Sport for Refugees Coalition: 2024 – 2027 kick-off meeting

Following the success of the Global Refugee Forum in December, where 140 entities committed to supporting refugees through sport, the Sport for Refugees Coalition met for the first time in late March to get an overview of the two-year roadmap leading to the High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) 2025 – the mid-point between now and the next GRF in 2027.  This roadmap outlines the direction of travel for GRF follow-up, and importantly identifies key moments in the coming years when sport can be inserted into the global conversation on refugees, giving opportunities to highlight its contribution to the protection and inclusion of displaced people and host communities.  

Critical for this work is supporting members in their pledge implementation through partnership building and capacity sharing, focussed on countries where pledges will be implemented. Work is now underway to define a specific calendar of activities to facilitate these conversations and help organizations to benefit from these expanded networks.  

In the meeting Martin Dururu, Founder and CEO of Tambai Zimbabwe, who contributed to the design and promotion of the Multi-stakeholder Pledge on Sport, highlighted the benefits of the Coalition to his work with displaced and host communities in Zimbabwe. Through engagement with other Coalition members and his participation at the GRF, Tambai Zimbabwe has expanded its network, including with national actors, to support pledge implementation in the country.  

Looking ahead, the objectives of the SfRC are to:  

1. Provide a platform for members to network, connect, and work together;  

2. Good practices emerge from the Coalition and are shared a widely adopted;  

3. Concrete pledges are implemented and reported on by members; and  

4. the Coalition becomes a focal point for communication and joint advocacy efforts on displacement issues and the role of sport. 

A comprehensive list of Coalition members can be found here.  

To learn more about the Coalition, please reach us at [email protected] 

Established around the first Global Refugee Forum in 2019, the Sport for Refugees Coalition (SfRC) brings together entities from the world of sport, civil society, public and private sectors united in their commitment to harnessing the transformative potential of sport for people affected by displacement.  

Sport played a key role at the second Global Refugee Forum held in December 2023, through the announcement of the refreshed Multistakeholder Pledge on Sport for Protection and Inclusion. Over 140 stakeholders made commitments to the Joint Pledge on Sport, expecting to implement activities in over 60 countries. Moreover, an estimated 825,000 displaced people and host community members are expected to be reached with just under 50 million USD committed towards the implementation of the Pledge.