Bangladesh
Play for Protection: Sport, Safety and a Future for Rohingya Youth
Cox’s Bazar, in south-eastern Bangladesh, hosts the largest refugee camp in the world.
More than 1.14 million Rohingya refugees live here, having fled Myanmar in recent years. Over half of them are children and young people. Life in the camps is marked by overcrowding, precarious living conditions, limited access to education, and significant protection risks: violence, exploitation, early marriage, social exclusion, and severe psychological trauma. For many girls and young people with disabilities, safe spaces are almost non-existent.
ActionAid has been present in Cox’s Bazar for nearly ten years. In a crisis that is now largely overlooked by the international community, our work is more necessary than ever.
The project
In partnership with the UEFA Foundation for Children and co-funded by UNHCR – Sport for Protection, 2026 marks the launch of “Play for Protection: Child-Centered Sports for Safety and Belonging” — a 12-month initiative that uses sport as a tool for protection, inclusion, and psychosocial wellbeing.
Following a successful pilot phase in 2024, the project is expanding to 7 high-density refugee camps, impacting more than 2,000 people — including families, parents, and community and religious leaders — and directly reaching 320 children and young people up to the age of 24, with priority given to:
- children and young people aged 10–24
- girls (at least 35% of participants)
- young people with disabilities (minimum 5%)
The project contributes to strengthening resilience, protection, and social cohesion in one of the most complex humanitarian contexts in the world. Through sport, Rohingya youth do not only find a place to play. They find a place where they feel safe, recognized, and part of a community. In a context marked by uncertainty, sport becomes a tangible tool for dignity, inclusion, and hope.
An Impact Beyond the Field
In refugee camps, sport is not just play — it is also:
- a safe space where young people feel protected
- a physical and relational space of belonging and positive social interaction
- a tool to develop self-confidence, leadership, and resilience
- an entry point for the early identification of protection risks
- through inclusive and gender-sensitive sports activities, young people build life skills, learn to manage emotions and conflicts, and strengthen their sense of community.
- Management and maintenance of 9 temporary sports fields and multi-sport areas
- Creation of dedicated spaces for women and girls
- Activation of community centers offering indoor educational and recreational activities
- Dedicated transport services to ensure participation of girls and persons with disabilities
- Provision of full sports equipment and first aid kits
- Establishment of 9 women’s and youth sports clubs
- Monthly dialogue sessions on sport as a protection tool
- Parent meetings on children’s rights and positive parenting
- Inclusive Family Days and Rohingya community tournaments
- Coordination with existing sports clubs in the camps
- Integrated protection activities
- Distribution of hygiene and dignity kits
- Support during the monsoon season and in emergency situations
Thanks to the collaboration with
If you would like to support our projects or need more information, please contact:
Claudia Vitali
Corporate, Major Donor & Philanthropy Officer ActionAid Switzerland
claudia.vitali@actionaid.org
+39 3349836820
