We welcome young refugees

Location and general information

Context

Royal Europa 90 Kraainem Football Club is an amateur club in the eastern suburbs of Brussels. With 350 young players of 42 different nationalities, the club stands out as a true model of cultural diversity. This is reflected at every level, from the children to the managers, coaches and volunteers. The club puts this diversity to good use.

Kraainem FC has always been proactive in its efforts to promote social integration and is convinced that football is more than just a game. As a grassroots sports organisation, it feels it has an important role to play in inculcating all the social and societal values of sport in its young players, to make them not only better footballers but also better citizens.

In the wake of the migration crisis of 2015, the club decided to become an example of proactive social integration by adapting its everyday activities so that it could involve young refugees in the life of the club. It now provides football training, language classes and various other activities, and its work with young refugees has become an essential pillar of club life.

The project specifically targets unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Belgium. As the home countries of these children are wracked by war or great instability, they are likely to stay in Belgium, where they find themselves in new surroundings with a completely different lifestyle, yet lack the cultural or linguistic knowledge they need to fit in. The task is therefore not merely to welcome them but also to give them the tools they need to successfully integrate into Belgian society and professional life.

Project content

Each week, the club welcomes around 30 unaccompanied refugees aged between 10 and 18 under a partnership agreement between Kraainem FC and FEDASIL (the governmental organisation in charge of welcoming asylum seekers). Three times a week, a group of six to ten children are brought from a local asylum centre to spend the afternoon at the club. The youngsters share in the normal life of the club, train with a qualified coach and attend teaching sessions such as French and Dutch language classes. They also receive free equipment and lunch in the club cafeteria.

The initiative has been a tremendous success for the club, the reception centres and, most importantly, the young refugees themselves. Local, national and European media have regularly covered the Kraainem project. This has encouraged the club to take the project a step further, not only by consolidating its own activities, but also by raising awareness and supporting other Belgian clubs that wish to follow suit.

Objectives

  • Invite 30 unaccompanied minors aged 10 to 18 to join in the club’s activities each week.
  • Encourage other clubs and refugee centres to launch similar projects, in collaboration with the Royal Belgian Football Association.
  • Share experiences with other Belgian clubs working with refugees.
  • Organise football weeks during school holidays for club players and refugees. Mornings will be dedicated to training sessions and afternoons to excursions and cultural exchanges.

Expected results

Kraainem FC has been running this project for four years. By the end of the 2018/19 season, more than 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers will have been welcomed at the club. Some of them only attend a few times before being transferred to another reception centre where they will continue with their integration process. Others are able to attend on a regular basis and become full members, enabling them to play competitive matches at the weekend. The aim is to have around 20 refugees as club members every year.

This project has enabled the club to establish itself on the Belgian footballing map. In collaboration with the Belgian FA, Kraainem FC’s model has been shared all around the country, inspiring other football clubs. More than 40 Belgian clubs have so far launched similar initiatives, joining a national network launched by the Belgian FA. Kraainem FC wants to continue to inspire others by exporting its model abroad and creating a Europe-wide network. It is also reaching out to other sports federations in Belgium, as football is not the only discipline that brings people together.

Nobody cannot make a significant difference on their own. However, by joining forces with other civil society initiatives, Kraainem FC can expect to have an impact on the future of asylum seekers in Belgium. Through its daily sessions, it hopes to help improve the lives of the participants, who have fled misery, civil war and persecution, and who are hoping to start a new chapter of their lives.

Partners

Logo Kraainem

Children on the Move Uganda

Location and general information

Closed
Location Moyo, Uganda
Start date 01/01/2019
End date Ongoing
Cost of the project €296,592
Foundation funding €140,000
Project identifier AFR2018161
Partners Swiss Academy for Development (SAD), Community Psychosocial Support Organisation (CPSO, local partner)
Categories Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

The current conflict in South Sudan has led to the arrival of nearly 800,000 refugees in Uganda, the largest group of refugees in the country.[1] Uprooted from their homes as a result of the war, many refugees suffer from severe mental illness. Unfortunately, trauma victims are rarely treated on account of the focus on meeting immediate basic needs. In addition to mental illnesses, UNICEF recently reported that over 4,400 children and 2,706 pregnant women in Ugandan refugee camps were living with HIV.[2] These figures do not include undeclared cases, which could be much more numerous. It is therefore vital that refugees are given accurate information.

In addition to health issues, tensions and conflicts between the refugees and their host communities serve to amplify the difficulties faced by the refugees.

[1] UNHCR, https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/southsudan

[2] UNICEF Uganda CO Humanitarian Annual Situation Report 2018  https://www.unicef.org/appeals/files/UNICEF_UGANDA_CO_Humanitarian_Annual_Situation_Report___January_to_December_2018.pdf

Project content

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 65% of South Sudanese refugees are under the age of 18.[1] In this context, the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD), in collaboration with the Community Psychosocial Support Organisation (CPSO), wants to enable young refugees in the Moyo district to better cope with trauma and stress by increasing their resilience and self-belief and by encouraging peer support through sport and play-based psychosocial activities. A 24-month programme of supervised group sport and play activities, including non-competitive team sport, will be implemented to help them overcome feelings of stress and anxiety and develop social cohesion, trust and critical life skills. Life skills training will be expanded to include HIV/AIDS awareness, while a new environmental focus will highlight the need to maintain a clean space within the camps.

[1] UNHCR, https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/southsudan

Objectives

  • To support the most vulnerable young South Sudanese refugees living in camps in the Moyo district.
  • To offer regular sport and play-based programmes designed to help children and young people to build essential life skills, strengthen resilience and foster social cohesion between refugees and local populations.
  • To improve young refugees’ resilience and offer them sustainable livelihoods.
  • To reduce the negative psychosocial effects of war-related trauma on displaced children and young people from South Sudan.

