Sport as a tool for peace and inclusion in refugee camps

Context 

Historical and ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes region and other African countries have made Uganda a host country for large numbers of refugees.

Within the district of isngiro, 120,000 refugees (48% of whom are youth) are registered (Uganda-Refugee Statistics Report, April 2019).

Coming mainly from Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, DRC, Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan, refugees with different cultures, religious identities and ideologies have gradually settled in a climate of discrimination, hate and hostility. A context that is conducive to the multiplication of acts of violence between refugees and also between refugees and host populations.

Isingiro is a densely populated district (nearly 3.5 million inhabitants, IDLG, 2019), rural, and is located in the dry cattle corridor with high levels of food insecurity where the majority of families eat only one meal a day. Existing vulnerable families with an average of 6-8 children per household, low school enrolment rates for young people and a high proportion of early pregnancies and marriages.

ICODI’s programme uses sport to promote sexual and mental health in refugee camps and to strengthen social ties within communities.

Objectives

• Use sport as a platform to promote physical and mental health among refugees and surrounding host populations
• Promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogues, gender equality, social inclusion and diversity within communities
• Training and capacity building of 200 young sports coaches

Activities

• Organisation of sports activities: football, netball, volleyball, running and yoga
• Awareness campaign on intercultural and interreligious dialogue among adolescents and young people of different nationalities, cultures and religions
• Training of 200 adolescents and young people (with an equal number of women and men) as sports coaches

Impacts

• Mobilisation and promotion of 2,000 adolescents and youth in Nakivale refugee camp and surrounding rural communities
• Improving the physical and mental health of adolescents and youth
• Development of social cohesion between refugee and host populations

Photo credit:  Integrated Community Development Initiative