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BE POSITIVE, BE STRONG

2024-1-LT02-KA152-YOU-0002140662024Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: LT|ES|TR|GE|AM|UA · Grant: €31,542
Inclusion of marginalised young peoplePhysical and mental health, well-beingReception and integration of refugees and migrants

Objectives

Young people often disregard the benefits of sport and a healthy lifestyle as there is an exponential increase in the availability of digital entertainment. According to Eurostat's data, 90% of young people use a computer and watch TV every day. Reduced physical activity follows naturally, which raises the risk of obesity and other health related issues (according to WHO estimates, obesity nearly doubled between 1980 and 2018). Youth also have less time and are no longer eager to engage in face-to-face interaction with their peers. Numerous studies show that participating in sports can increase your brainpower. A report from the Institute of Medicine stated: "Youngsters who are more active show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed, and perform better on standardized academic tests than youngsters who are less active." Since exercise boosts blood flow to the brain which encourages brain growth, this should not come as much of a surprise. Additionally, engaging in sports requires youth to strategize and think quickly, which keeps their minds active and develops critical thinking. Young people do not realize that while exercising sports, they develop ability to rely on one another and inspire one another to reach a common objective. The success of a team or a group depends on how well they collaborate together, which is a lesson that team sports genuinely teach participants, despite the fact that individual sports are fantastic. Sports also teach youngsters to respect the players in the other team and to play fairly since fighting and cheating have no place in sports. According to UNHCR, At the end of 2023, of the 108.4 million forcibly displaced people, an estimated 43.3 million (40%) are children and youngsters below 18 years of age. Rapid increase of refugees creates situation when civil society has to act very fast in order to accommodate newcomers. The number of refugees/IDPs entering Europe is still growing (especially after the war in Ukraine and Middle East) which shows us that this is still the challenge we should be addressing in order to find appropriate solutions. Considering the fact, that all our partner organizations are very much involved in the field of sport and healthy lifestyle and directly work with IDPs/refugees, 1. "integration of refugees through sport" and 2. "Promoting active/healthy lifestyle in young people" were the key challenge/objective we have been addressing throughout the whole duration of the project.

Project partners (6)