Project activities

The sport and play sessions will be based on the ’Life Skills for Overcoming Trauma and Coping with Stress Curriculum’, which the SAD and the CPSO developed together and is being continuously adapted. In an easy-to-read format with clear objectives for each session, the curriculum document contains precise instructions for every activity, while teaching aids are adapted to refugee camp settings. Each session will be followed by an educational activity on topics relevant to the participants’ age group, such as alcohol and drug abuse, child marriage and early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention, psychosocial awareness, hygiene and healthy relationships.

Similarly, the ‘Children on the Move Uganda’ project will provide a theoretical basis for the organisation of sports programmes specifically designed for victims of trauma.

Supervised team sports (particularly football) and life skills games will continue to be used as a powerful vehicle for bringing children and young people from different social backgrounds together in a relaxed and enjoyable setting, where they can share their emotions – both verbally and non-verbally – and be distracted from their immediate sorrows and suffering. At the same time, sport and play activities will strengthen social bonds among refugees and members of the host community, and provide a positive, safe space to deal with difficult emotions such as fear and frustration.

The project will include group discussions and workshops designed to raise refugees’ awareness and understanding of the mental health problems that could result from their exposure to traumatic events before, during and after their displacement. Participants will be taught a variety of response and coping strategies.

Discussion sessions will also help CPSO psychosocial counsellors to identify more serious psychological problems, as well as problems with family dynamics that require individual, family or group counselling or referral to more specialised mental health care services.

Expected results

 

  • During phase I, the CPSO has been working in eight of the 15 camps established for refugees from South Sudan in the Moyo district. In phase II, it plans to extend its activities to two more camps and open two new safe spaces as well as five satellite playgrounds. In total, ten safe spaces and ten satellite playgrounds will be established within the ten camps. Weekly sport and play sessions for children and young people will be planned and run by a total of 20 coaches. Five additional coaches will be recruited. Sessions will be held at a convenient time for all (late afternoon) and last two hours.
  • The provision of sport and play activities in a psychosocial context requires an effective team of facilitators. To this end, the SAD and the CPSO will train existing and newly recruited coaches to run trauma-informed sport and play activities and use sport, games, drama, singing and storytelling to lead discussions on coping with trauma and daily stress.
  • Weekly sport and play sessions will be followed by educational activities aimed at children, young people and women, covering topics associated with trauma, PTSD and coping strategies. Participants will learn how to recognise the signs of trauma and PTSD, and will develop their personal understanding of coping strategies.
  • Thematic sessions will be run for children, young people, women and men on health (HIV/AIDS), peace-building and conflict resolution. This will support their general well-being, and their resilience and ability to cope in particular.
  • Individual, family and group counselling sessions will be held to provide children, young people, men and women with support and a safe place to talk about psychosocial issues and concerns. Through these sessions, participants will strengthen their support networks, improve their communication skills and find a safe place to discuss challenging issues.
  • Ten mobile clinics (one for each camp) will be equipped and ready to provide medical support for camp residents with severe mental health disorders. Patients who exhibit signs of need during sport and play or counselling sessions will be referred to these clinics.
  • Ten additional saving and loan groups will be established to give young people and men an opportunity to develop an income-generating activity.
  • Technical training (i.e. entrepreneurship and agriculture) will be provided to at least ten groups of young people, women and men in each camp to help them establish their income-generating activities.
  • Seed capital will be provided to help young people, women and men start their income-generating activities based on the training they receive.

Partner

Open Fun Football Schools programme – Playing for peace

Location and general information

Closed
Location South Sudan
Start date 12/01/2018
End date 12/31/2020
Cost of the project €300,000
Foundation funding €250,000
Project identifier 2019722
Partners Cross Culture Project Association, South Sudan Football Association and Nasvick Initiative
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

After 42 years of intermittent civil war and local conflicts, the situation in South Sudan is fragile. As of 2018, this conflict had resulted in almost 400,000 deaths and the displacement of millions. Since 2014, South Sudan has been experiencing one of the most acute refugee crises in the world. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1.9 million people have been forced from their homes. The country is also facing considerable humanitarian challenges. Consequently, much of the population lacks human rights protections and is dependent on humanitarian assistance. Moreover, many children in South Sudan are traumatised by the war and do not have access to schooling or any opportunity to take part in safe, fun activities.

Project content

The Cross Cultures Project Association is collaborating with the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) to provide access to football activities for children affected by decades of war and conflict, and to contribute to peace and reconciliation among different ethnic groups. In December 2018, Cross Cultures undertook a small baseline study together with the SSFA, which revealed that only 67 boys and 48 girls aged between 6 and 15 years played football in a formal club in the Torit area, and only 71 youth teams for children under 17 and 12 female teams were registered with the SSFA in Juba (involving fewer than 1,500 persons).

Some 3,600 children now take part in weekly Open Fun Football Schools activities organised by Cross Cultures. The programme provides a friendly, joyful and non-violent environment in which people of different backgrounds can play together, along with an informal platform for educating children and youngsters in other life skills.

The project focuses on the integration of school dropouts and the large number of internally displaced children returning to their homes after many years. The activities are primarily run by youth leaders, young volunteer coaches and coach assistants.

(Note: The Covid-19 pandemic is of course impacting the programme. The number of people affected by Covid-19 in South Sudan is increasing every day. Schools are closed. Children are at home. Their movements are restricted, and they are prohibited from gathering in larger groups and playing football with their friends.

