UN To Sustain Refugees’ Involvement In Football

The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that it would sustain the involvement of more refugee children in Nigeria’s local football competitions.
The Head, UNHCR Lagos Field Office, Ms. Josephine Smith told newsmen in Lagos that the idea was to promote their interaction with Nigerian children.
“UNHCR is trying to encourage refugees in Nigeria through an annual novelty football match to enable them interact socially and peacefully with other children in their host communities.
“It is obvious that some of these refugee children might not eventually be going back to their original countries.
“And since they have decided to make Nigeria their second home or home for the time being, we need to encourage them into football competitions,’’ she said.
Smith described football as a veritable platform for engaging refugees to live peacefully with others in their current communities.
The UNHCR official said that the refugee child like every other child had sporting talents that needed to be developed.
Smith said that the football competition, which commenced some few years ago, had continued to bring the children closer to their Nigerian counterparts.
“To UNHCR, football is a veritable platform for fostering relationship between these refugee children and other children in Nigeria, irrespective of their nationalities.