DOSB Human Rights Policy Statement

Author - Centre for Sport and Human Rights

On 2 December the German Olympic Sports Confederation/Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB) presented its human rights policy to members at their annual General Assembly. The joint policy from the DOSB and its youth organisation, the ‘Deutsche Sportjugend’ follows DOSB’s statutory commitment to respect human rights which was made in December 2022.

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights congratulates the DOSB for being the first National Olympic Committee to adopt a human rights policy and conduct a human rights impact assessment. Since January 2023, the Centre has provided advisory support to the DOSB in this process in line with the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the Sporting Chance Principles. We also thank Ergon Associates for providing additional expert advice and support for this project, in particular regarding stakeholder engagement.

Adopting a human rights policy is an important step for any sports body to meet its human rights responsibilities. It signals internally and externally that the DOSB understands what is expected. However, policies lose meaning if not followed by action plans with concrete measures on how to mitigate and prevent human rights risks. We look forward to seeing these next steps being taken and stand ready to support.