2014-05-02
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On Saturday, April 26, more than 300 girls and boys from 32 public schools in the Federal District participated in the Junior Eurocup 2014 football tournament, which was part of the programme Futuro em Jogo: pelos direitos humanos, pelas crianças, pelo futuro (Future at Stake: for human rights, for children, for the future).These schools are located in low-income communities in the outskirts of ??Brasília. The teams wore uniforms representing the 28 Member States of the European Union and Brazil.
The event, which was sponsored by the EU Delegation in Brazil (Delbra), the Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic (SDH) and the Government of the Federal District (GDF), was co-sponsored by the EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Facility, coordinated by the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management (MP).
The head of Delbra, Ms Ana Paula Zacarias, participated in the visits to schools and also attended the event. "We reached out to the children and teachers to enhance their awareness of human rights and against various kinds of discrimination using a simple approach. And we know that these children will be multipliers of that message in their families and neighborhoods", she said. "It was also a unique opportunity for my fellow diplomats to see up close the reality around us", said the ambassador.
Indeed, the participation of diplomats from the EU member countries represented in Brasilia was inspiring for the children. The Ambassador of the Netherlands, Mr Kees Pieter Rade (photo below), for example, was welcomed as an old friend by the players of the team that represented his nation, after an earlier visit to their primary school in Santa Maria. "He showed us the countries [in Europe] – it’s very cold in some of them. He also said we have to respect people of other colours and with disabilities", said Mateus Siqueira de Souza, a 12 year-old student.
The EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Mr Stavros Lambrinidis, also attended the event and interacted with the children. "Through sport, we can celebrate the fact that our differences do not make us unequal", he said.
The national secretary for the Promotion of the Rights of the Child and Adolescent, of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic, Ms Angelica Moura Goulart, praised the interdisciplinary aspect of the programme. "It was a playful combination of education and sports activities that awakened in children the notion of respect for human rights and respect for differences. Sport in itself is a multiplier anyway", she said.
The programme’s subsequent activities, held between 5 and 18 May, at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Centre (CCBB) of the Federal District, included the display of the best drawings chosen in each of the schools on the theme of Human Rights. The three best works overall received special awards during the European Bazaar of the Cultura Inglesa, in Brasilia, on May 10.
The final score of the football tournament was a rout over all kinds of discrimination against gender, colour, creed, nationality and socioeconomic status.
Photos of Junior Eurocop are available on this link.
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