An overview of Sustainable Development Goal 4

This chapter focuses upon sport and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 4. As such, we examine a diverse range of initiatives that aim to use sport as a vehicle to promote education and lifelong learning among a variety of international communities. First, this chapter aims to define SDG 4 and examine its specific targets. Following this, we turn to explore the theoretical foundations and conceptual frameworks associated with this space. Finally, we describe how sport organizations can connect to SDG 4 and provide examples of how sport organizations have engaged with communities in promoting SDG 4. Despite significant improvements in educational access and engagement over recent years, research indicates that the majority of children and youth struggle to meet minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics (UN Economic and Social Council, 2019). Further, in 2017 there were 262 million children and youth aged 6 to 17 years that were disengaged from school (UN Economic and Social Council, 2019). It is because of these challenges that the UN continues to target education as a core component of the SDGs agenda. Specifically, the UN defines SDG 4 as "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" (General Assembly, 2015, p. 17). In establishing this call to action, the UN has developed several targets associated with SDG 4. We explore these targets in the following section.