01.07.2016

DISCOVER FOOTBALL festival to champion female empowerment and refugee inclusion

For the fifth consecutive year DISCOVER FOOTBALL's festival will bring together female players from across the world to highlight the contribution of football for gender equality and female empowerment and to discuss the potential of football to further refugee inclusion.

A total of 100 players, coaches, referees and activists from countries including Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, Turkey, Sudan, Palestine, Kenya, France, Italy, Greece, Germany and refugees living in Berlin will participate in the festival, which will be held in Berlin between 28 August and 04 September.

Maintaining the idea of bringing women together on the basis of football, in 2016 the event focuses specifically on the issues around refugee movements.

The programme will include a four-day friendly tournament proceeded by two days of training sessions and workshops and cultural initiatives, such as panel discussions, art and multimedia exhibitions, digital storytelling and an action day at some of Berlin's refugee centres.

Discussions will focus on how participating teams have been affected by the current refugee crisis, how can football be a tool for inclusion in hosting countries and how can football help female refugees fight for their rights.

The Home Game festival is sponsored by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the Ministry of the Interior, the Cultural Foundation of the German Football Association (DFB), the US embassy in Germany, Fare and the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.

It follows DISCOVER FOOTBALL's work to promote female empowerment in Europe, North Africa and West Asia. In 2015, the Berlin-based Fare member took their annual festival to Lebanon and in collaboration with NGOs active in the field of sport for social development worked to increase the media exposure and awareness of the sport in the region.

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