However, maintaining a lockdown in South Sudan is challenging because it is among the poorest countries in the world and households need to earn a daily income for food and other necessities. People are therefore forced to move around cities visiting locations such as markets and taxi stands, with a high risk of spreading the virus. In addition, poorer families, orphans and street children do not have access to information regarding the outbreak or proper sanitation.

In light of the above, the Open Fun Football Schools programme has been suspended and its 200 young volunteer football coaches are assisting South Sudan's health authorities, for example by providing Covid‑19 information and distributing sanitation kits directly to 1,000 vulnerable households and orphans involved in the programme and distributing information in public places. These activities were not originally included in the programme.)

Objectives

The Open Fun Football Schools programme aims to mobilise and train 200 young men and women to run activities that contribute to peaceful inter-ethnic relations, improved livelihoods, health, gender equality and the protection of the environment and natural resources. The project focuses on the inclusion of orphans and internally displaced people and returnees in Torit and Juba communities.

Project activities

  • A train-the-trainers seminar will be held for Open Fun Football Schools instructors on how to use grassroots football to encourage integration, peaceful inter-ethnic relations and social change.
  • A two-day capacity-building seminar for voluntary coaches as well as on-the-job training will be run by the youth football instructors and international CCPA staff.
  • A five-day Open Fun Football Schools course will be offered for vulnerable, socially vulnerable and isolated children.
  • Training and coaching will be provided to football instructors, coaches, assistant coaches, parents and older children on how to include hygiene, sanitation and Covid-19 awareness campaigns in the programme.
  • The young volunteer coaches will hold health and hygiene training on Covid-19, water-borne diseases and other related illnesses, which are among the leading causes of human suffering and death in South Sudan.

Expected results

  • At least 40% of the children involved in the programme must be girls and a minimum of 50% of the participants must be orphans, children from poor families or other out-of-school children.
  • Sixteen young people are to be trained to become instructors and football instructors.
  • The 16 football instructors are to recruit 96 volunteer coaches and 96 volunteer assistant coaches.
  • Some 2,000 children aged between 6 and 12, of whom a minimum of 50% are to be girls, are to take part in five-day Open Fun Football Schools courses, with eight festivals to be held.
  • The Open Fun Football Schools approach is to be formalised and implemented, providing a sustainable support structure for volunteer-led sports activities.
  • The young football instructors and coaches are to be trained in health and hygiene.
  • A further 194 voluntary coaches and assistant coaches are to be trained by the instructors in health and hygiene.

Partners

Refugee Life Skills and Employment Training Soccer Programme Atlanta

Location and general information

Context

Commonly known as ‘Ellis Island of the South’ or ‘the most diverse square mile in America’, the small southern US town of Clarkston has welcomed 40,000 refugees over a period of more than 25 years. Whereas in the past they tended to come from Bhutan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia and Vietnam, most current refugees are Syrian or Congolese. Whatever the country of origin, migrating to another country is often a difficult process, notably on account of cultural and linguistic differences. Sport, however, is a universal language that can act as a bridge between different communities: in our case, football provides the scenario for youth to both adapt and become part of the local community fiber. It also gives people an opportunity to integrate: having fun and making new friends at the same time. Nevertheless, the high prices charged by sports clubs, the high level of poverty and the lack of sports facilities in Clarkston are hindering the personal development and social integration of child refugees. The anti-immigration policies directed at Syrian refugees in recent years in the state of Georgia are exacerbating the problem, resulting in a lack of investment in sport and health in refugee communities.

Project content

Soccer in the Streets is a sport for development organisation that supports inner city children and young people living in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Our programs combine football sessions and youth development activities to create positive social change for underserved children. It gives them the chance to play football regardless of their ethnic origin, socio-economic status or religion. By adopting a holistic approach, the project is not limited to football on the pitch. It goes further than that, in particular by enabling personal development and education, with participants taking part in small-group sessions, hands-on activities or youth leadership councils. The project provides out-of-school activities that combine football with basic life skills. Older children are also invited to take part in workshops as part of the ‘Life Works’ programme. These sessions prepare teenage refugees for the world of work by helping them acquire employability skills. The project also plans to broaden its activities to include and have a positive impact on girls by helping them to boost their self-confidence and ensure their rights are respected.

Objectives

  • To facilitate the integration of young refugees and their families living in Clarkston
  • To promote a healthy lifestyle among children in precarious situations
  • To have a positive impact on the town of Clarkston by overcoming prejudice towards refugees
  • To increase the employability of young refugees living in Clarkston
  • To increase the participation of girls in the project’s activities
  • To provide opportunities so program participants can broaden their horizon by seeking to enter higher education institutions (Universities, Technical Colleges)
  • To develop community leaders
  • To connect youth with appropriate partners providing key services

Expected results

  • To work with a total of 200 youth, including 80 girls
  • To graduate 20 participants from our employability program
  • To train/certify 10 coaches or 20 referees from refugee communities and provide them with an income

Partner

 

Brave Hearts

Location and general information

Context

Jojug Marjanli is a village of Jabrayil district, one of the seven surrounding districts of Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, located on the contact line with Armenian armed forces. Recently the village was liberated. After regaining de-facto jurisdiction over the village, the government of Azerbaijan immediately started rebuilding roads, schools and hospitals in order to create acceptable living conditions for everyone and to allow internally displaced people and refugees to return.

The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) is sensitive to charity causes and social responsibility projects are one of its main priorities. The association works closely with UNICEF on the promotion of healthy lifestyles, children’s rights and the eradication of violence against children, and also has a national disability football team.

Project content

As a universal game, football is an excellent way to provide internally displaced people and refugees with an enjoyable and unifying pastime.

The Brave Hearts project aims to improve the health and well-being of people living on or close to the border. Whether in a refugee or in a school camp, in the street or in the pitch, the project wants to give them the opportunity to play football anytime and anywhere.

