The Palestine Association for Children’s Encouragement of Sports (PACES) launched its 2021 "Sports for Development” programme on July 1, 2021, targeting girls and boys from refugee camps and the most vulnerable areas of Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. 

After a year-long interruption due to the pandemic, the programme has returned to provide weekly football and basketball training sessions in safe spaces, free of charge, for children between the ages of 8 and 16, and also introduces life skills and values in the sessions, according to a statement from the organisation.

PACES also offers activities to enhance the children’s social development. 

These activities include community work, arts, language, entrepreneurship and cultural workshops to encourage the development of children’s behaviour, skills and academic performance and expand their cultural and educational horizons, the statement said. 

The organisation also builds young men and women’s capacities in local communities by training and hiring them as coaches to deliver the programme activities. 

PACES’s training sessions and workshops not only help these youth deliver programme activities, but they also enhance the youth’s job market employability, read the statement. 

PACES seeks partnerships with local clubs and sport centres to help them communicate with the target groups of children and coaches. In turn, PACES provides the local clubs with training courses and workshops to help the clubs develop their capacities to be part of the sustainable development of their communities. 

PACES aims to serve over 7,000 children and 600 young female and male coaches, in addition to over 110 local sports clubs in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon in the coming years, as was planned before the pandemic, the statement said.

Since its establishment, PACES has served over 30,000 children, 2,000 young female and male coaches, and over 100 local sports clubs. In addition, PACES’ programmes promote gender equality and have successfully reached and maintained a 50 per cent female participation rate, according to the statement.