“Children on the Move” shortlisted

Many children have witnessed or endured horrendous acts of violence during the war in South Sudan or during their flight to Uganda. These traumatic events have serious consequences on their mental health and socioemotional balance. Since 2017, the Swiss Academy for Development has supported children aged 5 to 12 in improving their psychosocial wellbeing to recover from war-related trauma and rebuild their lives in camps or back home. Through our sport and play-based approach, children acquire skills to deal with daily challenges, actively shape their lives, restore confidence, self-esteem and social cohesion to successfully participate in their communities.

Out of 314 submissions to HundrED and LEGO Foundation “Spotlight on Social & Emotional Learning” on how to include social-emotional learning in daily school activities and how to facilitate the dialogue through arts, sports, play, or storytelling, we have been shortlisted with our sport and play-based psychosocial support for refugee and returnee children.

SA4D has implemented its sport and play approach for 15+ years in various contexts. For this project, data showed that the sport and play activities, counselling and awareness-rasing have successfully reduced negative psychosocial effects of trauma on displaced children and improved their overall life satisfaction and health.

View the official video.