Right to Play

Right to Play
Name	Right to Play
Formation	2000
Founder	Johann Olav Koss
Type	Non-profit organization
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Region served	International

Right to Play is an international humanitarian organization founded to use play and sport as tools for child development, child protection, and peacebuilding. It operates programs across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, partnering with schools, UNICEF, UNESCO, and national ministries to reach children affected by conflict, poverty, and displacement. The organization mobilizes athletes, celebrities, and corporate partners such as Rick Hansen, Kofi Annan, and Canadian Olympic Committee figures to advocate for child rights and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings.

Overview

Right to Play designs evidence-informed curricula that integrate play, games, and sport into interventions for children and adolescents in contexts including refugee camps, post-conflict reconstruction zones, and low-income communities. The organization collaborates with international bodies like World Health Organization, World Bank, and regional entities such as the African Union and uses implementation frameworks employed by Save the Children, Plan International, and CARE International. Its stated objectives align with instruments and initiatives championed by figures such as Malala Yousafzai, Graça Machel, and institutions like the Global Partnership for Education.

History and Development

Founded in 2000 by Johann Olav Koss and colleagues drawing on experiences from the Winter Olympics movement and humanitarian networks, the organization expanded from Canadian roots through partnerships with actors in the International Olympic Committee and Amnesty International. Early programs drew on pedagogical methods promoted by UNICEF child protection programs and research from Harvard University and Oxford University on play-based learning. Expansion followed regional engagements with ministries in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Nepal, and Lebanon, and cooperation with UN peacekeeping missions and NGOs active in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and the Sierra Leone Civil War.

Legal and Policy Frameworks

Right to Play frames its work within international legal instruments like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and aligns advocacy with agendas advanced at forums including the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Security Council debates on children in armed conflict. Policy engagement often intersects with directives from multilateral institutions such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and regional human rights mechanisms like the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The organization’s programming responds to standards promulgated by bodies including Inter-Agency Standing Committee clusters and national statutory frameworks in partner states such as Canada and Norway.

Programs and Activities

Programs include teacher training, psychosocial support through structured play, gender-based violence prevention, and life-skills curricula delivered alongside partners like Doctors Without Borders, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Mercy Corps. Projects have been implemented in settings ranging from urban neighborhoods in São Paulo to displacement sites in Jordan, South Sudan, and Afghanistan. Right to Play leverages athletes and ambassadors drawn from communities including Usain Bolt, Catriona Le May Doan, and national sports federations, coordinating with sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games to raise awareness and mobilize resources.

Impact and Outcomes

Evaluations conducted in collaboration with research centers at institutions like McMaster University, University College London, and Columbia University report outcomes in school attendance, psychosocial wellbeing, and reductions in risky behaviors among participants. Impact assessments reference indicators used by the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and monitoring frameworks deployed by USAID and the European Commission for humanitarian programming. Reported outcomes are cited in policy dialogues involving figures such as Helen Clark and agencies including the United Nations Development Programme.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding streams include philanthropic foundations, corporate partnerships, and grants from multilateral donors such as the European Union, Global Affairs Canada, and USAID. Corporate collaborators have included entities tied to the RBC Royal Bank and multinational firms engaged in corporate social responsibility initiatives alongside celebrities like Shakira who have engaged in education and child welfare advocacy. The organization partners with education NGOs such as Teach For All and safeguards standards promoted by networks including the Child Protection in Emergencies Network.

Criticisms and Challenges

Critiques have emerged regarding measurement of long-term impact, attribution in complex humanitarian settings, and the scalability of play-based interventions compared to classroom reforms advocated by actors such as World Bank education specialists. Academic critics from institutions like University of Toronto and London School of Economics have called for more randomized controlled trials and transparent data sharing, echoing debates found in journals where scholars such as Amartya Sen and Esther Duflo have foregrounded evidence standards. Operationally, challenges include working amid armed conflict involving actors like Lord's Resistance Army, navigating bureaucratic constraints in states such as Somalia, and sustaining funding in the face of shifting donor priorities from agencies like DFID and Sida.

Category:Non-profit organizations Category:Child welfare organizations