Three-day football festival with monthly follow-up mini-tournaments in different refugee camps in Jojug Marjanli and nearby locations will involve the installation of mini-pitches, small-sided football games and other football activities, other games, face art, personal development workshops and training, a concert and the distribution of football kits and equipment. The festival will be open to the whole population and will brighten up the lives of adults and children, uniting and encouraging them to stay strong, continue achieving their goals and lead healthy livestyles in turbulent times. Afterwards, every three months, there will be a one-day long mini-tournament in Jojug Marjanli, until the end of the project.

«Brave Hearts» Football Festival

Partners

Empowering refugee and marginalised children in Lebanon and Jordan

Location and general information

Context

The number of Syrian refugees in Jordan is estimated to be about 1.4 million: 20% live in five camps, 80% in urban areas in northern provinces and around Amman. Two-thirds of all registered refugees in Jordan are children or teenagers.

Lebanon has the highest refugee-to-host population ratio in the world: over 1.1 million registered refugees for 6.2 million inhabitants. One-third of the total refugee population is 5–18 years old, making this largely a regional crisis affecting underage youngsters.

Challenges are numerous and complex both for refugees and for host communities.

  • Young refugees live in situations of high uncertainty and often suffer from past trauma.
  • Many refugee and displaced children have no access to school or even non-formal education programmes, due to their critical living situation, and they often lack the necessary skills to enter or remain in educational programmes. Those who do attend school often suffer from low motivation due to a lack of future prospects and psycho-social support from role models.
  • Despite the effort of governments to provide formal and non-formal learning opportunities, access to both remains scarce for young refugees, and especially for girls and young women.

streetfootballworld addresses these challenges using the innovative non-formal education methodology football3. Named after its ‘three halves’ – a pre-match discussion, football game, and post-match discussion – football3 incorporates key life lessons, such as dialogue, fair play and gender equality, into every match. As football3 is played without referees, players must learn how to resolve conflicts by means of dialogue and compromise.

The streetfootballworld methodology harnesses the universal potential of sport by ensuring dialogue, fair play and gender equality both on and off the pitch. football3 brings together young refugees with youngsters from Lebanese and Jordanian host communities and allows barriers such as language, religion and culture to be surmounted. Young refugees outside and on the margins of formal education structures acquire the skills (e.g. strengthened resilience, conflict-management skills) and life skills (leadership and communication skills, self-confidence, increased willingness to include others and respect for women and girls, a sense of responsibility and accountability) to cope with critical challenges, lead self-determined lives, integrate more easily into the host society, be physically and emotionally healthy, and create positive change in their communities. As a result, these youngsters are more likely to stay and enrol in school, or pursue formal and higher education.

Project content

In Jordan and Lebanon streetfootballworld and its project partners have successfully implemented a variety of targeted football programmes for refugees at local level with support from the German government and the UEFA Foundation for Children. Having created synergies with local grassroot structures, the next step is to extend good practice from the pilot projects to regional level to support and empower vulnerable children and teenagers whose lives are affected by war and the refugee crisis.

Now we intend to increase reach and impact by taking the proven approach to new underserved areas affected by the refugee crisis and in dire need of innovative programmes for children. Local grassroots sports organisations will be equipped with the necessary skills, social networks and safe spaces to work at regional level with improved organisational capacity to foster social cohesion in a fragmented society. The capacity-building elements sustainably increase access to sport, promoting dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and friendship between young refugees and host communities.

To ensure a sustainable impact, the project comprises the following five activities:

  1. Capacity development: train volunteer youth leaders and coaches 18–22 years old to become role models in their community.
  2. Trauma-relief training for multipliers: to improve the lives of youngsters in Jordan and Lebanon, local experts will be trained specifically in trauma relief.
  3. Inclusive football3 sessions and festivals: with regular training sessions using football3 methodology tailored to each target group, boys and girls will develop life skills that include health, hygiene, personal development and awareness of their rights. During festivals, children, teenagers and their families are brought together, to involve the entire community and increase the reach of the project’s messages and engage more participants, in particular girls.
  4. Regional dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices: bring together NGOs in other countries that are also using football to help children and teenagers with the intention of creating a community of practice to improve support and knowledge transfer.

Objectives

  1. Improving the lives of Syrian, Jordanian and Lebanese children living in the project communities and taking part in the inclusive football3 and life-skill training programme
  2. Amplified personal development and self-realisation for programme participants
  3. Increased dialogue, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence between refugees and host communities
  4. Civil society structures (institutionalised inclusive sports activities) have been set up so that multipliers can offer weekly football and life-skill training for marginalised children. Multipliers are able to identify trauma, know how to cope with traumatised children and are able to instruct others. They act as role models and are able to inspire others.
  5. All local partner organisations are empowered to consolidate and increase their capacities in the respective regions by increased sharing of knowledge of peace building and international understanding among local players and strengthened networks involving local project partners, governments, football associations and civil society.

Expected results

  1. 39 local multiplier courses held – multi-day workshops in Lebanon and Jordan
  2. 790 local multipliers trained – volunteer youth leaders and coaches aged between 18 and 22
  3. 9,300 regular inclusive football3 and life-skill sessions and 20 football3 festivals held
  4. 21,000 children took part in the weekly football3 training ( 60% refugees and 40% host community; 60% boys and 40% girls; ages 6–17) as well as another 6,400 children in festivals
  5. Three regional seminars, 30 regional football3 experts trained.

 Affiliated partners

Logo ccpa

Partner

Logo street football world

Football for Respect!

