Between 5 May and 5 June, the North-South Centre (NSC) and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) are implementing an awareness-raising action around several dimensions of sport and its connection with human rights, which are reflected in a series of initiatives under the theme #AlwaysHumanRights.

For over 5 decades, the Council of Europe has developed specific work on sports, notably through its Sports Conventions and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), which provides a platform for intergovernmental sports co-operation between the public authorities of its 41 member states, from Europe and beyond. The EPAS consultative committee gathers 30 sport organisations and NGOS, providing a unique connection with stakeholders, practitioners and athletes.

In 2025, sports are high on the NSC’s agenda, with the initiative enabling refugees to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games as one of the laureates of the 2024 North-South Prize of the Council of Europe, which in turn inspired a North-South Dialogues round table on the power of sport as a tool for development and inclusion. The HEY course on values-based sports and sport integrity will be launched in May and implemented in June and July.

The initiative serves as a thematic framework to promote resources and opportunities developed by the Council of Europe in the field of sports, and to communicate specific events that will take place over the next few weeks:

• Launch event of the "Sport For All" joint European Union - Council of Europe project
  15 May, in Strasbourg and online
• North-South Dialogues round table - From competition to cooperation: the power of sport as a tool for development and inclusion
  21 May, in Strasbourg and online
• Launch of the HEY course on value-based sport and sports integrity
  21 May, in Strasbourg and online
• Training seminar on Safety at sports events
  5 June, in Strasbourg

Follow the action on the NSC dedicated page, facebook and X accounts, and on the Council of Europe Sport Linkedin page.