Baseball5 featured in International Day of Sport for Development and Peace initiative at Refugee Camp in Kenya
The Kakuma Refugee Camp is located in the north western region of Kenya and is home to 200,000 people, primarily from South Sudan.
Baseball5, the increasingly popular five-on-five version of baseball/softball, featured as the primary sport during the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace celebrations at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
The Peace for Development Refugees Initiative (PDRI) organized the Baseball5 activity with the support of a World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) donation.
The Kakuma Camp is home to 200,000 refugees, primarily from South Sudan. It opened in 1992, following the arrival of the Lost Boys of Sudan, a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005).
The Baseball5 activity involved kids under the age of 13.
In August 2013, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 6 April the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
The United Nations considers sport an essential investment in the present and future, particularly in developing countries. They have used it as a low-cost and high-impact tool in humanitarian, development and peace-building efforts.
"Sport has the power to align our passion, energy and enthusiasm around a collective cause," commented UN Deputy Secreatry-General Amina J. Mohammed. "That is precisely when hope can be nurtured, and trust can be regained. It is in our collective interest to harness the tremendous power of sport to help build a better and more sustainable future for all."
Earlier this year, the WBSC introduced Baseball5 at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan during the first-ever Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) Hopes and Dreams Sports Festival.
