into four axes
constituted by a number of actions: i) Social inclusion through Sport (actions: Second Period
("Programa Segundo Tempo"); Painting Liberty and Painting Citizenship; Sport and Leisure
in the City); ii) Development of Performance Sport (actions: Brazil in High-Performance
Sport; Football: Brazilian Heritage; Promotion of Sport Mega-Events); 3) Sports
Infrastructure (action: Sports and Leisure Equipment); and 4) Institutional Development
(actions: National System of Sport and Leisure, Financing, Sport Industry in Brazil).
The National Plan highlights the importance of sport as a tool for peace and social inclusion,
underlining that "Some core values that can be learned through sports are necessary for
development and peace. Thus, without idealizing sport`s power to create bounds, we are of
the view that disagreements resulting from conflicting social relations should be worked out
in a joint effort by public policy agents who can use sport as a potential tool to create values,
such as respect to agreed rules, cooperation, solidarity, tolerance, esprit de corps and
perseverance."
As regards good sports practices for the promotion of social inclusion and human rights, the
Programme Second Period is one of the most successful initiatives, offering children,