Sport Inclusion Network - SPIN

Sport and play in a refugee context have a multitude of benefits, especially for children and youth. All this became visible during our visit to the Sahrawi camps near Tindouf in last week.

Concluding 18 months of partnership with the Sahrawi Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and Uisp Nazionale, we delivered our final project milestone, an inclusive sport event in each camp, facilitated by a wonderful team of teachers that has been working with us for one year to make this possible. A heartful thanks to all involved!


VIDC fairplay Initiative FAIreland Sindicato dos Jogadores Verein NEUER START انجمن اغاز نوین Liikkukaa!
IZI - Igrajmo Zajedno Inicijativa Fachhochschule Kufstein Tirol Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport Clube Desportivo Xico Andebol MonaLiiku Muna Duzdar Racketlon Federation Austria

Together with our wonderful educators, we look back at 3 exciting days of & trainings that brought together over 70 participants in the 5 wilayas in , namely Ausserd, Dakhla, Boujdour, Smara, and Laayoune.

We have come a long way since our multiplier-training in May 2025. With the wonderful work of Gianluca Pianigiani and Ilaria Nobili, we put together a draft training manual for inclusive pedagogy and methods in sport and physical education.

Putting the manual into practice, participants are now ready to take their experience and new input into their schools and sport facilities. Thousands of children and youth of all ages in the sahrawi camps will benefit from these play-based exercises in -building.

Many thanks to all our partners at the Sahrawi Ministry of Education, foremost Mr. Ahmed Magai, and our project coordinator Jalihenna Mohamed for their dedication that continues to move the project along.

"Inclusive sport for young Sahrawi refugees" - funded by Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport and implemented with Uisp Nazionale will run through May this year and conclude with more activities.

In the meantime, find more info on our website: www.sportinclusion.net/sahrawi-refugees

Mubarak!


VIDC fairplay Initiative FAIreland Sindicato dos Jogadores Huis voor Beweging Liikkukaa! MonaLiiku microsoccer Verein NEUER START انجمن اغاز نوین Fachhochschule Kufstein Tirol University of Ghana, Legon IZI - Igrajmo Zajedno Inicijativa

Impressions of a joyful 1st day of physical & inclusion on Saturday in the camps in near .

Over 70 participants in Ausserd, Dakhla, Smara, Boujdour and Laayoune kicked off these 3-day sessions engaging in methods that foster inclusive sport for children and youth. Local trainings are the second capacity-building milestone in our project “Inclusive sport for young Sahrawi refugees” – funded by the Austrian Ministry of Sport Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport, implemented in cooperation with Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti Uisp Nazionale and the Sahrawi Ministry of Education.

Based on the multiplier-training in May 2025, each local training combines pedagogy, practical implementation and participant evaluation to guarantee the best possible outcome for educators and trainers. They go beyond competition to highlight the benefit that sport and physical education can bring to all when rethought as an exercise of inclusion and -building.
A heartful thanks to all involved!

More activities will follow over the remaining months of the project until May 2026. All info on the project: https://sportinclusion.net/sahrawi-refugees/

VIDC fairplay Initiative Sindicato dos Jogadores Huis voor Beweging FAIreland Liikkukaa! Trekkify Kayole Starlets FC OGSYKenya Verein NEUER START انجمن اغاز نوین MonaLiiku Fachhochschule Kufstein Tirol University of Ghana, Legon Clube Desportivo Xico Andebol microsoccer

Team Ireland kicked off their first event today for the European Week of Sport 🎉 Everyone deserves to enjoy the beautiful game. 💫 Today we helped launch the JAM Card at , helping to create a more accessible and welcoming matchday for all. A day that brought members of the community together. Big thank you to everyone that came out to support this launch!!

Team Austria officially launched its project today at Tag des Sports! 🎉
We were excited to welcome .at and , and we can’t wait to work together to support our athletes over the next year. 💪✨

Stay tuned — soon we’ll be introducing our young stars! 🌟

We are proud to share that our project “Inclusive Sport for Young ” completed its first milestone:

From 11-15 May 2025, together with our partner we held a multiplier-training for 25 teachers and (sport) educators from all 5 refugee camps near the city of Tindouf.

The aim was to introduce new methods and games that help keep children and active and involved in sport and , regardless of physical or mental abilities. With all the input and feedback from this fantastic group of educators, we look forward to implementing local trainings for even more sport and school staff this fall 2025.

In parallel to the training, conducted by our wonderful friends Ilaria Nobili & Gianluca Pianigiani (), SPIN Network Coordinator Stefan Belabed and SPIN Board Member Daniela Conti met with representatives of the Sahrawi leadership as well as key stakeholders in the sport, youth and education field.

Report on the visit and project info > see links in bio!

The visit would have been impossible without the dedication and support of Mr. Jalihenna Mohamed (Counsellor, Ministry of Youth and Sport) and Mr. Ahmed Magai (Ministry of Education). We also express our sincere thanks to the Polisario Front’s Representatives in Austria and Italy, who facilitated the visit, Mr. Mohamed Slama Badi (Vienna) and Mrs. Fatima Mahfoud (Rome).

The project is funded by the Austrian Ministry of Sport () and further supported by Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti.

sjogadores .inicijativa .culture.events .soccer .official .polisario75 .schieder

Presenting our sportevent for next week! ⚽️🏀🏐 🏑🧗‍♂️Our sportevent will be a mix of youth from the Netherlands and youth that are newcomers here! We are really excited and will keep you updated!🇳🇱🌎

Earlier this year, 16 youth from 8 different countries conducted their own action into how can be made more inclusive for youth with diverse backgrounds ( , , ethnic minorites).

Their respective research is now available in this summary report, compiled by Camino, one of our partners in the -funded project SPIN Youth:https://sportinclusion.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SPIN-Youth-Action-Research-Summary.pdf

They tackled a broad range of relevant issues in sport participation for these groups:
- Financial and logistical barriers
- Bureaucratic barriers
- Language barriers and cultural constraints
- Exclusion and lack of a welcoming culture
- Lack of role models and invisible barriers
- Sport as a tool for reconciliaion

In a next step, the results of these research projects will inform the elaboration of youth-led action plans in all 8 project countries ( , , , , , , , ). Some of their actions will be piloted during the 2025 (23-30 September). Stay tuned!


://camino-werkstatt.de/
FAIreland
Huis voor Beweging
Sindicato dos Jogadores
IZI - Igrajmo Zajedno Inicijativa
Liikkukaa!
Uisp Nazionale
VIDC
fairplay Initiative
ISCA - International Sport and Culture Association
MonaLiiku
Fachhochschule Kufstein Tirol
UG Sports Directorate
Verein NEUER START انجمن اغاز نوین
OGSYKenya
United Youth Initiative ry
Kayole Starlets FC
Trekkify
microsoccer
Racketlon Federation Austria
Clube Desportivo Xico Andebol