NA-WE -WE Sports Jamboree “We play together we di glad together”
ABOUT THE SPORTS JAMBOREE
NA WE WE Sports Jamboree is a three months youth-led community initiative which is part of the Promoting Youth Dialogue and Resilience Building through Sports in Cameroon (Proyosport) Project. This project is supported by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) within the framework of the UN Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events, and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism.
The theme of the Jamboree is; We Play Together We Di Glad Together (in pidging English). It aims at using sports and recreational activities as a tool to foster social cohesion and promote dialogues between and among Internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North-West and South regions and host communities in Douala so as to build a safe, secured and prosperous community. Physical and mental exercise is a healing process that affects attitude, self-esteem, skills and behaviours. This healing process helps to prevent high-risk social behaviours, favours social cohesion, meets the existing demands and helps to achieve the physical, mental and social well-being of the entire community.
Building on the Global Technical Guide on Prevention of Violent Extremism through Sport, the Jamboree will use tools from this guide to organise 5 sporting tournaments in four disciplines; football, basketball, handball and dancing (male and female respectively). Teams will constitute both displaced persons and host community members.
To amplify the impact of this Jamboree, the initiative is partnering with young influencers from the entertainment and business sectors, diplomatic missions, corporate bodies and development partners to show solidarity and provide visibility for the Jamboree
Under the Distinguish Patronage of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, this Jamboree will mobilise over 100,000 people from across Douala and reach out to over 1 million people across the national territory.
Selected Disciplines of the Jamboree
- FOOTBALL (MALE AND FEMALE): The football tournament will be at 2 levels; male and female. Each team will have a perfect mix of IDPs and members of the host communities. The name of each team will be carefully selected to represent words which reflect social cohesion (e.g. team love, justice). We will apply tools from the Teams that will be managed by influential young people from different walks of life.
- BASKETBALL (MALE): The basketball tournament will be specifically for males. Each team will have a perfect mix of IDPs and members of the host community. The name of each team will be carefully selected to represent words which reflect social cohesion (e.g. team love, justice). Teams will be managed by influential young people from different walks of life.
- HANDBALL (FEMALE): The basketball tournament will be specifically for females. Each team will have a perfect mix of IDPs and members of the host community. The name of each team will be carefully selected to represent words which reflect social cohesion (e.g. team love, justice). Teams will be managed by influential young people from different walks of life.
- DANCING ( MIXED MALE AND FEMALE): The dancing competition will be focused on using dancing to convey messages on social cohesion, respect, tolerance and teamwork. The competition will comprise 6 to 8 dancing groups, made up of boys and girls. Each dancing team will be compelled to be inclusive of IDPs and host community members. Guided by a team of judges, the dance groups will use both contemporary, traditional or local dance moves.
WHY SPORTS?
Douala has become a safe zone for over 100,000 young people who have been displaced by the violent conflict in the North West and South-West regions. Though they have been received with open hands by residents of Douala, their forced displacements have made them more vulnerable to stigmatization, hate, crime, violence and unethical practices. The realities of these challenges have deteriorated the trust and peaceful existence between displaced persons and the host community.
To respond to these challenges, we have adopted sports and leisure activities between and among idps and host community members as a key tool to provide safe spaces for dialogue, peer to peer learning and critical thinking, youth leadership, social cohesion, influence attitude and life skills (teamwork, tolerance, respect) that can make these young people resilient to ideological exploitation and that lures to extremist violence.
This project is supported by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) within the framework of the UN Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events, and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism.
CORE VALUES OF THE JAMBOREE
About the Promoting Youth Dialogue and Resilience Building through Sports in Cameroon (Proyosport) Project
This project is proposing to build on sports and leisure activities as a key tool to provide safe spaces for displaced persons from North West and South West Regions and host communities to participate in dialogues, acquire conflict resolution skills, as well as promote youth leadership, social cohesion, and influence attitudes (teamwork, tolerance, respect) that can make these young people resilient to ideological exploitation, which lures them into extremist violence. This initiative will be executed in the Douala IV Constituency in Littoral Region-Cameroon. It seeks to empower over 56000 persons over a period of 1 year.
This project is supported by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) within the framework of the UN Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events, and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism.
ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT
- Activity 1: Training of Trainers for Displaced and Host Communities on Peacebuilding and Preventing Violent Extremism
- Activity 2: Establish and Train a Community Task Force for Sport as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism.
- Activity 3: Organize Sporting Jamboree for Peace and Dialogue for the Displaced and Host Community Members
- Activity 4: Develop an Evidence-based National Guide on using Sports as a Tool for Preventing Violent Extremism in Cameroon