KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA
The true appellation of Apu.
While the most urgent needs include the provision of
food and health services, sport can indeed play an important role for
improving mental and physical health. For refugee populations, which are
largely composed of young people and children, leisure and physical
activities can improve their physical capacities, and give them a sense
of enjoyment and hope; it can bring a semblance of normality and
structure to their lives in disarray, as well as relieve tensions and
fears among people having to live together in camps and settlement.
Over the years, the IOC and the United Nations (UN) have cultivated a strong relationship, which most recently resulted in the signing of a historical agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two organisations at the highest level. On this occasion, the UN also appointed IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth Refugees and Sport in order to raise the profile of youth refugees and the impact of sport as a tool for peace, development and an inclusive society. The field visits of Special Envoy Rogge will include heading to Jordan in the coming months to meet with Syrian refugees and assess the benefits of sports-based initiatives for youth refugees and local communities.
Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held a bilateral meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach at the IOC headquarters, where the two leaders discussed a number of issues and joint actions. Looking ahead, the IOC, with the collaboration of the UN, hopes to build on their years of experience working together on bringing sports initiatives into refugee camps and internally displaced settlements in order to identify, train and assist, with the support of Olympic Solidarity, promising athletes with the potential to qualify for future Olympic Games.
Since 2004, the IOC and UNHCR have organised a “Giving is Winning” programme in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games. This world-wide solidarity campaign has become an iconic experience through which athletes, officials and sponsors of the Olympic Games, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International and National Federations, and other Olympic Movement stakeholders have expressed their support for young people, particularly in refugee camps, by donating tens of thousands of clothing items for people in need. The campaign has already collected over 170,000 items of clothing, or close to 36 containers, which have reached refugees in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Learn more about Giving is Winning here
Over 2013 and 2014, the IOC, Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung and the UNHCR have joined forces to distribute IOC Sports Kits to more than 180,000 young people living in camps for refugees and internally displaced in 20 countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Sports Kit developed by the IOC contains basic sports and recreational material for about 300 kids, such as various balls, bibs, caps, shirts and chalk to mark the field. This equipment is sufficient to set up organised sports activities in very diverse settings such as in schools as well as in camps and settlements, and has benefitted hundreds of thousands of children around the world through various programmes promoting sport for development.
Learn more about how the IOC Sports Kits benefit people in refugee camps
In Namibia, the IOC and UNHCR, together with the local NOC, implemented a Sport and
Learn more about the programme here
Learn more about IOC action on the ground
Olympic Movement endorses World Refugee Day
©UNHCR
20/06/2014
Today is World Refugee Day 2014. The
International Olympic Committee, which has been working in close
collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) for the last two decades, is committed to continuing to provide
support and humanitarian sports assistance to refugees and internally
displaced people, thus bringing the joy of sport and the related
psychological healing to refugee populations.
Over the years, the IOC and the United Nations (UN) have cultivated a strong relationship, which most recently resulted in the signing of a historical agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two organisations at the highest level. On this occasion, the UN also appointed IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth Refugees and Sport in order to raise the profile of youth refugees and the impact of sport as a tool for peace, development and an inclusive society. The field visits of Special Envoy Rogge will include heading to Jordan in the coming months to meet with Syrian refugees and assess the benefits of sports-based initiatives for youth refugees and local communities.
Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held a bilateral meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach at the IOC headquarters, where the two leaders discussed a number of issues and joint actions. Looking ahead, the IOC, with the collaboration of the UN, hopes to build on their years of experience working together on bringing sports initiatives into refugee camps and internally displaced settlements in order to identify, train and assist, with the support of Olympic Solidarity, promising athletes with the potential to qualify for future Olympic Games.
TRANSLATING OLYMPIC IDEALS INTO REALITY
Through its continued collaboration with the UNHCR , the IOC has already seen thousands of refugees benefit from sports programmes and equipment.Since 2004, the IOC and UNHCR have organised a “Giving is Winning” programme in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games. This world-wide solidarity campaign has become an iconic experience through which athletes, officials and sponsors of the Olympic Games, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International and National Federations, and other Olympic Movement stakeholders have expressed their support for young people, particularly in refugee camps, by donating tens of thousands of clothing items for people in need. The campaign has already collected over 170,000 items of clothing, or close to 36 containers, which have reached refugees in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Learn more about Giving is Winning here
Over 2013 and 2014, the IOC, Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung and the UNHCR have joined forces to distribute IOC Sports Kits to more than 180,000 young people living in camps for refugees and internally displaced in 20 countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Sports Kit developed by the IOC contains basic sports and recreational material for about 300 kids, such as various balls, bibs, caps, shirts and chalk to mark the field. This equipment is sufficient to set up organised sports activities in very diverse settings such as in schools as well as in camps and settlements, and has benefitted hundreds of thousands of children around the world through various programmes promoting sport for development.
Learn more about how the IOC Sports Kits benefit people in refugee camps
In Namibia, the IOC and UNHCR, together with the local NOC, implemented a Sport and
Education
programme for some 8,500 young people living in the Osire refugee
settlement in the centre of the country. The programme was specifically
designed to involve young people in sports activities in order to
alleviate some of the major problems affecting them, namely teenage
pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (such as HIV), and drug
abuse.
Watch a clip about the programme launch with IOC member and Olympian Frank Fredericks hereLearn more about the programme here
Learn more about IOC action on the ground
