/ Town Hall
Thursday 31st October 2019
REPRESENTATIVES FROM ABOUT TWENTY COUNTRIES EXCHANGE IN CALVIÀ EXPERIENCES ON HOW TO PREVENT AND FIGHT RADICALISM BETWEEN THE YOUTH THROUGH SPORT
The conference, organised by the Regional Ministry for Social Affairs and Sports, takes place at 'Es Generador' youth centre in Calvià
Representatives from about twenty European countries meet in Calvià from yesterday Wednesday until next Saturday with the aim of exchanging experiences on how to fight and prevent radicalism amongst the youth through sport. The conference, organised by the Regional Ministry for Social Affairs and Sports within the framework of the Erasmus + Juventud community programme, takes place in the Calvià youth building 'Es Generador' and the inauguration, headed by the Regional Government's director general for Sports, Carles Gonyalons, was attended by the deputy mayor for Sports, Eva Serra; the deputy mayor for Youth, Rafel Sedano; the councillor for Youth, Marga Plomer, and the Town Hall's general director forYouth, Margarita Segretín.
Throughout these days, as reported by the Regional Ministry, real experiences will be discussed on how sport has managed to prevent radicalisation amongst young people, especially those at risk of social exclusion. Cases like the Iraqi Abdulrahman Abolahab, a former footballer who has worked as a sports coach in the Arlon refugee camp (Belgium) and who has learned about the possibilities offered by sport to facilitate the integration of young people, will be heard. Havva Ilde Ekmekci, technical advisor of the Turkish Ministry of Sports and Youth will also participate by explaining a project with under 30-year-old Syrian refugees, present in Turkish territory, a group especially vulnerable to falling into the hands of ISIS and the radicalisation of extremist ideologies.
The Slovenian Youth technician, Urnan Lozeg, will make known the experience "Sport as an alternative to enjoy the evening", a programme where alternative spaces to alcohol and drug consumption are offered where to practice sports such as volleyball, badminton or archery.
Also the Spanish technician Juan Garrido will talk about a project that the Asturian entity 'Asociación Cultural Youropía' is developing jointly with entities from England and Germany and that use football as a tool to work on the issues such as migration, hate speech and inclusion.
On behalf of the Balearic Islands, the representative of the University of the Balearic Islands, Pere Antoni Borràs, will be in charge of explaining the programme "We put values on sport" implemented by the Government of the Balearic Islands with the objective of reducing and eradicating violent behaviour or contrary to fair play. Likewise, the Mallorcan high-level sailing athlete Maria Bover will explain her reflections on how sport facilitates social inclusion.
