Sport projects

SaharaMarathon and humanitarian projects

Sporting needs in the Saharawi refugee camps
Sport as a principle, objective and educational tool

During these years of exile the Saharawi people has been forced to live, its sporting development path evolved through different stages, which were characterized by improvement and crisis, caused by sociological and political changes.

Is well known that the condition of refugee consists of a permanent state of waiting, inactivity and therefore, routine. Sporting centers are a way to trigger imagination, creativity and entertainment, that are basic needs of human beings, especially of the ones who lives in such harsh conditions.

The saharawi national sport committee was born in 1982, with the aim of creating a sport environment in the camps and of breaking the routine.
The ministry of culture and sport is ithe only representative that manages the sporting events in the camps.

Its tasks are the following:
– create and present the sport program in the refugee camps
– plan and manage events and competitions, contributing to promote a sport identity
following the young sport promises, contributing to their school education
– promote the participation of the saharawi women

Sport is a way to strenghten ties between peoples, and knowing the difficulties and limits of this field in the refugee camps, the ministry of culture and sports decided to focus on an major improvement of the sports development.
One of the main tasks at the moment is the promotion of the cooperation to create the basis of a Saharawi sports center, that will represent a message of peace and solidarity for all the people of the world, despite the political controversies.

Aims and expectations
– The ministry of culture and sports believes in the importance of saharawi athletes able to represent their country on an iternational level, for this reason it is necessary an improvement of cooperation and aids focused on the creation of a sports center, to handle current difficulties.
– promote the development of sport, culture and solidarity events as a mean of communication among people
– promote the sport development of saharawi people
– promote the saharawi sport and culture internationally

Other relevant point
The creation of a project to promote sport and solidarity in Western Sahara means to establish a human relationship with the saharawi people. People who underwent 27 years of exile and who had to fight for their independence despite strong difficulties in phisical and material conditions.
Nowadays the majority of saharawi people live in the refugee camps of Tindouf (Algeria), in one of he most hostile desert of the world. However, although the hard climate and low resources, It managed to create a real State, ruled by its set of institutions, thanks to a strong will, solidarity and cooperation on international level.
Despite the consequences derived by 27 years of exile, the saharawi people never forgot its cultural identity, maintaining the most typical traditions year after year, aware of the importance of cultural and sports events and of the need to safeguard and improve the development and creation of new proposals.