Location and general information

Context

Hungary has been reluctant to keep its border open to the influx of refugees since 2015. This difficult situation is a major obstacle to the integration of these people and in particular refugee children.
This project targets:

  • underprivileged children and teenagers, e.g. those living in the slums of Budapest and the most deprived north-eastern region of Hungary together with their families
  • children and teenagers living in institutions
  • refugees and asylum-seeking children and teenagers

Project content

Regular football training: Regular exercise improves physical and mental health and overall well-being. Team sports help children enlarge their social network and gain a sense of belonging, which is very important to their mental health. The success they lack in other areas of life can be found in football, boosting their self-confidence.

Continuous social support: Social workers are present at each training session and football activity. Through this contact the participants can receive support services for housing, employment, education, healthcare, mental health and administrative issues. Close cooperation with teachers provides support for the children’s education.

Girls’ club: This club will provide special support for girl players. Experience shows that they face different challenges from boys and lack sufficient support on account of their underprivileged background. Experts will hold ten monthly sessions on specific issues, such as prevention of early pregnancy, drug prevention, knowing your rights, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking.

Employability programme: Tailored support is provided, such as individual job coaching and weekly English classes to improve employability. International tournaments are great opportunities for players to practice their English in real-life situations and that increases their motivation to learn.

Young leader scholarship programme: Experience shows that special emphasis needs to be put on supporting young leaders who have been taking part in the football programme for a long time. Throughout the project, ten young leaders will be selected to take part in the scholarship programme. Their task will be to organise football activities, while they will also take part in the employability programme and receive a monthly allowance to cover their accommodation and living expenses, which will enable them to study without needing to work full-time. Young leaders play a key role in the sustainability of the project, as they will be able to hold training sessions and organise football events independently.

Fair Play Football roadshows: Special emphasis is placed on marginalised participants, especially refugees, playing football with other social groups. Peace-building and social inclusion of underprivileged groups are fostered by six Fair Play Football roadshow events, at which teams from different backgrounds play each other using football3 rules that teach players respect, improve their tolerance, help them articulate their interests, and negotiate with others. They learn how to manage their anger and their communication skills improve. Playing against others helps challenge stereotypes and reduces social exclusion.

Summer football camp: A summer football camp will be organised in a remote village called Hejce in north-eastern Hungary. A total of 40 children, 5 staff members and 5–8 volunteers will take part in the five-day camp that will give the underprivileged children a holiday. Besides various sporting activities, the camp is a great opportunity to make new friends, enhance their social inclusion and improve their Hungarian.

International tournaments: Taking part in an international tournament boosts motivation that can then be invested in studying: learning English, starting or re-starting education, setting new goals in life.

Monitoring and evaluation study: The Oltalom Social Network (OSN) database records data on all participants (training attendance, physical state, school results, training activities, any needs or issues, training memo, etc.). The OSN is a client-centered system to monitor the work done, achieve greater transparency, and improve the quality of the work.

Objectives

  • Regular training and tournaments provide a prejudice-free experience for refugees and local youngsters where they can get to know each other by playing football together.
  • The knowledge of Hungarian and customs improves through social contacts with locals.
  • Tournaments provide great opportunities to make new friends and improve language knowledge.
  • Regular sport contributes to the well-being of refugees suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome.
  • New qualifications, good knowledge of English and positive experiences give young people more self-confidence and the opportunity to escape from their current situation.

Expected results

  • Regular football training in six locations. (three pitches in Budapest, and one each at the correctional institution for girls, the home for unaccompanied minors in Fót, and a local school in Abaújkér)
  • Special support for girls with ten monthly theme sessions to help them face various challenges
  • Support ten specially trained young leaders by means of a scholarship programme
  • rganise six Fair Play Football roadshows bringing various social groups together to play football, challenge stereotypes and reduce social exclusion.
  • 40 children invited to a summer camp.

Partners

FIFA Football for Hope, Fédération hongroise de football, Oltalom Charity Society, streetfootballworld, Homeless World Cup

Sport for protection and social inclusion in Egypt

Location and general information

Context

By January 2017, Egypt had taken in over 191,000 UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum-seekers, 40% of whom are children. Of these children, 60% are Syrians, 17% Sudanese and 6% Ethiopians. The remainder are from Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. In 2016 the total population of concern was 50% higher than in 2015. Together with workers from other regions such as Asia and clandestine immigrants, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that the overall number of refugees and migrants in the country is probably as high as one million.

A difficult socio-economic environment, increasing living costs, discrimination and language barriers all make it difficult for refugees to integrate. Their physical safety is also cause for concern.

Limited livelihoods and a loss of hope of returning home have contributed to an increase in the number of refugees attempting to reach Europe. At the same time, the child-protection situation is alarming. In addition to the physical and psychological suffering experienced by refugee and migrant children, they are subject to gender-based violence, violence in schools and child labour, and many drop out of school. The lack of educational opportunities contributes to a sense of hopelessness and isolation.

Project Content

Target population

  • 1,500 young people (between the ages of 15 and 22) regardless of nationality, gender and refugee status, migrants and host communities. This makes an average of 150 youngsters per location, with special attention to girls (50%) and children with disabilities (when appropriate support is available).
  • 70 coaches (men and women) – 20 professionals and 50 young leaders / parents – 7 per location
  • 750 carers
  • 2,000 local community members – 200 per site

Project location

Terre des Hommes will run this project at ten sites within the governorates of Greater Cairo and Damietta:

  • in the seven existing family centres
  • in mobile units – youth centres, public spaces, community schools

In its sport for protection and social inclusion programme, Terre des Hommes focuses on community support for refugees and migrants, children and young people, as well as vulnerable Egyptian communities. Sport, and football in particular, plays an important role in healing and helps people cope with physical health issues as well as social, psychological and developmental needs, especially young people who suffer stress and anxiety as a result of their displacement.

