New Pilot Program to Use Sport to Protect Rohingya Refugees
December 21, 2018
Coaches Across Continents (CAC), supported by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), have started a 6-month pilot program to use football to protect Rohingya refugees in the largest camp of its kind in the world.
After returning from Bangladesh, Brian Suskiewicz, Chief Executive Strategist for Coaches Across Continents, wrote this recap of the program - and how CAC are using sport to affect change.
Over 900,000 Rohingya refugees are now living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This is 3x bigger than any other refugee camp in the world. Starting last year, renewed violence including reports of rape, murder, and arson forced nearly all the Rohingya people living in the Rakhine state of Myanmar to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, and instantly fracturing their society.
Imagine all the people living in Austin, Texas fleeing en masse with no possessions, money, or communication – with family & friends permanently separated… or worse.
The UNHCR has taken the monumental task to lead the care for this population, including feeding, housing, and other basic needs. But these services only address so much. Refugees are coming from an instantly fractured society and arriving at a place where they might not know anyone. Many have been permanently separated from families, neighbors, and friends. Individuals, especially children, single women, the elderly, and the disabled are at increased vulnerability to suffer additional harm. It is here that other organizations, oftentimes NGOs, look to work with the UNHCR to provide vital services including Community Based Protection.
CAC, supported by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), have started a 6-month pilot program to use football to create Community Based Protection. Our program is using football to rebuild that fabric of society, and those networks, so that people are able to care for their families, their new neighbors, and each other – so that everyone is better supported and better protected, and therefore at reduced risk for experiencing additional harm.
Adam Nord from UNHCR Child Protection explains further in the video below.
“I see that this program… is a very important part of this as well. It’s about using a very strong community-based approach to train new young refugee coaches who are then going to go back into their community to work with and to support other youth / other individuals in a way that engages and strengthens those society ties. That’s complimented within CAC’s trainings on child protection, violence, and other issues, allows them then to engage through sports… in discussing those issues that are affecting their communities”
Over the course of the 6-month pilot supported by the AFC, CAC has trained 75 local Rohingya refugees to become soccer coaches across 25 different camps/districts within Cox’s Bazar. Equipment has been provided by the AFC and BFF so that they can engage boys and girls in their community on a weekly basis, and begin to impact some of the 500,000 children under the age of 17 living in the camps. Throughout the year the newly minted coaches will receive communication, mentoring, and support from the BFF and CAC. The 6-month pilot will culminate with a Football Fun Festival in May, 2019, with an eye towards continuing and expanding this program as funding allows.
In 2009, Coaches Across Continents received the Best New Project Award at the Beyond Sport Global Awards. In 2018, in our 10th Anniversary year, they received the Global Impact Award.