The Foundation puts 'Fair Play' in place in Colombia

07.10.2010 13:06

The Foundation puts 'Fair Play' in place in Colombia

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The FC Barcelona Foundation and the UNHCR have rolled out their 'Fair Play' programme with the community of internally displaced Colombians in Arauca province. The idea is to promote values through sport.

Colombia is the latest country to become a beneficiary of the alliance between the FC Barcelona Foundation and the UNHCR. One of the joint projects being implemented in the country is called 'Fair Play' and uses sport as a tool for social cohesion among the community of IDPs in the country.

At present over 400 young people from six localities in Arauca province are benefitting from this initiative. The area has been experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis caused by the violence of armed bands for thirty years.

Close to Barça

The idea is to encourage local youngsters and adults at risk of displacement to continue with their lives by teaching them values, standards and teamwork through sport. "Young people thus get tools not only for their own lives but also for their community, with specific actions for building peace and increasing confidence, self-esteem and integration," says Oscar Sánchez, head of the UNHCR office in Arauca. "Though Barça plays a long way away from us, we feel close to the club," adds Gustavo González, the local coordinator of ‘Fair Play’.

Referees and players at the same time

The beneficiaries are grouped into football teams and their coaches are peace educators who meet weekly with the participants, men and women, boys and girls, to establish rules of conduct for the games. Afterwards, the players themselves supervise the match and the good behaviour of those involved as there is no referee. After each match they meet up again to evaluate their behaviour. "This way they connect experiences during the match with their everyday lives and learn lessons so as to improve their behaviour in community living," says Héctor Fabián Rodríguez, one of the coaches.