On Saturday 14th of April, only a few hours after the derby between Red Star and Partizan in Belgrade and just a few kilometers away, “Peace Football Cup“ was held, organized by Refugee Aid Serbia and the Consortium, created by the organizations Care, Caritas Serbia, Oxfam and Red Cross. The cup gathered 16 teams from all Serbia: teams of refugees and migrants from the Asylum centers of Krnjaca, Bogovadja, Kikinda, Sombor, Adasevci, Banja Koviljaca, Obrenovac, the team of the Commissariat for the Refugees and Migrations of the Republic of Serbia and local Belgrade teams.

The team of the Asylum center Bogovadja, which was accompanied to the tournament by Caritas Valjevo, despite of a good play, with one victory and two defeats, failed to reach the semifinals. The team with the best football skills was the one of the Commissariat for the Refugees and Migrations, which managed to defeat the local team Yugo 55. Still the final winners of the tournament were all its participants, players, judges, organizers and the audience, which spend a spring Saturday afternoon sending a message of peace, equality and tolerance.

The work of the Consortium, of which are part Oxfam Italia, Caritas Serbia, Care and Red Cross of Serbia is financed by ECHO (European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, through the project “Humanitarian Food Assistance for refugees hosted in governmental centres in Serbia “.

The European Union with its Member States is a leading global donor of humanitarian aid. Through the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), the EU helps over 120 million victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, ECHO provides assistance to the most vulnerable people solely on the basis of humanitarian needs, without discrimination of race, ethnic group, religion, gender, age, nationality or political affiliation.