The Olympic Refuge Foundation and United Nations Refugee Agency have signed a new cooperation agreement ©IOC

The Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) has committed to offering displaced young people greater support through sport, in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

An ORF project in Ukraine has also been promised to roll out this year in response to the millions in the country left internally displaced by the ongoing war.

Signed at the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Committee in Madrid, the MoU will establish a framework that allows for greater collaboration between the ORF and UNHCR in their efforts to use sport as a tool that benefits society.

It was signed as the ORF Foundation Board met to assess progress on a four-year plan approved in 2021 and aiming to provide access to safe sport for 1 million displaced young people by 2024.

It is estimated that the ORF has supported 85,000 young people affected by displacement so far, also training more than 800 coaches, in programmes across 10 countries.

As well as the project in Ukraine, new initiatives in Jordan and Burkina Faso are also planned in 2022.

Millions of Ukrainians have become refugees since Russia launched its invasion in February ©Getty Images
Millions of Ukrainians have become refugees since Russia launched its invasion in February ©Getty Images

"Our UNHCR partners have told us many times that whenever they ask refugees what they need most after food and shelter, the answer is almost always sport," International Olympic Committee (IOC) President and ORF chair Thomas Bach said.

"That is because sport is about so much more than physical activity. 

"Sport is empowerment. 

"Sport is inclusion. 

"Sport is respect. 

"Sport is health."

The Olympic Refuge Foundation claims to have reached 85,000 young people ©IOC
The Olympic Refuge Foundation claims to have reached 85,000 young people ©IOC

The ORF and Refugee Olympic Team were last week honoured with the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for Sport, with an official presentation to follow in October.

The honour seeks to "contribute to extolling and promoting those scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form part of the universal heritage of humanity and to consolidate the existing links between the Principality of Asturias and the title traditionally held by the heirs to the Crown of Spain".

The importance of agreements such as that between the ORF and UNHCR is all the more pressing following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

According to the latest figures published by the UN, more than 6.8 million Ukrainians have now fled the country as refugees.

At least 4,149 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24, but the UN believes the true figure is considerable higher.

The ORF was founded in September 2017 by the IOC, a year after the Refugee Olympic Team was created and competed in its first Games at Rio 2016.