By Ben Sanders 

  The use of sport for development and peace (SDP) has grown rapidly in the 21st century, with sport being recognised as a means to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global priorities. This includes the use of sport-based approaches for positive youth development and to prevent and address risk factors linked to crime, violence and substance use, especially among vulnerable populations. As part of its efforts to support the implementation of the Doha Declaration (A/RES/70/174), in 2016 the United Nations Office on Drugs and (UNODC) launched a global youth crime prevention (YCP) initiative that aims to promote sports and sport-based learning as a tool to prevent crime and to effectively build the resilience of at-risk youth. By strengthening key life and social skills and enhancing normative knowledge on risks related to crime and substance use and their consequences, the initiative seeks to positively influence behaviour and attitudes of young people and prevent anti-social and risky behaviour. In this regard, UNODC worked with international experts to develop an evidence-informed, sport-based life skills training curriculum called Line Up Live Up to address risk factors associated with crime, violence and substance use, such as poor behavioural control, as well as to strengthen protective factors. The evidence was drawn from existing life skills programmes, including those reflected as impactful on preventing substance use as implemented in classroom settings (UNODC/WHO, 2018) and on preventing youth violence through cognitive, emotional, and social skills development (UNODC/WHO/ UNDP 2014). The Line Up Live Up curriculum includes a 10-session manual and additional materials to assist coaches, trainers, youth workers and others working with young people to deliver life skills training to male and female youth aged 13 – 18 years. In the context of the Line Up Live Up programme, “sport” is used as a generic term, “comprising sport for all, physical play, recreation, dance and organised, casual, competitive, traditional and indigenous sports and games in their diverse forms” (Kazan Action Plan, UNESCO 2017). An internal assessment of the Line Up Live Up programme, piloted by UNODC in 11 countries from 2017-2019, has been conducted. The assessment is based on quantitative and qualitative data collected from routine monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and selected process and impact assessments reports, including analysis of youth and trainer surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation, trainings and country reports. This paper aims to place key findings and lessons learned from the assessment of the Line Up Live Up pilot programme in the context of relevant research on the use of sport for youth violence and crime prevention, and to provide recommendations on the effective use of sport in this context. It is anticipated that the paper will help strengthen programming and the effective integration of sport programmes in crime prevention frameworks and interventions, as well as contribute to the broader analysis of the contribution of sport to the Sustainable Development Goals and violence and crime prevention in particular.   

Vienna:  United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) , 2020. 52p.  

By The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

To evade prosecution, organized crime groups are increasingly targeting recruitment efforts towards young people under the age of criminal liability. The COVID-19 pandemic and security developments across the OSCE area exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities and risk factors, making young people more susceptible to being recruited into criminal networks and activities. This can put them on a path to long-term criminality, with significant consequences for themselves, victims, criminal justice systems and society as a whole. Research shows that by the age of 25, a single “multiple offender” has had – on average – 100 victims and generated EUR 1.7 million in social follow-up costs.1 Investing in effective youth crime prevention and strengthening youth resilience from an early age therefore have major economic and societal benefits, and contribute to good governance and the rule of law. This report builds on the OSCE’s longstanding focus on youth development and crime prevention, emphasizing the need for targeted strategies to mitigate vulnerabilities. The OSCE’s commitment to promoting the role and inclusion of youth in its security agenda dates back to its founding document, the Helsinki Final Act, and has been strengthened though many subsequent OSCE decisions. The OSCE’s mandate in combating organized crime underscores prevention as a key approach, as reaffirmed in the 2020 Tirana Declaration, which calls for a multi-stakeholder and gender-sensitive response.

Prague: OSCE, 2025. 57p.

By Andreea Matei ; Leigh Courtney; Krista White; Lily Robin; Paige S. Thompson; Rod Martinez; & Janine Zweig

In 2018, the Urban Institute received funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to develop a guide for using research-based practice to reduce youth gun and gang/group violence. The guide aims to translate research into actionable guidance on policy and practice. It is intended to inform local government, law enforcement, and community-violence-intervention stakeholders as they implement new strategies and refine existing ones to reduce youth gang/group and gun violence in their communities. The primary audience for the guide—and for this report—is the leadership of local government bodies (e.g., mayors, county executives, county commissioners, youth violence reduction task forces) because their decisions greatly influence whether violence reduction practices are successfully implemented and sustained. We frame the findings in this report with this audience in mind, although we hope and expect they will be of broader use and interest to any entity involved in designing and implementing violence reduction efforts—including community-based organizations serving youths and young adults—as well as community stakeholders, policymakers, professionals, and researchers working on youth gang and gun violence. We used a narrow scope for this project, focusing on strategies and approaches explicitly intended to reduce gun-related violence committed by young people between the ages of 10 and 25 who may also be associated with gangs/groups (box 1), including interventions that solely or primarily serve youth. 1 We did not focus on all strategies designed to reduce youth gun violence, nor on gang prevention and intervention efforts not expressly intended to reduce gun violence and homicide. Based on this framing, we focus on interventions that are immediate responses to an acute problem, rather than those that address risk factors associated with violence broadly. For this project, the Urban research team conducted the following two core tasks: ■ A review of literature on violence reduction strategies. Urban identified and synthesized research on the implementation and impact of relevant violence prevention, reduction, and control strategies. ■ A scan of practices designed to reduce violence. With input from a group of subject-matter experts advising the project, the NIJ, and the OJJDP, Urban identified 14 violence reduction interventions including focused deterrence, public health efforts, and the Spergel Model of Gang Intervention and Suppression/OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model. Urban worked with leadership from each intervention to collect program materials, observe activities, and interview intervention leadership and staff, community partners, law enforcement and justice system personnel, and program participants. These activities resulted in the practice guide, a scan of practices, and this research synthesis, in which we lay the groundwork for the practice guide by reviewing and synthesizing the state of research about youth gun and gang/group violence.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2022. 51p.