The Network for the Integration of Refugees through Sport (IRTS) is an initiative organized by the International Association of Sport and Culture (ISCA), which earlier this year brought together several organizations interested in starting Global IRTS, one of the largest projects ever to be dedicated to the inclusion of refugees occupying the medium of sport.
Funded through the program Erasmus+ of the European Union, Global IRTS account with a consortium single organizations around the world, and aims to promote good practice in the sector, as well as create a community of learning and sharing of knowledge multilevel local action and impact on national and international policies.

The two-year project, ‘Global IRTS: Summoning the global industry for the Integration of Refugees through Sport’, aims to address the urgent challenge of include children and adult refugees in their new communities through the strengthening of the evidence base, raising awareness, advocating for the value of IRTS and building the capacity of stakeholders working in humanitarian actions at the international level and local level.

The collaborative nature of the project will facilitate the mutual learning between continents between the 23 full partners of the project, two associated partners and three supporting institutions. This partnership is unprecedented, comprising UN agencies, funding agencies, humanitarian organisations and sporting bodies. While most of the coordination meetings will be held online, as was the case of the inaugural meeting, two international conferences held in connection with the project, Moving People – Moving Europe in the capital of slovenia, Ljubljana, in November, 2024, and the MOVE Congress in Denmark in 2025, will allow the network to thrive as global leaders in the field and will provide valuable opportunities to learn from experiences in other parts of the world.

"We firmly believe that the crisis of refugees in the world are alike, and that there is a high added value when you look at these complex challenges from a global perspective," says Jacob Schouenborg, Secretary-General of ISCA. "This project has the ambition, probably for the first time, using the program Erasmus+ Sport to bring a large and strong group of partners and stakeholders from all over the world, but with a starting point in Europe, to boost significantly the agenda of IRTS of how evidence-based and cohesive".

“For Futbol Mas to be part of this alliance is a great opportunity to share the work of childhood and young migrants and refugees in Latin America, Africa and Europe. At the same time, the power to learn from other initiatives and generate social impact and policy. Working in a team, we will be able to maximize our positive impact,” says Alfonso Cevallos, coordinator of partnerships and programmes in Europe to Futbol Mas.

Key milestones during the project will involve the establishment of communities of practice in line of IRTS in four geographical areas (Ukraine, Venezuela, DR Congo and Syria) and three thematic areas (stress relief and psychosocial support, learning through play; and inclusion of the host community); pilot testing of the results of the project in Poland, Ukraine, Denmark, Colombia and the united States; and the recognition of outstanding initiatives in an awards ceremony IRTS on the MOVE Congress 2025.

Global IRTS is the seventh international project carried out under the umbrella of IRTS and is held together with other initiatives that focus on supporting children ukrainians and their families through the sport, including IRTS Nordic, Integration of Refugees Ukrainians through Sport and we Play Together!

Get more information on these initiatives for the Integration of Refugees through Sport in https://irts.isca.org/