The programmes provide a safe, structured and friendly environment for children to share their emotions, strengthen social cohesion, and reinforce educational messages. Girls and young women have the opportunity to take part in sports activities from which they were previously excluded. Recently, activities have been extended to parents, to free them from their daily routine and strengthen family relationships.

Objectives

  • Design a training programme for coaches, including not only technical football skills but also soft skills such as intercultural competence, leadership, conflict resolution, team-building and communication.
  • Organise weekly sports sessions for boys and girls in a safe and child-friendly environment. Once or twice a week per location.
  • Continue to provide weekly psychological activities. The combination of artistic and sports activities has proved to be worthwhile in terms of the impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of children and teenagers. Six days a week.
  • Provide teenagers with life skills and the knowledge they need to adapt to Egyptian society. Three days a week.
  • Provide intergenerational sports activities.
  • Organise cultural and sport events. Once a month.
  • Organise football tournaments. Every six months.
  • Create awareness of child protection, social inclusion and social cohesion during the weekly sessions and campaign during sporting events.
  • Use social media for local communication, featuring short videos and success stories.

Expected results

  1. Refugees and migrant children and teenagers become active community agents to improve their wellbeing and their social inclusion
  2. Sustainable sport together with psychosocial and life-skill activities increase social inclusion and community-based protection for vulnerable children and teenagers
  3. By the end of the project, 70 local coaches, professionals and youth leaders will have enhanced their technical and leadership skills so that they can help youngsters to act as agents of change in their refugee, migrant and host communities
  4. Through social sport activities, 1,500 young people have improved their psychosocial wellbeing (self-esteem, self-confidence) and peer support, allowing them to be more confident when interacting with peers
  5. 1,500 youngsters and 2,750 parents and locals are mobilised to take part in activities that promote community and social cohesion, including gender and disability

Partners

Football With No Limits

Location and general information

Context

Cañada Real – a 16km long, 75m wide shanty town on the outskirts of Madrid – is one of the poorest areas in Spain. It is also the largest shanty town in Europe and is commonly referred to as the ‘slum of shame’. It is home to 30,000 people living in insanitary conditions, including large numbers of Moroccan and Roma families. This illegal settlement is also home to numerous drug dealers, who supply the local population. The general insecurity of life in Cañada Real is compounded by the negative impact on children’s education, with academic failure and drop-out rates 40% higher than the national average.

Project content

Against the background of the sometimes strained relations between the various communities that live together in Cañada Real, this programme organised by Red Deporte y Cooperación uses the power of football and the football3 methodology to foster dialogue with a view to resolving conflict. The programme also involves a concerted effort to get more girls playing football. By establishing mixed teams comprising players from various different communities, the organisers seek to remove the barriers and prejudices that divide the people living in Cañada Real. Moreover, in order to maximise the impact on the lives of the programme’s beneficiaries, Red Deporte y Cooperación also supplements its recreational sporting activities with educational workshops aimed at helping children to return to school or find work.

Objectives

  • Foster harmonious relations between the various communities living together in Cañada Real
  • Get more girls playing football
  • Boost beneficiaries’ self-confidence
  • Encourage children to obtain an education and/or provide them with the tools they need in order to find work.

Expected results

  • Organisation of 150 training sessions
  • Hosting of three football festivals for 1,500 children from Cañada Real
  • Organisation of 30 educational workshops on the subject of education, health and employability
  • Fostering of communication and cultural exchange through the organisation of tournaments in Cañada Real and elsewhere in Spain
  • Training of ten coaches, ten referees and three coordinators so they can run the Cañada CF football club

Partners

A new start for refugee kids in Lebanon

Location and general information

Context

Since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Lebanon has taken in an increasing number of refugees, with the UNHCR reporting almost 1.1 million Syrian refugees having arrived in the country.

Considering the excessive damage inflicted to housing and other infrastructure inside Syria, many refugees can be expected to remain in Lebanon until reconstruction and political stabilisation in Syria makes their return feasible.

One out of every two of the registered refugee population is under the age of 17 – a risk group acutely exposed to the effects of trauma. Guaranteeing access to education for this target group is a key priority for the Lebanese government, UN agencies and non-governmental aid agencies.

The overall objective of this project is to support the capacity of the Lebanese state to provide assistance to Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees who suffer from the effects of displacement in the fields of education, trauma mitigation and social cohesion.

Project content

The increasing number of refugee families residing in Lebanon presents significant challenges. Among the needs, a particular concern is to ensure that Syrian refugee children are able to access education while in displacement. This not only serves the purpose of safeguarding a need for continuity in formal education but also for providing a platform that mitigates traumatising stress elements. The volume of the influx of refugees is increasing the pressure on Lebanon’s education system as well as, in general, its society, economy, politics and security.

‘FutbolNet’ is a programme of the FC Barcelona Foundation that uses football as a tool to promote values among young people through an innovative teaching methodology, serving as a catalyst for capacity development, community resilience and social cohesion. It is a very attractive socialisation initiative that offers locally adapted training and content aiming to strengthen local level capacities.

This project proposes to work with child refugees and non-refugees as a way of improving the coexistence between schoolchildren and reducing existing aggressive behaviours. Given the huge increase of refugees who enter the Lebanese public-education system, tensions inevitably affected cohesion in schools. Our proposal aims to train Physical Education teachers to enable spaces to build relationship between refugees and non-refugees as an investment for an improved future coexistence between the population living in Lebanon.

Objective 

The overall objective of the project is to support the capacity of the Lebanese public school system to provide assistance to Lebanese host communities and to help refugees cope with the effects of displacement in the fields of education, trauma mitigation and social cohesion.

