As we celebrate the global refugee community on World Refugee Day today, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) wishes to reiterate its continued commitment towards humanitarian causes.

In November 2019, the BWF Shuttle Time Schools programme delivered a training course to educate Syrian refugees as badminton teachers.

The initiative was part of BWF’s efforts to further humanitarian, peace and development-supporting activities in the Middle East, combining with the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation and World Taekwondo to deliver fun activities to the many children and youth visiting the Azraq Taekwondo Academy at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan.

In January last year, the two bodies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as part of a collaboration to promote and support humanitarian and social development initiatives around the world through sport.

The Shuttle Time activation at the Azraq Refugee Camp saw two badminton experts from Badminton Africa and the Jordan Badminton Federation train six male and seven female Syrian refugees, with the long-term goal being the delivery of weekly badminton sessions by trained teachers to boys and girls in the camp.

“Badminton is a sport for all and as such we see great opportunity in uniting with our friends at World Taekwondo to provide the children and youth at the Azraq Refugee Camp avenues of sport and physical activity,” BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer said.

“BWF Shuttle Time Schools programme is the perfect vehicle to bring in additional sports and fun activities to the camp’s population.”

BWF has a long-standing partnership with the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), having launched the BWF-UN Badminton For All Project in April 2017 and partnering with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) in 2016.

Høyer added: “We are doing our jobs if badminton can contribute to a better life for others.”

BWF hopes badminton can continue providing rewarding experiences to people of different backgrounds around the globe.