SPORT CAN OFFER HOPE FOR DISPLACED PEOPLES DURING PANDEMIC

May 22, 2020

The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) is highlighting how sport can help build resilience and boost mental health of forcibly displaced young people, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ORF Chair and IOC President, Thomas Bach, and Vice-Chair, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, warned of the growing impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of refugees and others uprooted by war, violence and persecution around the world, compounding already very challenging circumstances.

Refugees are among the most vulnerable to the consequences of the pandemic – often residing in overcrowded camps, settlements and urban areas in cramped conditions with inadequate access to fresh water and hygiene supplies. Mental health conditions amongst people affected by conflict are already two or three times higher than in the general population, with one in five people experiencing mental health challenges.

Meeting remotely this week, the ORF Board agreed on a number of initiatives to boost the protection of forcibly displaced young people and help improve their mental health through sport.

As an example, it is launching a pilot project in Uganda, using sport to improve the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of more than 10,000 refugee and host community young people (aged 15 to 24). Led by a consortium of five agencies (ORF, AVSI, UOC, Youth Sport Uganda and UNHCR Uganda), the programme will deliver a nationwide Sport for Protection programme.

Additionally, the Board has:

• Committed the Foundation’s “Think Tank” to focusing on improving mental health and psychosocial wellbeing (MHPSS) through sport; and
• Proposed a Call for Solutions from ORF partners to encourage sports initiatives that work towards improving mental health for refugee young people during the current pandemic.

Thomas Bach stated, “Over the last few months in the current crisis, we have all seen how important sport and physical activity are for physical and mental health. Sport can save lives. Safe sport provides mental and physical wellbeing for all and, in particular, for people that have experienced and continue to experience trauma, loss and prolonged uncertainty.”  

Filippo Grandi added, “Around the world we are seeing troubling evidence of the devastating impact of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of young refugees. The Olympic Refuge Foundation has rightly identified the important contribution that sport can make to psychosocial wellbeing and is accelerating its work to address this growing challenge.”

Beyond Sport is committed to advancing mental health through sport through the Stay in the Game Network – a collaboration of sport, healthcare and social change organizations using sport as a platform and catalyst to end stigmas and promote action on mental wellness.