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Description
People with disabilities are not a homogeneous target group. Even though the international regulatory framework has recognized the importance of fulfilling their needs, as far as the sector of human rights is concerned, it has disregarded through history the subgroup of refugees and immigrants with disabilities. This specific group is the target group of the proposed project. The challenges we are facing today in the way refugees and immigrants can be embedded successfully in the local communities are based on the following triptych : economic, legal and social actions. However, as far as the triptych mentioned above is concerned, sports are systematically missing. Sports can “operate” as a really valuable tool for physical, mental and social integration. Repower is aiming at the empowerment of refugees with disabilities and at the raising of awareness of the refugees community regarding people with disabilities. The proposed project is going to implement the following actions :•Sports actions in which both Greek and refugees young people with disabilities will participate in a common group. The actions will be addressed for 50 persons in total.• Motivational speaking and athletic events carried out by Paralympic winners, young refugees with disabilities (Action 1) and members of the Paralympic Refugees Team. The action will take place in refugees’ hosting centers.• Training workshops in order people with disabilities to formally join sports associations.• Workshops for journalists • Central conference with sports activities running in parallel.The two partners will co-operate contributing to maximizing the social impact of the initiative.
Summary of project results
Although the international normative framework has recognized the importance of meeting the needs of persons with disabilities in the areas of human rights, it has historically overlooked the subgroup of refugees and migrants with disabilities. It is a fact that refugees and immigrants with disabilities are experiencing multiple discriminations. Responding to this situation, the RePower project aimed and contributed to the promotion of the social inclusion of refugees and immigrants with disabilities through sport, as a tool of psychosocial empowerment; to the awareness of the refugee community about the rights of refugees with disabilities; as well as to the promotion of equal access to sport.
In order to achieve the above, the project team implemented a series of activities in Attica, Thessaloniki, Kavala, Serres, Drama, Kilkis, Ioannina and Volos which substantially contributed to: a) promoting the value of sports to refugees and Greeks with disabilities, b) to raising awareness and mobilizing Greeks and refugees with disabilities for their inclusion in organized sports, c) bridging the gap between refugees, migrants and local communities, through strengthening the relations between refugees, migrants and Greek athletes, d) highlighting and raising awareness for the difficulties faced by people with disabilities, but also the value of the Paralympics.
Specifically, within the framework of the project, the following were organized: a) sports activities with the participation of Greeks and refugees with disabilities, b) motivational speaking and demonstration matches in refugee accommodation structures by Paralympians, young refugees with disabilities and members of the Paralympic Refugee Team, c) workshops with the participation of people with disabilities as well as sports organizations for the inclusion of people with disabilities, d) workshops with the participation of young journalists to come into direct contact with Paralympic sports, and e) the organization of a central conference for the dissemination of the project’s results and for raising public awareness, through personal experiences of disabled refugees, about how sport can contribute to their social integration.
In total, 572 refugees were trained on respecting the rights and support of refugees with disabilities, 100 refugees and Greek athletes with disabilities were trained on the values of Paralympic sports and joined organized sports. In addition, 25 Greeks and 32 refugees with disabilities joined the logic of social integration and psychosocial integration through sports, while 158 young journalists were trained on the issues of refugees with disabilities and the value of the Paralympics.
The project particularly contributed to the emergence of refugee athletes with disabilities as role models, who demonstrate through their actions how sport can contribute to the psychosocial empowerment of the participants and the promotion of their social integration. A typical example is Alia Issa, who, through her participation in the RePower project, competed in the 2020 OPAP National Championship, achieving a performance that secured her participation in the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Finally, it is pointed out that the successful implementation of the project was the result of the excellent cooperation between the Hellenic Paralympic Committee and Equal Society, who collectively contributed to the achievement of the project''s objectives.