“Integration and Health” for Refugees – Dreamers Launches First Phase of Advanced Training Program

Last September, the International Training Program (ITK) of the Faculty of Sports Sciences at the University of Leipzig launched a special edition of the program under the title The International Training Program “TOGETHER” Egypt 2024, in cooperation with the Dreamers Project.

The project aimed to spread the concept of caring for the mental health of refugees and their integration into society by providing the necessary training and guidance for all participants in the program. This project received significant support from the DAAD, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Foreign Office (AA).

The program targets twenty-five graduates representing 14 different countries (Argentina, Jordan, Germany, Uganda, Brazil, Algeria, Chile, Palestine, Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, India, Egypt, and Sudan) and regions - including Africa, Asia, South America and Germany - who are working in the sports sector and have knowledge in the field of sports for development through six remote workshops and a face-to-face event over five days in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. All the above-mentioned efforts come as a real confirmation of the endeavor of the organizations running the program to provide all means to enable graduates to guide and support refugees from different countries to improve their lives through practicing sports of various kinds.

The project idea was initiated by ITK graduate Ms. Sara Moamen Abdel Samie from Egypt, after she was selected among 25 young leaders for the IOC program for four years, in addition to her extensive experience in working with refugees and how to use sports to empower them. This project was named 'Dreamers' and is supported by both the IOC and the World Bank, the Youth Leaders of the International Olympic Committee, Panasonic and Olympism 365, and the partnership extends to some aspects of the training program of the University of Leipzig in Germany. In turn, Sarah emphasized the essential place that sports occupy in the daily life cycle of society, saying:

She stated: “We can use sport as a pivotal tool to achieve development. Sport has the ability to enhance social integration and contribute significantly to physical and mental health, which can enhance the ability to overcome social tensions and pressures. Refugee-related sports initiatives need to be sustainable to ensure their positive impact remains in the long term. This is where we can work to improve the situation of refugees in the short term, which in turn strengthens the society in which they live, and thus makes a lasting contribution to social cohesion. And certainly no child should be left behind – when talking and striving for sustainable development, because “no one will be left behind” is the main guiding principle of the 2030 Agenda.”

The graduates’ spokesperson (Luana Dos Santos Held) expressed her happiness to return to Cairo after 10 years since she joined the international training program at that time, and then explained the most important objectives of the program:

“We present our project based on the ultimate goal of sport, which is to bring people together, and we will do our utmost to provide it to all graduates from refugee-hosting countries through training and mentoring sessions to teach skills related to health, integration and acceptance of others through the use of sport.”

The list of speakers from the University of Leipzig includes Prof. Dr. Almut Krapf (representing the Leipzig faculty), Jacqueline Tuchel (program coordinator from ITK) and Sandy Adam (from the SEPT Competence Centre), as well as invited international experts, Victoria Calzolari Soto, expert in sport for development and ITK alumna. Victoria came to share her extensive experience in the field, which includes designing, developing and implementing sport programmes for equity, inclusion, well-being and empowerment in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

City Club also hosted a workshop in which the scientific content provided by the study team was discussed with the attendees, in addition to organizing a sports festival attended by more than 100 refugee and Egyptian children entitled “Dreams Without Borders”, which sought to provide the greatest possible opportunity for communication between those in charge of the project.

The University of Leipzig receives new impetus in the field of development cooperation, especially with the extensive knowledge exchange that the programme provides to all its participants, in addition to the acquired skills that can make graduates effective leaders within their societies in the long term.