Working in refugee settings: Workshop hosted by the Sport for Refugees Coalition

The Coalition recently organized an online workshop to provide members with a practical overview of how sport actors or entities working through sport, can engage with refugee coordination structures and other humanitarian actors working in refugee contexts. Understanding that Coalition members bring varying levels of experience in the humanitarian sector, this event sought to highlight good practices and to bridge the gap between sport actors and humanitarian response by offering practical recommendations to enhance collaboration.  

Featuring presentations from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the webinar showcased Terra MacKinnon of the Inter-Agency Coordination Service, placing global refugee trends in context, and providing an overview of refugee response inter-agency coordination. Tamar Joanian also joined the discussion on behalf of the organization’s Community-Based Protection Unit offering insights intowomen pose with boxing gloves protection practices for entities working in refugee settings. 
 
As worldwide levels of forced displacement reach a new high, the workshop began by emphasizing that nearly 117.3 million people are currently forcibly displaced because of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Among forcibly displaced people, the global refugee population is approximately 36.6 million people.

Recognizing the magnitude of the global displacement crisis, the workshop discussed key frameworks that provide the basis for working in refugee settings. Through the 1951 Refugee Convention, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Global Compact on Refugees, refugees are protected, included in global human rights objectives, and multistakeholder entities, including sport actors, and entities working through sport, are invited to the table to advance solutions in refugee contexts. These frameworks call for collaborative solutions that leave no one behind, emphasize long-term development solutions from the start of a crisis, and affirm that the humanitarian, development, and peace sectors are complementary and should be advanced in cooperation. 

Underscoring the importance of cooperation when working in refugee settings, the workshop introduced UNHCR’s Refugee Coordination Model (RCM) which offers a predictable structure to coordinate the work of organizations involved in refugee protection, assistance, and advancing solutions. Through the RCM, organizations can take part in relevant working groups at the country/regional level according to sector, such as health, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and protection. As a first step, sport entities are encouraged to consider which sector their activities contribute to. Following that, the coordinator of each working group can be contacted directly about participation and further information, contacts are listed on the UNHCR Operational Data Portal. 

The workshop ended by addressing protection-related questions raised by participants on ensuring that programming with refugees is implemented mindful of religious, cultural and other differences. Tamar Joanian stressed the importance of an Age, Gender and Diversity approach that respects cultural sensitivities and empowers diverse groups within the community. By collaborating with local actors and community members, communities can be protected, and interventions can become contextually relevant and sustainable. She also noted that change does not take place over night, encouraging a long-term and sustainable approach to any project. Other questions were raised related to conducting a social analysis and protection needs assessment, an overview of the key considerations can be found within the recording of the webinar and for more information on conducting a protection needs assessment, please also see the UNHCR Emergency Handbook (link below). 

This workshop provided essential insights for sport actors working in refugee context. The Coalition remains committed to serving as a platform for members to share and learn from good practices.To find out more about working in refugee settings, a recording of the Sport for Refugees Coalition's online workshop is available here. 

Resources 

• Sport for Protection Toolkit: Programming with Young People in Forced Displacement Settings: a framework emphasizing how sport and protection work together. 

• UNHCR Emergency Handbook: a guide for effective and community-based humanitarian emergency responses. 

• Operational Data Portal (ODP): a resource outlining operational contexts’ refugee data, key documents, Refugee Response Plans, and working group coordinators’ contact information. 

If sport-related entities require further information about refugee contexts where they are interested in starting programming, they are advised to contact UNHCR’s Sport Coordination Unit at [email protected] to learn more and be connected with UNHCR country operations. 

To learn more about how sport can contribute to the protection and inclusion of refugees and host communities and to find ways to get involved, visit the Sport for Refugees Coalition webpage or get in touch at [email protected]  

Banner Photo: © UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo