Hestia FC

Specific action dedicated to newly-arrived migrants

PROJECT OWNER

Name of the project owner: International Olympic Truce Centre
Status of the project owner: Foundation
Area of work of the project owner: Sport / Migration /Youth / Social integration /Intercultural exchange / Health / Gender equality / Protection 

PROJECT

 Greece
Geographic scope of project: local
Project objective: Acceed to skills for labour market/employment /Promote social diversity /Develop language skills /Educate and transmit values through sport /Practice a physical activity for physical/mental health /Develop intercultural relations and/or intercultural competency / Promote access to voluntering in sport

Types of sport or physical activity carried out: Football
Partnership / supports: Hellenic Football Federation, Municipality of Athens, Council of Migrants, local and iNGOs supporting refugees and migrants, local and international football clubs and football academies, Greek Federation of Sports for the Deaf, Hellenic Special Olympics etc .
Project duration: less than one year
Project status: underway
Supervising staff: Professionals and volonteers
Summary of the project:  Hestia FC, the first refugee and migrant women football team in Greece, was founded in March 2019. The overall aim of the project is the protection, empowerment, social integration and psychological well-being of refugee and migrant women, as well as the promotion of the Olympic values and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through sport.

The activities include: football training sessions; additional, non-athletic activities such as: introduction to the rules and values of sport, training/discussions regarding the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Olympic values, motivational speeches from professional football players and Olympians, motivational speeches from athletes with refugee/migrant background who are global spokesmen/women for peace and women’s rights, workshops about nutrition, sports photography etc., screenings of films relevant to sports themes, reflection activities, leadership and advocacy workshops, discussions, brainstorming and decision-making about the program and how we move forward, story telling; Friendly matches with local football teams; Introduction to other sports in collaboration with local sport clubs, Olympians and Paraolympians; Events/actions that the team organises in order to promote the SDGs focusing on the SDG16- Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions; Sport events for children, which our players facilitate as assistant sport educator; Forums to promote gender equity and raise awareness about how this can be achieved through sport; presentations in Universities; Trainings for the local football professionals on why they should include refugee and migrant women in their football clubs, what kind of challenges they might face and how they can overpass them.

http://www.olympictruce.org

TARGET GROUP

Country of origin: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt ,Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Turkey, Tajikistan
Type of migration: Refugee /Asylum seeker /Economic migrant /Environmental migrant / Migrant in transit 
Target beneficiary: Women only
Target age group: 21-60