Both the IOC and ORF have signed a joint statement from the Sport for Refugees Coalition (SfRC) which has been published ahead of the upcoming Global Refugee Forum Progress Review (GRF PR) in Geneva from 15 to 17 December. Signatories to the statement include National Olympic Committees (NOC), International Federations as well as a number of sport for development and non-governmental organisations.

Specifically, the Coalition calls on governments, donors, humanitarian organisations, and sports bodies to:

Recognise and invest in the role of sport in displacement settings
Integrate sport across all pledging areas at the Global Refugee Forum
Support meaningful participation of refugee-led and locally led organisations
Expand geographic diversity and amplify leadership from low- and middle-income countries

Strengthen national and local partnerships

Forced displacement now exceeds 120 million globally, amid widening humanitarian gaps and declining global solidarity. The Coalition recognizes that this is placing increasing pressure on already stretched systems and limiting the prospects of people forced to flee. In this context, the Statement emphasizes the importance of engaging “non-traditional actors” – highlighting the role the sport community is ready to play.

Despite growing impact following the launch of the Sport for Refugees Coalition at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum, the statement notes that the role of sport in humanitarian contexts remains undervalued. The Coalition outlines a clear set of priorities to strengthen impact and ensure sport is embedded more systematically in responses to displacement.As a long-standing supporter of sport as a driver of inclusion and protection for displaced people to further the vision to build a better world through sport, the IOC reinforces the Coalition’s call for coordinated action.

Through the work of the Olympic Refuge Foundation and its partnerships worldwide, the Olympic Movement continues to demonstrate a commitment to expanding access to safe sport for refugees and strengthening pathways for participation.