Sport for Palabek refugee children’s sanitary autonomy

Context

Uganda hosts 1,428,961 refugees, 61,7% of whom are refugees from South Sudan (HCR Situational Report of July 2020). The Palabek centre in Lamwo District currently hosts more than 53,000 refugees. Nearly 82% of them are women and children and about 56 % of the refugees are under 15. The latter are faced, in addition to the precarious living conditions, with the psychosocial problems associated with substance abuse, early sex, early and forced marriages, etc. The situation has recently turned more volatile with the COVID-19 pandemic. The preventive measures applied to stop the spread of the virus like locking down have on the other hand, not only increased the vulnerability of the community of refugees but seriously affected their well-being, too.

On such conditions, AYWAD undertakes to provide safe spaces and to support children and youngsters’ participation in safe friendly activities, and healthy and social emotional development activities, using sports and fun programmes.

Objectives

• Improving the precarious living conditions of youngsters and women in Palabek’s poorer communities
• Facilitating access to gaming and sports facilities to refugee camp youngsters
• Reinforcing health education for the populations for the sake of their well being.

Activities

• Providing schools and children’s community associations with such gaming materiel and sport equipment as football goalposts and nets, footballs, first aid kits, etc.
• Sports tutor/coach training centered on competence transfer, child management skills, the inclusion of women and people living with a handicap as well as on child protection
• Organising football, netball, and handball inter-school and intercommunity tournaments, as well as other similar activities
• Developing sensitisation and education health programmes centered on STI, HIV/AIDS and Covid-19 preventive measures

Impacts

• Over 5,000 vulnerable youngsters (60% girls and 40% boys) aged 5 to 25 shall benefit from these sport and sensitisation programmes
• Nearly 500 youths with reduced mobility shall find support with appropriate sporting activities
• Reinforcing the social cohesion and pacific coexistence in the targeted areas
• Improving all the participants’ physical and mental health