“Let’s Play Fair!”
IOM Iraq
‫اﻟﻌﺮاق‬
Women’s Empowerment- Basketball Tour Promotes Social Cohesion
“You should always do what you feel passionate about. Don’t let anything stop you
from doing what you like. You are very strong.”
Gardenia, AUIS Basketball Team Captain
The International Organization for Migration (Iraq Mission) | Main Office in Baghdad | Office for Central Iraq UNAMI Compound DIWAN 2 International Zone, Baghdad, Iraq | Tel: +3908 3105 2600 ext. 5857/5928
http://www.iomiraq.net | [email protected] | Twitter: @IOMIraq | Facebook: IOM Iraq
The Tour Begins, May 4-5
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation
with the American University of Iraq, Sulaymaniyah (AUIS)
is organizing a tour of the AUIS women’s basketball team to
promote gender awareness, social cohesion, volunteerism,
and youth empowerment through education and sport. The
audiences are youths, especially girls, at schools and camps for
refugees and displaced Iraqis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
During the presentations, AUIS basketball team members and
IOM national staff share messages on social cohesion and
athletes’ personal experiences of growth through sport.
The tour began on May 4 in a classroom in a Syrian refugee
camp in Erbil and on May 5 at a high school in Dohuk. The
locations were chosen to bring these communities together
with the host community.
The AUIS team played a basketball game with the students and
taught correct basketball techniques for passing, shooting and
dribbling.
The young students were enthusiastic to learn basketball
skills and listened intently to hear from the team about their
experience in sport.
The students also shared their hobbies, including drawing, and
their aspirations for the future. “I want to be an ambassador, so
I can contribute to peace and build friendly relations with other
nations,” said a Syrian refugee girl with a determined smile.