Project activities

1. Diagnosis and preparation: The FC Barcelona Foundation needed to gain an understanding of the context, target and the venues in which the activities would take place.

2. Content adaptation: An adaptation process between the FC Barcelona Foundation FutbolNet experts and the local partner took place to adapt the FutbolNet methodology to the local reality, culture and society without compromising the basics of the FutbolNet programme.

3. Seminar

    a. Coaches seminar: three-day seminar delivered locally by FC Barcelona Foundation official instructors. Included both theoretical and practical sessions.
    b. Continuous learning: Periodic visits by FCBF coaches to support the local coaches and prepare special training sessions for the participants.

4. Implementation: The project was implemented in coordination with a number of Lebanese educational and social stakeholders.

5. Monitoring and evaluation.

Expected results

The project benefited 7,907 children, 55% boys and 45% girls, 79% of whom were Lebanese nationals and 21% refugees, mostly from Syria. The project also benefited 85 physical education teachers from 79 Lebanese state from the six regions of the country.

Other results were:
– The Lebanese state school system benefited from the increased competencies of physical education teachers and from the provision of sports equipment to the schools.
– Sports activities mitigated the trauma of refugee children and reduce aggressive behaviour.
– Sports activities benefited Lebanese and refugee children as a mechanism to promote social cohesion, both among refugees and between refugee and host communities in mixed environments.
– The project discouraged school drop-out rates among registered refugee children and encouraged unregistered refugees to attend school.

Partners

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Social Cohesion through Football in Lebanon

 

Location and general information

CONTEXT

Lebanon’s refugee crisis, which is now into its sixth year, has surpassed all of the very worst predictions made. Lebanon now has the highest refugee-to-population ratio in the world, hosting nearly 1.2 million registered refugees. With about 28% of those refugees between the ages of 10 and 24, this crisis is having a disproportionate impact on children and young people.

The crisis has also had a significant impact on Lebanon itself – be it politically, economically or socially – and the country’s fragile security has been placed under considerable strain.

In such circumstances, adolescents and young people are extremely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. In addition to being susceptible to risky behaviour, they are also at risk of being recruited by criminal gangs and militia groups fighting in local and regional conflicts. And yet, largely as a result of the sheer scale of the Syrian crisis, humanitarian aid and relief efforts have focused primarily on younger children and prioritised their needs instead. Programmes aimed at older children and young adults have been both fewer in number and smaller in scope and scale.

PROJECT CONTENT

Using sport to foster development and social cohesion has proved to be a particularly effective means of engaging with vulnerable young people. As several assessments have confirmed, inter- and intra-community sports activities/events are a powerful tool in this regard, bringing together vulnerable children and young people from different backgrounds and allowing them to interact and play together in a safe neutral environment. Sport has also been shown to foster self-confidence, personal development and teamwork, benefiting all areas of an adolescent’s life.

This programme does more than just help individual young people and organisations; it encourages those beneficiaries to become agents of change within their own families and communities. Thus, the project is constructed in such a way that its impact will extend far beyond the number of direct beneficiaries, continuing to have a positive effect long after the programme has officially come to an end. Those beneficiaries are given all the skills and grassroots support that they need in order to impart their knowledge to other marginalised young people and implement programmes of their own, with the ultimate aim of spreading the football3 message across the country and encouraging the fostering of personal development through sport.

Sport has a particularly important role to play when it comes to children with special needs and girls in general. Stereotypes, social norms and traditions have traditionally resulted in football – and sport in general – being off limits to them. Opening up sports programmes to those children, giving them the opportunity not only to learn key life skills, but also to explore avenues that are typically closed to them, will help them to integrate into wider society and encourage them to actively question social norms. The football3 methodology encourages all participants to address issues such as inclusion, tolerance, fair play and equal rights – and for girls in particular, it gives them a tangible opportunity to exercise their rights, both on and off the field.

OBJECTIVES

1) Identify and train 185 sports providers (volunteer youth leaders and coaches), teaching them the football3 methodology and complementary skills (including life skills, communication skills and conflict management techniques)

2) Have 4,500 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14 (50% refugees and 50% from the host community; 60% male and 40% female) participating in regular sports activities fostering social integration, with an additional focus on life skills and health messages

3) Have at least 2,400 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14 participating in thematic tournaments and community sports events that foster social cohesion and integration into host communities

4) Develop a nationwide strategy encouraging the fostering of social cohesion through sport, in cooperation with existing partners and NGOs

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

    • Train coaches and youth leaders in conflict management, complementary skills and the football3 methodology

ANERA is training 90 coaches and 95 youth leaders to work on sports-for-education in 100 popular football clubs across Lebanon. The coaches are already active in the sports clubs, teaching new techniques and methodologies.  The youth leaders will be youth identified in ANERA’s current program as active youth who demonstrate leadership capacity in the community. This training programme aims to improve outreach, increase capacity, provide ideas for better, more professional sports activities and improve coaching. This is achieved through 60 training/coaching sessions addressing both technical sports skills and life skills.

    • Organise 150 sports courses, reaching 4,500 adolescent and youth girls and boys

Trained coaches and youth leaders run sports courses for children with a view to promoting and establishing sports activities in areas where access to sport is limited or non-existent. Those sessions are tailored to the needs of each target group, with eight to twelve 90-minute sessions being run each month (i.e. with a minimum of 12 hours of instruction a month), and they can be repeated if there is sufficient demand. The sessions also cover life skills and issues of hygiene, fostering personal development, with coaches and youth leaders passing on everything they have learnt in their own training.

