31 October 2025 – “The Road to Dakar 2026” features 15 activities designed to engage with young people across Africa.
As part of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), a new toolkit of activities has been launched to engage young people across Africa in the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship. The toolkit was published on 31 October 2025, exactly one year from the start of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) – set to be the first Olympic sports event to be hosted in Africa.
Celebrating the Olympic spirit
The new OVEP toolkit is called “The Road to Dakar 2026[WF7] ”, and aims to build excitement and awareness of the Dakar 2026 YOG and the Olympic values among children and young people of all ages and backgrounds in Africa ahead of the Games.
The 15 activities in the toolkit have been created to help participants learn more about the Olympic Movement and understand the importance of the Olympic values. The activities are based on ideas and content developed and tested since 2022 by the Dakar 2026 team, and have been published and made freely available by the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage (OFCH).
The Road to Dakar 2026 toolkit features a mix of physical activities, educational games and creative workshops, themed in three categories:
- Dakar-inspired activities, exploring culture, experiencing unique traditions, music and rhythms and increasing participants’ knowledge about the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar;
- Activities inspired by the Olympic symbols and ceremonies; and
- “Sports in Action” activities inspired by sports that are set to feature at Dakar 2026, from a fun basketball game to an archery challenge.
The 15 activities are inclusive, flexible and customisable, and are designed to be easily presented across diverse contexts and learning environments for young people of all ages and backgrounds.
“Dakar 2026 represents much more than a celebration of sport,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry. “It is a celebration of youth, diversity and possibility. It reminds us that, through the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, we can empower young people to bring positive change to their communities and into the world. The Road to Dakar 2026 toolkit was created with this purpose in mind. Designed for use across Olympafrica Centres, it provides educators, coaches and youth leaders with practical ways to engage young people through sport and learning. Each activity invites participants to bring to life the Olympic values, not only on the field of play, but also in how they collaborate, care and create together
Launched across Africa
The Road to Dakar 2026 toolkit was launched on 31 October 2025, exactly one year before the start of the Dakar 2026 YOG, with a special programme of events taking place on 1 and 2 November at 26 Olympafrica Centres in 22 countries across Africa, with the support of the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme. This network of community centres is operated by the International Olympafrica Foundation, which is dedicated to enabling African countries to benefit from the positive impact of Olympism while also promoting the Olympic values.
Held in numerous places from Games host nation Senegal to the small island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, the launch celebrations welcomed thousands of young people for workshops, activities and informal sports tournaments – all designed to amplify the Olympic values and raise awareness of the forthcoming Youth Olympic Games.
“It is very inspiring to see the Youth Olympic Games take place for the first time on our continent; this is a moment that unites all continents in a spirit of friendship and excellence,” said Angélica Manhiça, Olympafrica Centre Director in Boane, Mozambique. “Our journey through the Olympic Education Programme has brought very positive results. Each young person and adolescent in our centre shares the mission to learn, share and teach others about the Olympic values. This truly transforms lives.”
Working together
The launch of the toolkit is just the latest example of the close collaboration between the IOC and the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee in the area of Olympic values education. The first OVEP implementers were trained back in 2022, just over four years ahead of the Games, and have since been designing, developing and presenting Olympic values-themed activities for young people.
Senegalese educators, communities and partners have together set an ambitious goal of reaching 900,000 young people across the country through Olympic values education – and specifically through the Brevet Olympique Civique et Sportif, a national Olympic values-based education programme implemented by Dakar 2026 in up to 11,000 schools by 2026. The ultimate aim is to leave a lasting legacy for communities by fostering a safer, healthier and more inclusive environment through sport.
Olympic Week in Lausanne
One highlight of the collaboration between OVEP and Dakar 2026 took place earlier in October 2025, when members of the Dakar 2026 engagement and operations teams brought all the activities they had designed in Senegal to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne as they joined the celebrations for the 44th edition of Olympic Week (12–16 October 2025).
Dakar 2026’s commitment to culture and education was on full display in Lausanne when the team hosted their own stand at the museum, a first for Olympic Week. The team invited young visitors to take part in a range of fun and educational activities related to Senegalese culture and sport, including music and dance sessions, crossword puzzles, blind obstacle courses and games that encouraged children aged 6–15 to help each other. The same activities are part of the new toolkit rolled out to Olympafrica centres.
Among those travelling to the Olympic Museum was Awa Ndao, a sports coach, social worker and OVEP implementer from Tamba in Senegal. Along with her Dakar 2026 colleagues, Amadou Sylla Sarr Diaw and Aichatou Diop, who also travelled to Lausanne, Awa has been involved with the OVEP programme since the first train-the-trainer workshops in Dakar, working on OVEP’s growth across Senegal.
Awa works on sport-related programmes with young people with intellectual disabilities in Dakar – because, as she puts it, “Sport is a vehicle for education, development and integration… [and] through OVEP, through sport, we can win this battle of inclusion.”
Interviewed during Olympic Week, Amadou explained what brought him all the way from Dakar to Lausanne: “What truly drives me is making a real difference,” he said. “Seeing children smile and hearing their positive feedback is the most beautiful reward.”
About the Olympic Values Education Programme
The Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) consists of a series of free and easily accessible teaching resources that complement school curricula using the context of Olympic sports and the Fundamental Principles of Olympism. OVEP communicates the long-term benefits of sport and physical activity through an understanding of Olympism and its impact on individual health, enjoyment and social interaction. Read more at the OVEP website.
About the International Olympafrica Foundation
The International Olympafrica Foundation, which was created in 1988 with the support of the IOC and operates under the auspices of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), comprises a network of more than 40 community sports centres across the African continent. It provides children and young people with safe and free access to sport, culture, education and socio-economic activities, ensuring they are continually exposed to these opportunities as a means of fostering social, economic and educational development in the region. Thanks to programmes offered by the Olympafrica Foundation, such as O!YES (Youth Empowerment through Sport), its flagship initiative supported by the IOC, more than 100,000 young participants are empowered each year through fun sporting activities and the promotion of the Olympic values.
