Using sport for peace

Founded in 1999, PLAY International (PLAY) has invested in sport as a lever for education, development, and social change. With over 20 years of experience in 20 countries, PLAY has impacted over 850,000 beneficiaries, showing that it is possible to positively empower children and young adults by inventing new ways to use physical activity and sports. Working within both formal and non-formal education sectors, PLAY uses sport as a tool for social change and youth empowerment.

Kosovo was the first territory of intervention in 2002. Using sports, PLAY has since been working there to promote inter-ethnic reconciliation and social inclusion of young people, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable part of the population (children with disabilities, children from rural areas, minorities and girls). Sport allows for the emergence of collective solutions to meet a broad range of societal needs.

Mobilizing youth

Young women and men from different communities are mobilized and trained by PLAY International to become socio-sport animators. They become empowered as they learn new soft and hard skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, intercultural sensibility, respect, and organizational skills. These trainings have a dual impact on their lives and many others’. By gaining new skills, the engaged youth implement socio-sport activities for children within their respective communities, which, in addition to the learnt skills and contribution to PLAY’s projects, prepare them for their entry into the labour market.

PLAY also works with Youth Clubs from different municipalities. Using a new and innovative methodology called Cardio Brainstorming, PLAY organizes capacity-building workshops in an attempt to answer identified needs. Part of the expertise of PLAY is to provide the youth with the key to success and accompany them in the development of competences such as leadership, fundraising and project management.

Youth participants

Youth that participate in the trainings by PLAY, consider sport as a way to tackle deep structural issues such as inequality, discrimination and empowerment.

FANI – volunteer from non-formal education training – EDI+

Fani’s motivation for participating in PLAY’s activities derives from his desire to help vulnerable people, particularly children of the Roma community.  A driving force behind his ambition is the issue of school dropouts, a prevalent problem in his community, which he aims to challenge through structured engagement with children, leading to a change in mindsets.

He also expresses that the most impressive thing about PLAY sport games is that everyone plays together, and that during the game, everyone realizes that they must work together, no matter what, to be able reach victory. This, according to Fani, is a life lesson: “For me PLAY international means playing with everyone equally.”

MILIJANA – volunteer from non-formal education training – EDI+

Milijana shares her rewarding experience and lessons learnt since working with PLAY. For her, one of the most remarkable successes is that in addition to learning a new pedagogical method that she can implement and use to impact children of her community, her communication skills have significantly improved. By gaining self-confidence and mastering the themes around sports for peace, she is now ready to shape the future of children in her community.

Empowering women

PLAY International ensures that women have an active role in all part of the project cycle, from the co-creation to the implementation and training of women in socio-sport/PLAYDAGOGY sessions. By providing women with experience, they can become active leaders in the world of sports for peace and development while simultaneously challenging and breaking down gendered stereotype (that, for instance, presupposes women are incompatible with sports).

In addition, PLAY has developed a kit in which sport is used to tackle gender inequality and stereotypes. Once animators and teachers have been trained in the methodology, the content is taught to young children who are more receptible and malleable, ultimately leading to a change in mindset.

PLAYDAGOGY

Using an innovative and active method called PLAYDAGOGY, PLAY has created a sport games kit for the formal education sector that promotes education, inclusion, and well-being for everyone. Indeed, the objective of the PLAYDAGOGY method, accredited by the Ministry of Education and Science, is to raise awareness on identified social issues through sport games. This is done by progressively integrating new rules related to a theme of discussion. A 20-minute discussion at the end of the game gives space to   actively participate and share their experiences, ultimately stimulating their reflection on themes related to social exclusion or inter-ethnic tensions. In a number of municipalities, young teachers from different schools in Kosovo are trained by PLAY to implement activities with students using this methodology.

PLAY continuously strives to work with numerous partners to identify the societal and educational needs. Every kit constructed answers to an identified problem including social exclusion, inter-ethnic tensions, violence, and emotional regulation.