UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi (R), and FC Barcelona President, Joan Laporta (L), pose with jerseys at the launch of the partnership between UNHCR and FC Barcelona in Geneva. © UNHCR/Pierre Albouy
The Spanish football giant and its Foundation will help to fund four projects in Colombia, Uganda, Türkiye and Malaysia
GENEVA – FC Barcelona and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, kicked off their partnership today with the launch of a new football jersey and a pledge to support sports initiatives for refugee children on four continents.
UNHCR’s logo is featured for the first time on the new FC Barcelona men’s and women’s first team jerseys. The jersey, part of FC Barcelona’s new kit for the 2022-23 season, serves as a message of solidarity with more than 100 million people who have been forced to flee their homes.
The partnership will span over the next four football seasons and is a collaboration between UNHCR, its National Association in Spain – ACNUR Comité español, FC Barcelona and the FC Barcelona Foundation.
The aim of the partnership is to bring the refugee cause to football fans around the world, while the projects that FC Barcelona Foundation will support are geared toward giving refugee children opportunities to develop essential skills needed to enable them to reach their full potential.
During the launch event at UNHCR’s headquarters in Geneva, FC Barcelona, the FC Barcelona Foundation, UNHCR, and ACNUR Comité español said they hoped their global partnership would act as a catalyst for change, and that others in the football community and the wider sports industry would feel compelled to do more to help improve the lives of people forced to flee.
President of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta said during the unveiling of the jersey in Geneva: “The agreement forms part of the priorities that FC Barcelona and its Foundation have defined for this new phase of the Club that I have the privilege of presiding over, to focus on the problem of refugees around the world. At our organization, we understand that our commitment is to make the dreams of the most vulnerable become a reality, based on the belief that all children and young people have the right to the same opportunities”.
Director of FC Barcelona Foundation, Marta Segu, said: “At FC Barcelona we have a social conscience because we understand that football and sports, with their values of effort, discipline, sacrifice and teamwork, are ideal tools for educating our societies.”
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said: “Football brings joy to billions of fans around the world. It also provides a transformational outlet for millions of refugee children each day as it promotes positive mental and physical wellbeing, builds confidence and skills, helps keep children in school, and empowers women and girls.
Football also has the power to bring together all those who love the beautiful game, no matter their background or circumstance, including refugees.
I’m therefore thrilled that FC Barcelona has decided to partner with UNHCR to send such a strong message of solidarity to refugees around the world. No matter your favourite team, FC Barcelona and UNHCR stand with and support the more than 100 million people around the world who have been forced from their homes.”
The FC Barcelona Foundation is contributing €400,000 per season towards four UNHCR projects in Colombia, Uganda, Türkiye and Malaysia (€100,000 per project). In addition, it will make in-kind donations (valued at €100,000 per season) of FC Barcelona sporting equipment, as well as offering the experience and knowledge of the foundation’s sports experts.
The range of projects include the strengthening of protective environments for children and young people affected by armed conflict in Colombia; support for a protection and gender-based violence programme in Malaysia, to a sports for peace and protection project in support of refugees and host community youth at the Nakivale and Oruchinga Refugee Settlements in Uganda.
For more information on this topic, please contact:
- FC Barcelona and the FC Barcelona Foundation: Xavier Vila Martinez, xavier.vila@fcbarcelona.cat
- UNHCR in Geneva: Christine Pirovolakis, pirovola@unhcr.org
- UNHCR in London: Colin Kampschoer, kampscho@unhcr.org
- ACNUR Comité español : Amaia Celorrio, acelorrio@eacnur.org
The FC Barcelona Foundation
The Barça Foundation was launched in 1994 to support the children and youth of the most vulnerable social groups through sport and education in values, with the objective of contributing to a more just and inclusive society. The Barça Foundation frames its activities within the UN programs Sport for Development and Sustainable Development Goals.
The main action lines are educational access and support, violence prevention and conflict resolution in childhood and youth and combatting social exclusion and discrimination. Today, the Foundation reaches more than 1,5 million beneficiaries around the world.
UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance such as shelter, food and water, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home. We work in over 130 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions of people.
ACNUR Comité español
ACNUR Comité español is a non-governmental organization, created in 1993, declared of Public Utility, and proud to have more than 500,000 regular members and donors. España con ACNUR raises funds to meet the needs of the most vulnerable refugees and displaced people, supporting UNHCR’s humanitarian aid programmes around the world.
Originally published by UNHCR on 14 June 2022
