Goal Click And Un Launch Refugees Initiative

Goal Click and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, have launched a new content series, Goal Click Refugees, in a collaboration with refugees and asylum seekers around the world.

Goal Click, the global football storytelling and photography project, gave each participant a disposable analogue camera to capture the realities of their football lives and communities, ahead of World Refugee Day on 20th June.

The result shows stories of those travelling from Jordan, Kenya and South Sudan to the playing fields of London and Sydney, and featuring more than 25 refugees across five continents.

“UNHCR has been promoting sport as a positive catalyst for empowering refugees, helping to strengthen social cohesion and forge closer ties with host communities,” said Dominique Hyde, Global Head of External Relations, UNHCR. 

“For young men and women uprooted by war or persecution, sport is much more than a leisure activity. It’s an opportunity to be included and protected – a chance to heal, develop and grow.”

Matthew Barrett, Founder, Goal Click, and Sport Industry NextGen Leader 2016, said: “We could not be more proud to launch Goal Click Refugees with UNHCR. Whilst many stories appear in the media about refugees, it is rare to actually hear their voices or see their perspective. This series aims to challenge existing stereotypes and give an intimate look into refugees’ football lives, in a way that no one from outside these communities could do. Now, more than ever, the voices of the marginalised need to be heard.”

Goal Click Refugees will be a year-long campaign and will build towards a physical exhibition in 2021 coinciding with the UEFA EURO 2021 tournament. More than 60 refugee stories in 20 countries are expected to be published during that time.

“Some people in the camp believe that football is only for boys, and girls shouldn’t do it. But when I play football it raises my spirits and it reinforces my self-confidence,” said Maram, 14, from Zaatari camp in Jordan. 

“I can be the person that changes how the community perceives girls’ football and breaks the wall of shame. My wish is to strengthen my skills in football, so I can achieve my dream and become a famous footballer, and to travel.”

Launching just before Refugee Week in the UK (June 15-21), the series also helps highlight the scourge of rising levels of forced displacement, and the struggle to find solutions.