The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Peace and Sport are pleased to announce they have signed a four-year partnership to empower vulnerable communities through cycling.
As part of their collaboration, they will implement initiatives that will use the bike as a tool to foster inclusion, diversity and solidarity, and promote a culture of peace across continents. These initiatives will further reinforce the worldwide Solidarity Programme run by the UCI and its education and training centre, the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC).
The UCI and Peace and Sport will, for example, raise awareness among coaches, educators and teachers about sport’s transformative role in society. These key leaders will be provided with the necessary tools and training, as well as certifications, to ensure their education sessions go beyond sporting performance, also instilling the values of respect, teamwork and dialogue.
For this, a special education methodology for entry-level educators has been developed thanks to close collaboration between experts from the UCI WCC and Peace and Sport. This manual, in the form of 75 different cycling education sessions, will equip coaches and educators with a valuable tool to teach cycling while encouraging participants to develop self-acceptance and mutual respect. UCI Director General Amina Lanaya will further discuss UCI’s commitment on fostering education through cycling during her intervention at the Peace and Sport International Forum on 3 December 2024 in the Principality of Monaco.
A pilot project will soon get underway in Rwanda, which next year will host the first UCI Road World Championships to be held on the African continent. The project will see coaches and educators who are recognised by the Rwandan Cycling Federation (FERWACY) receive training to lead cycling sessions for people in vulnerable communities. As a result, refugees and displaced people will learn how to cycle in a safe, supportive environment. The benefits are expected to be three-fold: strengthening the capacities and employability of local coaches; empowering refugees by providing an accessible means of transportation; and fostering better understanding between host communities and refugee populations.
The pilot project comes after a commitment made at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum by the UCI and Peace and Sport – both members of the Sport for Refugees Coalition – to continue supporting refugees and displaced persons.
President and Founder of Peace and Sport Joël Bouzou said: “This partnership reflects our shared belief in sport’s unique ability to bridge divides and foster unity. We are proud of this collaboration with a leading International Federation, setting the example for others to follow. By equipping educators and coaches, we are not just investing in sport, but in the future of peaceful coexistence in communities around the world.”
UCI President David Lappartient said: “For as long as it has existed, cycling has united populations, communities and people across the globe. The UCI and its World Cycling Centre run an extensive Solidarity Programme to ensure people in all regions of the world have access to bikes and education programmes. This partnership with Peace and Sport is a significant step forward in trying to ensure global access to cycling and its values of unity, respect, inclusion and diversity.”
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