141st IOC Session updated on Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024 and Olympic Refuge Foundation

63 Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders aiming for Paris 2024

Macleod reported that there are currently 63 Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders being supported by Olympic Solidarity and training with the aim of being part of the Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024. They are from 12 countries, live in 23 host countries, and represent 13 sports. It is the largest cohort of refugee athletes that have ever been part of the Olympic Solidarity Refugee Athlete Support Programme.

This programme was established after the historic participation of the first IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Since then, the programme has been expanded to offer NOCs the opportunity to identify refugee athletes living in their countries and support them throughout their training, preparation and participation in high-level competitions. This led to more than 50 Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holders being supported in the build-up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, with 29 athletes in 12 sports eventually being selected and competing for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020.

The Session heard that prior to the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Refugee Olympic Team will be hosted at a pre-Games training camp in the town of Bayeux (France) between 15 and 18 July 2024, before the Olympic Village opens. The town, with its historical link with refugees and the promotion of peace, as well as its first-class sporting infrastructure, will be an ideal location to bring the team together before the competition starts.

Since 2022, the Refugee Olympic Team has been under the management of the ORF, the Foundation acting in lieu of a traditional National Olympic Committee (NOC). The composition of the Refugee Olympic Team Paris 2024 will be announced in spring 2024.

ORF on track to meet its objectives

In her report to the Session, Rwemarika explained how the ORF has progressed towards its goal for one million young people affected by displacement to access safe sport by 2024.

“Access to safe sport for communities affected by displacement is key to ensuring a sense of belonging. We are working across the world to make this a reality through the implementation of 16 programmes to date with partners across the world. Within just five years since its creation, the ORF has provided access to safe sport to more than 260,000 young people affected by displacement,” she said.

Supporting the mental health of displaced Ukrainians

Expanding on the work of the ORF, Rwemarika briefed the IOC Members on the Foundation’s response in Ukraine. An estimated 12 million people have been displaced as a result of the war in Ukraine. After pilot projects in Moldova, Poland and France, the ORF is working with mental health experts, to equip coaches with basic skills required to enable safe and supportive sporting environments for the mental health, wellbeing and recovery of displaced people.

The initiative will take a regional approach, and is aiming to work in countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Germany and Ukraine. By working with coaches, it is hoped that the initiative will reach a significant number of displaced Ukrainians across the region.

Driving commitment from the Olympic Movement to support refugees

Working alongside UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Scort Foundation to convene the Sport for Refugees Coalition, the ORF has developed the Joint Sport Pledge which will be presented by IOC President Thomas Bach at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on 13 December.

Speaking in Mumbai, Rwemarika called on the Olympic Movement to join the Pledge and commit to supporting refugees through sport. Through the Pledge, NOCs, International Federations (IFs), Olympic Partners and Olympic Movement stakeholders would use the unique position and transformative power of sport for the benefit of refugees, by mobilising resources, expertise or networks.

Between 2019 and 2023, the previous pledge raised more than USD 14 million and reached more than 190,000 refugees and host community members. In 2023, working through the Sport for Refugees Coalition, the ORF aims to exceed these achievements, using its unique position within the Olympic Movement to mobilise the sporting ecosystem to improve the lives of displaced people.

Supporting young displaced people in France, Uganda and Bangladesh

Rwemarika also highlighted the progress of three specific programmes:

Terrains d’Avenir in France: This three-year programme, delivered in partnership with a consortium of local organisations (Emmaus, Play International, Kabubu, Ovale Citoyen and Futbolmas) is co-financed by the ORF and the French Ministry of Sport, the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and supported by the Ville de Paris, Paris 2024 and the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF). With 30 sessions a week featuring swimming, dance, yoga, football, cricket, taekwondo, boxing, sport climbing, rugby and other activities, Terrains d'Avenir has since its launch involved over 5,000 young people and trained 62 coaches. To overcome the barriers to accessing sport that exist in Paris, the Terrains d’Avenir licence has been created specifically to enable young asylum seekers and refugees to access these sessions.

Game Connect in Uganda: With Uganda hosting the largest number of refugees in Africa (1.5 million), the Game Connect programme supports over 12,000 young people affected by conflict, displacement and trauma to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Impact assessments have demonstrated that the programme has significantly improved psychosocial well-being, anxiety and depression among young people. Based on this success, the ORF Board recently decided to extend the programme for a new phase until 2026. Game Connect is delivered in partnership with a number of organisations including the Uganda Olympic Committee, AVSI, Right to Play, Youth Sport Uganda and UNHCR Uganda.

Spirit in Bangladesh: This is the first ORF programme that responds to climate-related displacement. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries affected by climate change, with devastating consequences on the availability of water, food and infrastructure. Delivered with a consortium of partners (Terre des hommes, Solidarity and Breaking the Silence), the programme is located in the Dhaka slums and in Kurigram in the north-west of Bangladesh, where 16 rivers cause regular flooding and place additional pressures on livelihoods. Through sports such as football, handball and traditional games, Spirit supports young people to shape a brighter future for themselves.