MADRID, 18 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Spain will work together to promote integration through sport for refugees.
The president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco; the general secretary of the FEMP, Carlos Daniel Casares; and the UNHCR representative in Spain, Sophie Muller, have signed the collaboration protocol between the organizations to promote the integration through sport of people who are under UNHCR’s mandate.
Said agreement contemplates promoting among local governments free access for these refugees to programs and activities as well as sports facilities. With the adhesion of town halls, councils, councils and councils throughout the territory, it is hoped to promote their integration into society through sport, creating inclusive spaces and promoting solidarity and respect.
With the signing of this agreement, the possibility opens for the great national municipal network to favor the practice of sports by this group.
The president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, recalled the words of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, that Spain “is the most supportive country in the world”. “Here, in Spain, we have the first sports space for refugees, hand in hand with the municipalities and with the UNHCR,” said Blanco, who reiterated the importance of sport as an integrating tool.
Carlos Daniel Casares has underlined the effectiveness of the collaboration carried out with UNHCR and COE and the speed with which the signing of the protocol has been possible. Sophie Muller has highlighted its relevance because it speaks of refugees “throughout the Spanish territory who can improve their integration through sport”. “Sport is an activity that has no language, but that favors social cohesion,” she added.
The fact that it takes place in municipal sports spaces also favors the reception of the neighbors, in the opinion of the UNHCR representative.
LOCAL COMMITMENT
The local governments that join the Protocol signed this Tuesday at the FEMP headquarters undertake, among other issues, to provide free access to local sports facilities (sports centers, swimming pools, soccer fields, gyms) to refugees who are under the mandate of the UNHCR, reside in the territorial area of its competence and are duly documented.
They also undertake to establish mechanisms to facilitate the registration and participation of refugees in local sports activities, “promoting equal opportunities and avoiding any form of discrimination”; and to promote “awareness and education in the values of solidarity, respect and inclusion among the local population, promoting coexistence and integration through sport”.
The three signatory organizations will be in charge of offering technical advice and support to the member entities to implement free access to sports facilities; to facilitate the education and training of professionals from affiliated entities; and to promote the dissemination of good practices and successful experiences in the integration of refugees.
In this sense, Carlos Daniel Casares has announced that, at the beginning of September, the development of this protocol will be launched in two town halls.