THE Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, Thokozile Chitepo, yesterday said government was working on a policy on how sport should be run in the country as part of efforts to improve the sector. Chitepo was speaking during the commemorations of the International Day of Sport for Peace and Development at Prince Edward that coincided with the National Paralympic Games which started yesterday in Harare. The celebrations began with a march from Town House to Prince Edward with all the participating provinces in the Games taking part. "Sport is a fundamental human right and this would not be expressed better than what has already been done by the government through the constitution of Zimbabwe. "Section 32 states that 'Government must take practical measures to encourage sporting and recreational activities, including the provision of sporting and recreational facilities for all people.' "This demonstrates that our government takes sport seriously. As a government, we are currently in the process of putting together a National Sport policy which will direct how sport is going to be run in this country. "It is our hope that once this policy comes into force, there will be a marked improvement in the way we manage our programmes and even the resources that will be made available to sport," said Chitepo. Chitepo said the International Day of Sport for Peace and Development was meant to celebrate the contribution sport has made in developmental programmes for various sectors. "The purpose of this day is to celebrate sport's contribution to education, human, social and economic development. I am happy to note that as a government we have already been doing some of these initiatives like the Zimbabwe National Paralympic Games, which do not just focus on having people living with disabilities participating in sport, rather it also aims at main-streaming their activities into some of the society's programmes. "The celebrations, at an international level which are running under the theme -- United action towards Sustainable Development Through Sport -- rally us to ensure that we work together as various sectors to development efforts. "The theme resonates well with ZimASSET which puts emphasis on people collaborating as partners under the different clusters or pillars. "Here in Zimbabwe we have adapted the international theme to suit local conditions and we have renamed the theme to be 'An Inclusive, Active and Healthy Zimbabwe through Sport.' "This was motivated by the need to promote unity among Zimbabweans, encourage everyone to be active, resulting in a healthy Zimbabwe," said Chitepo. Minister of State for Harare Provincial Affairs, Miriam Chikukwa, who also attended the function, paid tribute to the organisers of the National Paralympic Games. Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officially open the Games tomorrow at Prince Edward.