29 November 2024 – A new initiative, launched as a pilot during the recent Dakar en Jeux festival, is aiming to inspire healthier lifestyles and promote physical activity among Senegalese young people in the lead-up to the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Dakar 2026 and beyond.
The “Impact Spark” programme, developed by the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee in collaboration with the Lausanne-based association, SPARK/innov-action, aims to combat health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles and encourage positive habits among young people through an engaging, sport-centred approach.
Designed for 14-to-18-year-olds, Impact Spark focuses on health challenges such as oral hygiene, malaria prevention, addiction awareness and mental wellbeing. Supported by experts from the University Hospital (CHUV) in Lausanne, the programme connects health education with physical activity, emphasising the powerful role that sport can play in promoting individual and community wellbeing.
This programme is one of the legacies of the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games, a unique bridge between Lausanne and Dakar which twins experts from the medical world to promote health and wellbeing.
Dakar en Jeux workshops tackle important issues
A pilot programme for Impact Spark was held during the recent Dakar en Jeux festival, which brought together 200 teenagers from local schools to celebrate the diversity and energy of Senegal’s young people through sport, music and culture.
From 7 to 9 November, Impact Spark brought together medical professionals from Switzerland and Senegal to deliver six themed workshops that combined learning with sports activities. Each workshop addressed an important health topic, using interactive elements such as quizzes, team sports and movement-based games to engage participants in an accessible way. Activities like volleyball, slack-lining, football, breaking, taekwondo and basketball were chosen to reinforce messages of resilience, teamwork and positive lifestyle choices.
The six workshops included:
- Violence Prevention: Using volleyball to address non-violent conflict resolution and emotional regulation.
- Sexual Health Awareness: Promoting HPV vaccination and STI prevention through balance exercises.
- Malaria Prevention: Emphasising prevention strategies via a team-based football activity.
- Addiction Awareness: Educating young people on the risks of addiction, ending with a breaking session that highlighted healthy self-expression.
- Oral Health Education: Teaching oral hygiene and resilience through participatory brushing activities and taekwondo.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing: Fostering social support and emotional awareness through basketball.
Experts from the CHUV, including paediatricians and psychiatrists, collaborated closely with local medical professionals to ensure the programme’s effectiveness, blending Swiss and Senegalese expertise to address specific health challenges facing young people in the host nation.
Building a legacy for Dakar 2026
Following the success of the pilot programme, Impact Spark is set to expand over the next two years, reaching a wider audience across Senegal. By empowering young people with essential health knowledge and promoting regular physical activity, the programme aims to create a lasting legacy for the YOG Dakar 2026 by establishing a foundation for sustained youth engagement with health, sport and wellbeing across the host nation.
The YOG Dakar 2026 will take place over two weeks from 31 October 2026, bringing together the world’s best young athletes. The Games will be held across three host sites (Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly), and are intended as a catalyst to transform Senegal through sport, while becoming a blueprint for future YOG hosts.
