On Human Rights Day, celebrated worldwide on 10 December, the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) reminds of the necessity to implement international child rights and human rights standards in gymnastics, in line with the aspirations of Gymnasts 2028. Such relevant standards must be adhered to in the sport’s governance, rules, regulations, policies, procedures and practices to deliver welcoming, inclusive and transformational experiences in safe environments.
Gymnasts 2028 is the Foundation’s clear and bold strategic framework aimed at making the sport of gymnastics safe, thriving and impactful for all. The framework ranks the protection and promotion of human rights as a priority. It takes a human-centric approach, placing gymnasts and the people that support and serve gymnastics at the heart of its work. It has been designed to engage all key stakeholders inside and outside the institutional gymnastics system.
GEF Council member and human rights lawyer Elda Moreno explains:
As an entity focusing on safeguarding, justice and compliance, the protection of Human Rights is in the Foundation’s DNA. The adoption of human rights strategies and policies in the field of sport is an extremely positive development, but it is now urgent to make sure that human rights are embedded in sports’ governance and in all its operations. Through its mission, the Foundation often identifies shortcomings that are of a systemic nature and recommends actions that go beyond a specific case. By acting upon those recommendations, gymnastics will certainly achieve new milestones in preventing and responding to human rights violations.
Earlier this week, the GEF team attended the Sporting Chance Forum, organised by the Geneva-based Centre for Sport & Human Rights, which coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). One Forum session focused on “Responding to & Remedying Abuse in Sport: Conducting safe, effective & appropriate investigation”.
About Human Rights Day 2023
On Human Rights Day, 10 December 2023, the world celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Declaration, a milestone celebration called Human Rights 75 (HR 75). The core ambition of the Declaration has been to infuse societies with equality, fundamental freedoms and justice. It enshrines the rights of all human beings and is a global blueprint for international, national, and local laws and policies and a bedrock of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Human Rights Day seeks to increase knowledge on the universality and indivisibility of human rights, especially among young people, inspire people to create a movement of shared humanity while empowering them to fight for their rights and take action.
