Uganda hosts 1,411,098 refugees 82% are women and children (61% children and 22% youth). Displaced people especially youth, experience challenges including abuse, violence, deprivation, isolation, exclusion, limited economic and social opportunities and disruptions to daily life including schooling. They also suffer from psychological stress, anxiety, and illnesses.
Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) and partners in a joint effort of a consortium work to deliver structured Sport for Protection activities through Game Connect to increase the resilience of 10,068 vulnerable youth and promote a culture of peace and social cohesion between refugees and host community facilitators.
Game connect is a structured Sport for Protection programme that aims to improve the psychosocial wellbeing and mental health of vulnerable youth who are in and out of school.
The Game Connect project team arrived in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Kamwenge district, to engage the community in the various planned sports activities. The team was responsible for finding the most appropriate sporting activity and creating the game based on their game themes.
One of the priorities of the project is to engage the refugees by conducting sports activities. Coaches train the young people in the various sports clubs due to their enthusiasm.
These sports clubs are formed to provide opportunities for these young refugee youth to participate in sports while also learning life skills in their daily lives. The Game Connect project is using sport to provide adult role models to young refugee youth and host communities once again.
Game Connect aims at establishing sports clubs in volleyball, netball, basketball, football, and taekwondo with basic technical and administrative skills in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Kamwenge district. These clubs are established so that these young refugee youth can participate in and acquire life skills focused in areas of social inclusion and social cohesion.
Through these activities, youth can develop skills and abilities that support their psychosocial wellbeing and mental health as they apply them in their daily lives.