World Refugee Day 2020 – Making a difference through football

World Refugee Day 2020 – Making a difference through football

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the United Nations declared the 20th of June as World Refugee Day.

On this day we celebrate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of people who are forced to leave their home in search of a better future. Established in 2000, and celebrated from 2001 on, World Refugee Day wants to raise awareness on the many obstacles that refugees, IDPs and stateless people have to face daily.

Because of the ever-increasing numbers and for its social implications, the integration of refugees represents today one of the biggest challenges that Europe and the rest of the world have to face. EFDN believes that football can play a role in this.  Football is an effective tool to promote social integration, employability and inclusion into. This is why EFDN has set-up two programmes specifically dedicated to this subject:

Welcome Through Football (UEFA Foundation)

The Welcome through Football programme funded by UEFA Foundation for Children is a new EFDN’s programme that started on the 1st of January 2020 and will run through until June 2022. Its methodology fosters the social inclusion and employability of young newly arrived immigrants and refugees. Therefore, our activities are promoting the quality of youth work, the intercultural dialogue and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society.

Moreover, the project assists football coaches and youth workers in the development and sharing of effective methods in reaching out to the marginalised target group, in preventing racism and intolerance.

STEP4YOUTH

The objective of STEP4youth is to design, test and evaluate a new sport-based intervention that introduces and improves employability, knowledge, skills and networks in order to foster the social inclusion of refugee and migrant youth (including unaccompanied minors and youth at highest risk) in Europe.

This new Programme will focus on soft skills valued by employers, such as commitment, motivation, teamwork, flexibility, leadership, time-management or creativity and problem-solving to name a few. Working and strengthening these skills will allow a group of 180 refugees and migrant youth from Spain, Greece and Italy to be better equipped when entering the labour market.

Celtic FC Foundation

Scottish Club and EFDN’s member Celtic FC was founded keeping in mind the interests of immigrants. In fact, the Club was established in 1887 as a support network for the thousands of Irish migrants who relocated to Glasgow. Because of their past, it is only natural that today the Club and its Foundation carry on several initiatives in support of refugees.

Through their annual Christmas Appeal, the Club and the Foundation have redirected donations to organizations such as the Scottish Refugee Council, Refugee Survival Trust, and Refuweegee.  In 2016 they welcomed 140 very special guests from Syria to Celtic Park to celebrate the Scottish Premiership title and more recently they have made a donation to the Glasgow Night Shelter, an organisation that provides emergency overnight accommodation to asylum seekers.

We are proud to support #WorldRefugeeDay#EveryActionCounts #RefugeesWelcome 💚

— Celtic FC Foundation (@FoundationCFC) June 19, 2020

SCORT FOUNDATION

EFDN’s partner SCORT Foundation has as its core mission to give every child the chance to play sports, despite the difficult conditions they might live in. This is why this year the Foundation, that administrates the Football Club Social Alliance, has participated in the online meeting for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s Member States to update on the Global Refugee Forum pledges.

“The consequences of the pandemic have highlighted the importance of structured activities and safe spaces – especially for refugee, IDP and stateless children. Organisations, teachers, coaches and community leaders such as our Young Coaches have stepped up, tackled the challenges and adapted their work. Despite the circumstances, they have found innovative and creative ways to continue engaging the children and supporting their communities,” said Lea Hinnen, Project Manager of the Scort Foundation.