Joan Laporta visits FC Barcelona Foundation projects supporting refugees and displaced people in Colombia

FC Barcelona Foundation president, Joan Laporta, and Dr Marta Segú, the Foundation’s managing director, have visited the town of Arauca on the border with Venezuela. The institution has projects under way involving over 500 children and adolescents from Venezuelan refugees and displaced Colombians. These projects aim to use sport to create safe environments to aid the development and social integration process for these communities.

These projects managed by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, a priority partner of the FC Barcelona Foundation, support refugee and migrant families and other families of internally displaced persons in Colombia. These projects will also use the SportNet methodology designed by the FC Barcelona Foundation, with Save the Children and with the support of Scotiabank, and will allow participating children to improve their emotional and physical well-being through sport.

During the visit, the FC Barcelona and Foundation president was able to see how the SportNet activity was implemented with the children and educators from both entities, along with the Foundation’s educational staff. He was also able to speak with the families of those taking part, and representatives from ACNUR/UNHCR and Save the Children, who run the projects in the region.

The project "Protective environments: guarantees and opportunities for the lives of boys and girls", in association with UNHCR, began in 2019 in the municipalities of Arauquita, Saravena and Fortul, in the department of Arauca and in the municipality of Tarra and other areas in North Santander. It can be viewed as a process of community and school enforcement with a focus on child protection that encourages children to stay in school.

Meanwhile, “Sport as a mechanism for change” is the project that is being run in three towns, Arauca, Buenaventura and Tumaco, in three different departments, in association with Save the Children and with the support of Scotiabank.

Challenging context for children

Colombia is the country that has welcomed the largest number of Venezuelans who have left their country in recent years. According to official figures, about 2.5 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela live in Colombia today, of which 24% are young children and adolescents; border areas and large cities host the largest number of the population. Likewise, in the border department of Arauca, where President Laporta has been these days, Colombian families have also settled who have fled the internal conflict that has been troubling the country for years.

Illegal armed groups are present in this border area and its population is affected by the armed conflict, including internal displacement and other risks associated with it. Institutions and the population also face challenges for the care and protection of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, in a context of increased poverty and winter crisis.

In Arauca, according to official figures, more than 55,000 Venezuelans live in the department, and this year more than 10,000 people have suffered forced displacement.

FC Barcelona - ACNUR/UNHCR partnership

This trip by president Joan Laporta is part of both entities’ commitment to raise awareness about the issues facing refugees around the world. This is currently a major problem, as refugees or displaced persons number over 100 million, a figure that rose significantly due to the war in Ukraine.

During a meeting in June in Geneva with the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, Laporta committed to help him raise awareness of this serious situation that millions and millions are currently experiencing worldwide. A global problem for which solutions need to be found.

Statement by Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona and Foundation president

“When we say that Barça is more than a club, it is also because of things like this that the FC Barcelona Foundation is doing, being here today with these people, these children and adolescents, refugees and displaced persons, who are going through some very difficult times in their lives. We make our small contribution to help change this situation, through the projects we are running with UNHCR and Save the Children, while also trying to raise awareness about their situation.”

“During my meeting in Geneva with the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, as FC Barcelona Foundation president, I committed to support him on this and many other initiatives that we are also collaborating on together in Turkey, Malaysia, and Uganda. However, millions of people are experiencing this problem in many places around the world”.