On Friday 24 September 2021, the CSC Alumni Team hosted the latest webinar in the Knowledge Hub series. Commonwealth Alumnus Dr Lin C Sambili Gicheha presented on the topic, ‘Youth, sport, and cultural interventions in preventing violent extremism: Insights from the field in Kenya’. The webinar addressed the CSC theme, Strengthening global peace, security and governance.
The CSC’s Knowledge Hub webinar series aims to highlight the work and research of Commonwealth Alumni across different areas of development impact.
About the speaker
Lin is a 2016 Commonwealth Scholar from Kenya. She completed her PhD in Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University with a particular focus on sport for development and peace and preventing the spread of violent extremism.
Currently, Lin is the Project Manager for Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) at the Commonwealth Secretariat. She is also the Director of Sports with a Goal Africa (SWAGA), a grassroots sports organisation that uses sport to reach and empower individuals and communities, and connect them with opportunities. More recently, and in line with her academic work, Lin was part of a research team commissioned by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to design and publish the 2020 UNODC Preventing Violent Extremism through Sport Technical Guide.
Youth, sport and cultural interventions in preventing violent extremism: Insights from the field in Kenya
In this webinar, Lin discussed the positive contribution that sport can play as an enabler for sustainable development. Lin highlighted the growing body of evidence, including foundational work done by the Commonwealth Secretariat on sport and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has shown that the intentional use of sport-based policy and programming can make effective and cost-efficient contributions to several specific SDG targets.
In her presentation, Lin focused specifically on SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – drawing on her experience as a practitioner to explore how sport and cultural interventions play an important role in youth engagement in Kenya. She highlighted key findings from her PhD research study and shared insights on the situation in Kenya, where there is a need to build resilient communities against the threats of Al-Shabaab recruitment and radicalisation.
The webinar presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session with Commonwealth Scholars and Alumni.
You can watch the webinar and previous events in the series by visiting the CSC’s YouTube channel.
If you are a Scholar or alumnus who works in the field of sport for development and peace, you can get involved in the discussion by sharing your thoughts and experiences in the Strengthening global peace, security and governance Knowledge Hub. Please note, you must be a member of the Knowledge Hub to access the group.
Learn more about the CSC’s Knowledge Hubs
The CSC’s Knowledge Hub webinar series provides a platform for members of the CSC’s Knowledge Hubs to interact and discuss key topics related to the six CSC development themes.
To find out more about the CSC’s Knowledge Hubs and how to attend live webinars, visit the CSC website.
