Dakar – The impact of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will be felt not just on sports fields and in stadiums but also in schools and classrooms.
The message is clear: “Do not set limits for yourself – there are many possible paths”.
For Aïchatou Diop, this is the message she hopes that girls across Senegal will carry with them as the country prepares to host the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Her own journey reflects this belief: after six years as a committed volunteer and swimming coach, she now has a role in the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee.
Aïchatou is just one member of a growing network of women educators helping thousands of Senegalese children discover the powerful connection between sport and personal development through an Olympic civic and sports certification – the Brevet Olympique Civique et Sportif (BOCS) – a national programme forming the key pillar of the educational legacy of these Games.
The principles of OVEP are central to the BOCS.
The ambition is to reach 900 000 young people aged from 9 to 15 across 11 000 schools before the start of the Games in October.
Across classrooms, sports fields and community centres, women like Aïchatou are playing a central role in bringing that mission to fruition.
WOMEN LEADING THE WAY
Behind the national rollout of the BOCS is a strong network of women working at every level of the programme – from project management and coordination to teacher training and classroom delivery.
“Women are integrated at both governance and operational levels,” explains Fanta Diallo, the Engagement and Mobilisation Director for Dakar 2026, whose department is overseeing the rollout.
“Women are represented within our leadership and delivery teams […] and play an active role in curriculum delivery and mentoring.”
Fanta’s team – a group of educators, youth leaders, and sports facilitators with near‑perfect gender parity – is involved in training teachers, mentoring students, and supporting schools and youth programmes as they introduce OVEP-related activities and clubs.
The programme is even active in Senegal’s “toddler huts” – community centres for kindergarten-age children – ensuring that the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship are introduced from an early age.
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIRLS
Facilitating equal access to sport, education and leadership opportunities is a priority of the BOCS.
Targeted outreach is directed at girls in schools and community settings, while the programme is aligned with national and local initiatives promoting girls’ education, health and participation in sport and community life.
“Particular attention is given to parity in access, participation in practical sports sessions, civic modules and leadership activities linked to the Olympic values,” Fanta explains.
Those aims are being achieved.
Girls represent almost 50 per cent of the beneficiaries of the BOCS programme – a significant proportion in a country where many girls face cultural and socioeconomic barriers to sporting and educational opportunities.
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION
Across Senegal, BOCS clubs have been established in schools, often led by mixed-gender student committees responsible for organising activities inspired by the Olympic values.
In one secondary school, a group of girls involved in an OVEP club organised a “values through sport” day, designing the programme, coordinating the event and leading awareness sessions on respect and fair play.
The impact extended well beyond the event.
Several of the girls went on to take leadership roles in other school clubs and community initiatives. Their teachers also reported noticeable improvements in their public speaking, decision-making and confidence.
Cécile Faye, Director of the National Olympic Academy of Senegal, believes such outcomes demonstrate the importance and value of having women in leadership roles and their capacity to imbue positive values in younger generations.
“What makes female leadership important in society is transmitting values to young girls,” Faye explains.
“Seeing them become autonomous and reproducing the same behaviours is reassuring.”
For Awa Ndao, an OVEP trainer and youth engagement specialist, the programme’s impact can often be seen in small but powerful moments.
What motivates Ndao most, she says, are “les sourires des enfants” – the smiles of children who feel included and valued through OVEP initiatives.
Ndao believes that women play a crucial role in creating environments where that transformation can happen, and in ensuring that the legacy of Dakar 2026 extends far beyond the end of the games.
She sums up that aim as “drawing inspiration from Olympism to build a better world”.
