SPORT. 🏅 EMPOWER. 💪🏽 INCLUSION. 🤝🏿
About The Sports for Protection Fund
South Africa, despite its upper middle-income status, grapples with stark inequality, with race as a significant determinant in societal outcomes. Youth unemployment is alarmingly high, with nearly 64% of those aged 15-24 years unemployed, according to the 2022 Quarterly Labour Force Survey. For refugee and asylum-seeking youth, these challenges are compounded by documentation issues and limited access to education and training, which obstruct their integration into local communities. Amidst these struggles, sport emerges as a powerful tool to bridge divides and foster social cohesion. Recognized by South Africa’s National Action Plan Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (NAP), sport holds the unique potential to unite people and foster understanding across diverse backgrounds.
The UNHCR Sports for Protection project targets South African national and forcibly displaced children and youth aged 6-35, across rural, semi-urban, and urban areas. Through collaboration with Refugee-led Organizations (RLOs) and sports NGOs, we aim to integrate displaced persons into local sports initiatives. The project strives to motivate displaced youth to pursue learning, enhance their engagement in schools, and develop vital transferable skills for both academic and sporting success.
Successful applicants will receive a maximum grant of 40,000 USD. The maximum implementation period is 11 months.
Who can Apply
This Fund is open for refugee-led organization (RLO) applicants. A RLO applicant is an organization that is either:
- Primarily led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons: This means that more than half of the leadership roles within the organization, including decision-making positions, are held by individuals who are refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced, returnees, or stateless.
- Or jointly/equally led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons and host communities: This means that the organization has an equal distribution of leadership and decision-making roles between members of forcibly displaced or stateless communities and individuals from host communities.
Organizations meeting either of the criteria listed above are eligible to apply.
How to Apply
- Interested organisations are requested to submit a concise concept note, not exceeding three (03) pages, using the UNHCR Concept Note Template (⬅️ click to download).
- Deadline for submission is at 23:59PM (South Africa Time), Thursday, 18 February 2025.
- Submissions will ONLY be accepted through the UNHCR’s partner portal at: www.unpartnerportal.org
- Submission requirements: Interested parties should submit the following:
- Organization Profile: Including experience in similar projects.
- Proposed Approach: Outline how your organization plans to implement the activities and achieve the project objectives.
- Resource Availability: Detail the resources (human, financial, and material) your organization can commit to the project.
- Partnerships: List any existing partnerships with local communities, schools, and sporting bodies.
- Please refer to the Call for Expression of Interest (CFEI) document below for further information (e.g. selection criteria).
Do you have any questions?
- Contact [email protected] for more information.
- Queries can be sent via the application portal (www.unpartnerportal.org) by Tuesday, 11 February 2025, and will also be responded to publicly via the portal on a weekly basis.
- Applicants are encouraged to refer to the below FAQs before submitting their application.