Designed to Move SA

In a nutshell

The Designed to Move program aims to enhance sport and physical activity among school children in selected communities in South Africa so as to build their resilience and making them less prone to engage in risky or criminal behaviour.

What we do

Physical inactivity is a global public health problem. Just a few generations ago, physical activity was an integral part of daily life. Nowadays, in the name of progress, vehicles, machines and technology do our moving for us. According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide, around 31 per cent of young people are insufficiently active. Emerging markets, like South Africa and Brazil, are affected at an alarming rate.

Physical inactivity is a systemic issue: children of inactive parents are 6 times more likely to become inactive. Physical inactivity contributes to lower test scores in school, increased periods of ill-health and morbidity, and ultimately results in increased healthcare budgets and a higher burden on economies. If this negative trend cannot be corrected, nations will likely experience huge human costs and economic consequences for their societies.

As a global innovation leader in sport and physical activity, Nike believes that greater attention needs to be directed towards physical activity as a cross-cutting solution to facilitate positive change. Together with over 70 expert organizations, Nike launched Designed to Move dedicated to ending the growing epidemic of physical inactivity.

In 2013, NIKE and the German development cooperation, GIZ, embarked on a Strategic Alliance financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The main aim of the alliance is to enhance sport and physical activity among school children in selected communities in South Africa.

The program aims to create early positive experiences for children, and integrate physical activity back into their daily lives. At the same time, we’re building their resilience and character and providing them with role models and aspirations, making them less prone to getting involved in risky behavior that may lead to negative activities such as violence or crime.

How we do it

Through the joint partnership, Nike and GIZ want to achieve systemic change at different levels. First of all, the concept will be put into practice. Together with 20 pilot schools in Brazil and South Africa, they will create scalable examples for physical activity as part of children’s education – primarily disadvantaged children between 7 and 12 years old, but also older youth. Physical education teachers, coaches and peers will be trained and supported in their work. By recruiting other partners and practitioners, Nike and GIZ want to benchmark successful implementation of the school programs.

A global network of Designed to Move supporters will make sure that the best practice examples will be rolled out on a regional and global level. Finally, Nike and GIZ will cooperate with public institutions in order to improve the policy framework for physical education programs in schools by advocating for the unique impact that physical activity has on all individuals.

What we have achieved

The project is on-going and the excepted outcomes are that the learners in participating pilot schools understand the importance of sport and physical activity for health and make regular use of the opportunities provided. By using schools as a hub for promoting early positive physical experiences, disadvantaged children and young people will be reached who might otherwise be excluded from physical activity and play. The Designed to Move initiative will widen its strategic scope and create measurable best practices. Additional supporters will roll out the concepts on a global level so that an even larger number of children will be able to benefit from physical activity. Nike and GIZ will work towards influencing sport and education policies, thereby enabling an environment that integrates physical activity in the daily life of society.

What we have learned

The entry point for this programme is the primary schools in South Africa. Currently, these provide no time allocation for physical activity within the curricular. The focus is directed at academic excellence and the physical activity component is usually not considered. There is, however, an opportunity to integrate the programme into the life orientation period within schools. There is also lack of training within teachers on physical education.