For World Refugee Day and with the patronage of the UNHCR, the Fondazione Mondo Digitale presents the ninth edition of “I Am There,” the solidarity football match that brings togethers students, volunteers and refugees to promote, through sports, the values of acceptance and social inclusion. On June 20, 150 students and welcome centre guests will meet on football fields in Rome, Milan and Catania to launch a shared message against discrimination and cultural prejudice. Participants include the protagonists of “Digital Welcome,” the project that exchanges good practices amongst European organisations specialising in inclusion.
From January 2018 to today, over 40,000 refugees have reached the Mediterranean (15,521 in Italy alone) and 802 migrants have lost their lives at sea (UNHCR Data / June 19, 2018). The migrants are mainly from Syria (21.9%), Iraq (11.2%) and Tunisia (7.6%). It is to these people and all the others who are forced to flee their countries, over 25 million worldwide, that we dedicate World Refugee Day, the annual appointment is organised by the General Assembly of the United Nations to raise public awareness on the conditions of migrants.
The Fondazione Mondo Digitale renews its commitment to help refugees with hashtag ##Iocisono (I Am There). On June 20, 150 high school students, volunteers and welcome centre guests will participate in football matches in Milan, Rome and Catania to face the greatest challenge: integration. The first match will begin at 5 pm in Rome (Campo di calcio Santa Maria, via Matteo Boiardo 28) and Milan (Campo Playmore, via Moscova 26), while, in Catania, the match will begin at 6 pm at the Leo Soccer Filed (Via de La Salle 8).
The football players include the protagonists of “Digital Welcome” (Programme AMIF), the project headed in Italy by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale to develop new educational opportunities for third country nationals and experiment transnational strategies for social inclusion with technology.
“We have been working for years on promoting the third-reception through digital, linguistic and civic literacy programmes held by students. From classrooms to soccer fields, students turn into digital and social mediators that facilitate integration processes and fight against prejudice,” explains Alfonso Molina, Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale.
The initiative has been organised with the patronage of the High Commission of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR). The matches will be directed by referees from the Italian Referee Association (AIA). Sponsors include: PlayMore, Oltre i confini, Milano Altruista, Sprar Milano, Sprar Peschiera, Coop. Comunità progetto, Fuoriluoghi, Casa del Giovane, Casaelim (Milan); Liberi Nantes, Le Danze di Piazza Vittorio, Matemù, Shoot4Change, Centro sportivo Santa Maria di Roma, IIS Torricelli, Associazione Florida Portuense, Centro sportivo “Il faro”, Sprar Enea, FabLab Art, CPIA4 and Project “Guide invisibili” (Rome); IIS G. Marconi di Catania, SCS Onlus “Una mano per la vita” Monteverdi and FabLab Catania (Catania). Radio Sapienza and Più Culture are our media partners.