    • Organise eight thematic inter- and intra-community tournaments and sporting events, with a minimum of 300 boys and girls participating in each event for a total of 2,400 adolescents and youth (with themes including nutrition, hygiene and life skills)

ANERA is also supporting eight sports tournaments (three in Beirut, four in the Bekaa region and three in the south of the country), with a total of at least 2,400 boys and girls taking part in inter- and intra-community activities aimed at fostering social cohesion and integration. This initiative empowers young people and youth-led groups to organise sports events and tournaments, helping to nurture relations between sports clubs and youth-led groups from different areas. These events, which represent an opportunity to bring together representatives of refugee populations and host communities, feature specific elements aimed at fostering peace, communication and social cohesion (rather than rivalry) between participants from different backgrounds.

PARTNERS

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Royal Europa 90 Kraainem FC

LOCATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR AIM

Kraainem football club is located just outside Brussels. Last year, the club decided to take action in the refugee crisis, believing in the power of football for social cohesion. The club’s officials contacted the Belgian federal agency for the reception of refugees and developed a programme to welcome unaccompanied minors to their training, offering French classes and a meal as well. The initiative was very well received and the club welcomed 350 young boys over the course of the year.

AID PLANS

The club is requesting funding to support the continuation of its pilot initiative to use football to support 700 unaccompanied minors aged 13 to 18. The youngsters will be offered the opportunity to participate in the club’s training sessions and take French language classes taught by local volunteers. In addition, they will receive training equipment and a meal.

To develop this project, the club wishes to lobby for their approach to be used by other clubs as well, and for its recognition as a leading example of the integration of refugees through football.

BENEFICIARIES

700 accompanied minors.

LINK

www.kraainemfootball.be

OUR PARTNERS

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Organisation Earth

Earth Refugees

LOCATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR AIM

Organisation Earth is a Greek non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 2010. Its mission is the development of the concept of environmental and social intelligence, by providing experiential, non-formal education for sustainable development for all ages, introducing key sustainability issues into everyday life, primarily through learning activities.

Education for sustainable development promotes knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a better future for society as a whole, using methods that motivate and empower the learners to change their behaviour and take action for a new economic model that takes into account the social and environmental impact.

AID PLANS

Organisation Earth is using the funding from the UEFA Foundation for Children as an incentive to introduce football activities into their work.

The organisation has a large amount of experience in working in refugee camps in Greece, providing services and opportunities to refugees that go beyond providing accommodation and food, but foster critical thinking and the ability to take informed decisions.

The organisation plans to provide a football field and activities to 100 young people aged between 10 and 18 who live in the Sounio refugee camp in Athens. The football field will be a safe place in the camp that will help the young people to improve their health and well-being.

BENEFICIARIES

100 children.

LINK

www.organizationearth.org

OUR PARTNERS

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Movement on the Ground

Movement on the Ground

LOCATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR AIM

Movement on the Ground is a foundation responding to a humanitarian crisis affecting the innocent men, women and children forced from their homes by climate change, poverty and war.

The organisation wants to provide structural support to major transit camps on Lesvos and the Greek mainland in the form of heat, shelter and hot food.

AID PLANS

Movement on the Ground plans to build a football pitch in the refugee camp in Lesvos to introduce football3 activities to help camp residents deal with their traumatic situation.

Movement on the Ground is already working in the camp and therefore has access to the local infrastructure and is in contact with camp officials.

The proposal is part of a bigger vision – a plan to restructure the refugee camp into an open campus with numerous opportunities for long and short-term residents.

BENEFICIARIES

2,500 to 5,000 child refugee.

LINK

www.movementontheground.com

OUR PARTNERS

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Football Friends

Football Friends

LOCATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR AIM

The tumult and violence of the nineties crippled all aspects of society in the republics of the former Yugoslavia, and the region’s young people continue to be affected by their countries’ recent past. In 2005, Football Friends was created to help this younger generation transform their lives and to help heal the fragmented societies in which they are growing up.

In cooperation with organisations such as the British Council and various town councils, Football Friends facilitates educational initiatives in conjunction with non-formal educational institutions to enhance youth development. The organisation currently runs football programmes across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia which have served more than 4,500 participants since 2005.

AID PLANS

Programmes named ‘With a little help of Football Friends’

  • To use football as a vehicle to foster social inclusion and cohesion.
  • To target communities with a high proportion of refugees and migrants.
  • Core activity: the Football Friends City League, with mixed-gender teams competing on selected weekends and playing in leagues within their cities.
  • The highest-ranked teams will be invited for a two-day grand finals tournament.
  • Besides football, participants will have a chance to participate in educational activities.

BENEFICIARIES

336 children aged between 14 and 18.

LINK

www.streetfootballworld.org

OUR PARTNERS

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Cross Cultures Project Association

Cross Culture Project

LOCATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

OUR AIM

Cross Cultures Project Association is a politically independent non-profit organisation that exists for the purpose of promoting peaceful coexistence and social cohesion between people of different cultures and backgrounds. Since 1998 its activities have involved more than 950,000 children, 52,000 parents and 79,000 local volunteers.

AID PLANS

  • Seven-day summer camp for 60 young people aged between 16 and 20.
  • From those attending, 50% are young internally displaced persons from South Ossetia and Abkhazia and 50% of each group will be young women.
  • To foster personal exchange between the internally displaced persons and young people from the host communities.
  • To improve the participants’ life skills and give both groups the chance to be trained as youth coaches to volunteer in the Cross Cultures Project Association Open Fun Football Schools during the 2016/17 season.
  • 1,200 additional indirect participants (aged 8 to 12) through activities led by project graduates.

BENEFICIARIES

60 young adults aged 16 and over.

LINK

www.ccpa.eu/

OUR PARTNERS

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