Sport, displacement and disability: how sport rebuilds communities and scales impact
by Mayele Jules Murhula and Raissa Remandaban Magnin
Many of the participants for Soccer Without Borders Uganda come to their host country from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Burundi. SWB Uganda works exclusively with over 350 displaced youth daily who are not in school. They provide language development opportunities, empower girls, education and community league programmes for over 1300 participants. Football is a vehicle that integrates young people into Ugandan society to reach their full potential. Those who were once participants return as leaders, coaches, and educators.
Investment in organisational capacity building
Organisations embedded in communities are committed to empowerment. Displaced persons make up 70% of SWB Uganda’s staff building capacity and career growth. Communities at the decision-making table make real change happen. They also represent 65% of leadership to advocate for their needs. WHO estimates that 7% of the general population live with disability. For displaced populations, this comprises 2.5 to 3.5 million.
Organisations must prioritise systematic empowerment of community members to narrow the gap for those with disability. Neuro-inclusive and unified approaches benefit everyone. While gross and fine-motor skill development, balance, coordination, and body awareness benefit neurodivergent populations, they are foundational for participation in all sports. The catalytic of effect of sports can be seen when coaches acquire specialised knowledge of sport injuries affecting neurodiverse athletes, expanding their skills and enhancing career growth.
‘‘Since [my children] started coming to this program, I am seeing them very confident and more outspoken. SWB welcomes you no matter what condition you are in. You don't pay a shilling for your children to attend this program. All services are completely free of charge.’’
Babane, SWB Uganda Parent
Partnerships with Local Health Services and Educational Systems
Trauma is a major concern for local staff and participants. Trauma exposure negatively impacts neurological development in children. This leads to delays in learning, withdrawal from school, impulsivity, aggression, risky behaviours, and complicates social-emotional skills. Established partnerships with local health services, local schools, and parents are critical. Multi-stakeholder support for participants promotes safety, empowerment and enjoyment. The football pitch provides a safe learning environment to work through trauma.
Integrating education and football programmes fosters confidence and invigorates learning. Michelline, a participant with SWB Uganda, shared, “When I’m playing football, we play games. The teams speak English. So, I have to communicate to the referee, the opponent team, so that I can communicate with Ugandans and other people from different countries.”
When organisations include disabilities in community-based programming, significant impact is potentially realised. “They are not identified or counted in refugee registration and data collection exercises; they are excluded from mainstream assistance programs as a result of attitudinal, physical, and social barriers. They are forgotten in specialized and targeted services.”
Displaced people with disability face discrimination, stigma, and lack of access to health and education, as well as limited skill sets to help them face life’s challenges.
Rebuilding Communities, Social Cohesion and Task Cohesion in Sport
Displacement destabilises social relationships and disrupts cultural traditions in communities. Sports offset these disruptions.
Dr. Tom Seabury, a chartered sport psychologist, discusses social cohesion and task cohesion in team sports. Social cohesion is “the glue that binds individuals through mutual trust, friendship, and camaraderie. Being part of a family or a close-knit group. Teams with strong social cohesion boost morale, reduce stress, and enhance communication.”
Task cohesion is “alignment toward a common objective, particularly in high-pressure situations.” This concept is relevant to situations displaced people experience. Teams that incorporate task and social cohesion “enhance trust and communication, which can make execution more efficient.”
Coaches instrumentally create cultures of mutual respect despite personal differences. It offers alternative communities for those who have been displaced, discriminated, or excluded, reinforcing collective success. For those with disabilities, it builds awareness and celebrates shared experiences that embrace differences while working towards a common goal.
Coaches supporting athletes with disability have opportunities to be creative, innovative, intuitive, and able to adapt techniques to improve neuroinclusivity.
Sports strengthen resilience, which translates into both educational and work settings. Where sports and displacement intersect, we can find opportunities to develop skills towards a fulfilling life.
Policy support to strengthen local sport programming
- Cultural exchange opportunities: Preservation of cultures to celebrate positive traditions, languages, and social connections within safe learning environments. We can cultivate avenues for cross-cultural understanding for integration into local host communities.
- Resource mobilisation: Creation of policies that target funding for sport programmes harnessing holistic approaches, accessing education and health services, targeting disability, and increasing language skills.
- Strengthening community knowledge share: Empowering displaced persons to rebuild their communities and create networks for better futures.
- Impactful data: The gap in data for those with disabilities is appalling. Investments of resources into monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for displaced persons must be more inclusive and primed for ambitious scale-up.
- Community Empowerment: Community system strengthening improves access to health and education by empowering communities to advocate for their self-identified needs.
Sports transcend barriers, inspire innovation, solidify resilience, and foster inclusion. A whole-person, inclusive approach to sports uplifts communities, navigates displacement, and paves the way towards a more equitable and supportive future. This beacon of hope heals and grows while addressing the complexity of displacement and disability within communities.
Quotes
“Traditional community coping mechanisms, such as extended families, neighbours, and other caregivers, often break down during displacement. The loss of caregivers can leave persons with disabilities extremely vulnerable and exposed to protection risks.”
“People with disabilities are ‘invisible’ in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) assistance programs. Disabled persons’ potential to contribute and participate is seldom recognized.”
“When I’m playing football, it takes away the obstacles that I was thinking about. Learning English and playing football gave me a new life. It gave me another identity which I am proud of today.”
About the authors
Mayele Jules Murhula, a refugee from DR Congo since 2011 and Director for Soccer Without Borders, addresses cultural stigmas and systemic inequalities for women, girls, and youths, with over 10+ years of experience in program delivery, corporate communications, storytelling, project management, and large-scale impact development.
Raissa Remandaban Magnin, MBA, MPH is a Social Impact Specialist working on the intersection between sport, public health and neuroinclusivity. With over 15 years experience in international development, she is an athlete, coach and mother of neurodiverse children.
References
- Berger E, O'Donohue K, Jeanes R, Alfrey L. Trauma-Informed Practice in Physical Activity Programs for Young People: A Systematic Review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2024 Oct;25(4):2584-2597. doi: 10.1177/15248380231218293. Epub 2023 Dec 28. PMID: 38153107; PMCID: PMC11370207.
- Women’s Refugee Commission. (2008). Disabilities Among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Populations. https://emergency.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Disability%20among%20refugees%20and%20conflict-affected%20populations.pdf
- Berger et al. (2024)
- Soccer Without Borders. (2021, January 21). A Journey of 4 Refugee Sisters with Soccer Without Borders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7WVQ9EobY4
- Soccer Without Borders. (2022, November 11). Language, Literacy, and Leadership: How SWB Uganda’s Youth Center Sets Newcomers Up for Success. https://www.soccerwithoutborders.org/post/language-literacy-and-leadership-how-swb-uganda-s-youth-center-sets-newcomers-up-for-success
- Seabury, Tom. (2024, December 16). Social Cohesion vs Task Cohesion in Team Sports. https://www.seaburyperformance.com/post/social-cohesion-vs-task-cohesion-in-team-sports
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