As the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, it is with great pleasure that, I would like to take this opportunity to provide my heartfelt support for the Journal of Sport for Development (JSFD). With the continued growth of the sport-for-development sector – and the increased expectation to show project impact – it is timely to establish an academic journal that is specifically dedicated to evidence-based research in and around sport-for-development. The commitment of the editors and academic board to publish JSFD as a peer-reviewed, open-access journal is important in many ways. First, a stringent review process guarantees academic rigour and high quality publications; second, the journal content and resources are tailored towards academics and practitioners from around the world; and finally, the decision to provide the opportunity to publish articles at no cost provides important opportunities and access for everyone irrespective of socio-economic status or background. In this sense, JSFD reflects many of the values that the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ movement holds dear.