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25 March 2022
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, ACNUR Comité Español, its Association in Spain, and FC Barcelona and its Barça Foundation have joined together to use sport to help the millions of people displaced around the world.
Currently, around 84 million people have been forced forced to flee their homes to seek safety, either across borders or within their own country, with numbers continuing to rise. As the UNCHR writes, “football might be the world’s favourite game. But for children – especially those uprooted due to war, violence and persecution – it can also be a lifeline.”
The partnership will span the next four football seasons with the FC Barcelona Foundation contributing €400,000 each season towards four UNHCR projects on four continents, as well as an in-kind donation of €100,000 for sports equipment and technical expertise from its sports specialists. And, starting in July, FC Barcelona’s teams will feature the UNHCR/ACNUR logo on the back of their iconic jerseys in solidarity with refugees and to raise awareness on the growing refugee crisis.
“Displaced children are in dire need of support to rebuild and reconnect,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations. “Sport can play a vital role in helping them to improve their mental and physical well-being, develop skills to deal with stress and anxiety and connect to their communities.”
UNHCR shared that less than half of refugee children receive formal education, and the importance of this changing, especially for girls. Through this partnership, the organization hopes to increase opportunities for refugees and help them participate in developmental sports projects in safe spaces that integrate education and protection.
“More than a pastime, sport has the power to restore normalcy to lives that have been torn apart by war, conflict or persecution, and to help children and young people to heal and rebuild their lives,” Hyde said.
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta has prioritized the club’s efforts to respond to the growing number and complexity of refugee crises. Through its Foundation, the club has collaborated with the UNHCR since 2009 and in 2019, it joined the Sport for Refugees Coalition set up at UNHCR’s Global Refugee Forum. There, the Foundation pledged to increase availability and access to organized sports and sport-based initiatives for refugee and host communities.
The Foundation launched in 1994 to support the children and youth of the most vulnerable social groups through sport and education. Over the years it has also developed several of its own programs in refugee settlements in Greece and Lebanon and for unaccompanied children in Italy and Catalonia. Prior to this relationship, the club had collaborated with UNICEF which it will continue to do through new joint projects.
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