Empower East African Refugee Youth in Uganda

Soccer Without Borders-Uganda was founded by Congolese refugees to serve the urban refugee population in the city of Kampala. Through the years, the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons arriving to Uganda from neighboring countries has continued to increase. At the end of 2017, 68.5 million people worldwide were driven from their homes according to the recently released Global Trends report from the UN Refugee Agency. 1.4 million of those displaced, many from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, are currently living in Uganda which is number 3 of the top 5 countries receiving refugees.

Since beginning our work in Kampala 10 years ago, our program has grown to serve more than 300 refugee youth annually through daily soccer, education, and community programs for 46 weeks of the year. More than 60% of our current coaching and teaching staff are also refugees themselves, shaping and leading the evolution of the program.

As we look ahead, we are excited to begin plans to expand our programming and serve more newcomers in Kampala. In the next year, we'll be adding a second shift of English language courses to our off-field curriculum, hiring an Education coordinator and additional teachers, and mapping our academic curriculum onto that of the Ugandan school system to better support our participants in enrolling in formal schools. And on the pitch we have our sights set on adding additional youth football teams, strengthening our Girls Empowerment Program, and continuing to build and facilitate leagues for the greater community. In total, we aim to double our program outputs in order to better serve the youth in the Nsambya neighborhood and surrounding communities.

Today on World Refugee Day and throughout the week, we'll be celebrating the strength and courage of millions of refugees and asylum seekers alongside our players, coaches, and partners. To follow along with all of our events and activities, follow SWB Kampala on Facebook and tune in on Twitter today at 11:00am Eastern as our team in Kampala co-hosts the #RefugeesLead chat with SWB partners at GlobalGiving, Prerna4Refugees, and ActionAid.

Today only, as a part of the World Refugee Day Campaign, all donations made to SWB Kampala's program page before 11:59pm Eastern will be eligible for a 100% MATCH from the GlobalGiving foundation!Please consider doubling your impact today with a donation to support refugee and newcomer youth in Kampala both on and off the pitch!