A Sports Coalition joins UNHCR and the International Olympic Committee to help young refugees discover their potential through sports

Sport has a unique unifying power. It can bridge divides and make borders disappear. It can transcend ethnicity, race, gender, nationality, language and creed. Whether inspiring us to support individual athletes or bringing us together to create teams or on our own, sport can contribute to a more peaceful and harmonious world.   These qualities find further expression in the ideals of the Olympic movement: friendship, solidarity, mutual understanding, respect, and fair play. 

It is in this spirit today that we have come together to renew and expand our commitment to building a better world for every young person, through sport. There are already many initiatives providing organised sport and recreation for young refugees and their host community peers around the world. But there are not enough. 

The Global Compact on Refugees, the international framework for strengthened cooperation and solidarity with refugees and affected host countries, specifically recognizes the contribution of sport and sporting entities in the protection and well-being of refugees and the internally displaced. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) leading a Sports Coalition pledge to provide sporting opportunities to young refugees ahead of the first-ever Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on 17 and 18 December, 2019.

The three pledges are:

• To promote and ensure access for all refugees, without distinction of any kind, to safe and inclusive sporting facilities.
• To increase availability and access to organized sports and sport-based initiatives for refugee and hosting communities, actively considering age, gender, ability and other diversity needs.
• To promote and facilitate equal access to and participation of refugees in sporting events and competitions at all levels.

From grassroots clubs and civil society organisations, to governments, national and international sporting federations, we are committed to working with the global humanitarian community to play our part in making the pledges of the Global Compact on Refugees a reality, so that displaced children, youth and their communities can have the access to sport, as participants or supporters, that they need and deserve, improving social cohesion, social inclusion and psycho social wellbeing and ultimately improve their quality of life.

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List of signatories

1. AC Milan Foundation
2. Alley Runners club
3. AS Roma
4. Agitos Foundation
5. Association Football Development Programme, Global
6. Badminton World Federation
7. Bangladesh Football Federation
8. Beyond Hoops Africa
9. Beyond Sport
10. Black Pearls Academy, Brazil
11. Canadian Olympic Committee
12. Coaches Across Continents
13. Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français
14. Comité Olímpico de Portugal
15. Comité Olímpico Mexicano
16. Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA)
17. Cricket Without Boundaries
18. Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB)
19. El Halev
20. English Football Association
21. Fédération Internationale de Teqball
22. Fight for Peace
23. FLAG21
24. Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
25. Football United
26. Fundacja dla Wolności
27. Foundation for Sport,  Development and Peace
28. Game
29. Generation for Peace
30. Happy Foot
31. Hasimta (Alley) athletics
32. Health Development Consultancy Services
33. Hellenic Paralympic Committee
34. International Federation of Sport Climbing
35. International Floorball Federation
36. International Judo Federation
37. International Paralympic Committee
38. International Surfing Association
39. International Sport and Culture Association
40. International Table Tennis Federation
41. International Table Tennis Foundation
42. Japan
43. Jordan Olympic Committee
44. KLABU Foundation
45. L.A.C.E.S.
46. La Fondation Terre des hommes
47. Liechtenstein Olympic Committee
48. Nederlands Olympisch Comité * Nederlandse Sport Federatie
49. New Zealand Olympic Committee Inc.
50. Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports
51. Olympic Refuge Foundation
52. Palestine: Sports for Life
53. Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee
54. Paris 2024
55. Peace and Sport
56. PLAY International
57. PlayOnside
58. Reclaim Childhood
59. Right to Play
60. Royal Belgian Football Association
61. Scottish Football Association
62. Skateistan
63. Spartans Community Football Academy
64. Special Olympics
65. Sport Against Racism Ireland
66. Sport Ireland
67. SRC Harare, Penyai Stars Trust
68. Swiss Academy for Development
69. Switzerland
70. Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation
71. Tambai Zimbabwe
72. Tam Tam Basketball
73. Turkish Olympic Committee
74. Uganda Olympic Committee
75. Unione Italiana Sport Per Tutti (UISP APS)
76. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
77. United World Wrestling
78. Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation
79. Ville de Paris
80. Women Win
81. World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
82. World Athletics
83. World Baseball Softball Confederation
84. World Karate Federation
85. World Taekwondo
86. Youth Sport Uganda