League of Ireland club Bohemians have launched a new away kit in partnership with Palestine Sport for Life that aims to raise funds for children in Palestine.
With the tagline “Every child has a right to play”, the Dublin club tweeted that shirt sales of their 2023 kit will give money to bring football and other sports to children in Tulkarem Camp, West Bank.
Launched with a video, it states Article 31.1 from UN Convention of the Rights of the Child saying: “States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” The initiative was commended by the official Fifa account on Twitter.
Ten per cent of the profits from the jersey will provide sports equipment to the Palestine Sport for Life project in Tulkarem. The project empowers young girls and boys to realise their right to play, through football, and helps them to develop their life skills. It also provides educational opportunities and promotes education in keeping with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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As well as providing finances to Palestine Sport for Life, Bohemians will use its social media platforms to highlight the brilliant work of the charity in Tulkarem with monthly updates and reports from the camp.
The Tulkarem camp was established in 1950 and is one of the most densely populated refugee camps in the West Bank. Built on an area of just 0.18 square kilometres, the camp has an estimated population of 21,500, and there are over 1,600 children attending school. The lack of open areas and playgrounds leave no space for children to play safely.
The jersey, which carries the Palestinian colours and a dove icon below the collar, builds on similar jersey initiatives undertaken by Bohemians in recent years. In 2020 the club’s away jersey focused on the integration of refugees in collaboration Amnesty International and in 2021 was dedicated to fighting homelessness in Dublin, in collaboration Focus Ireland and Fontaines DC.
Most recently, Bohemians partnered with the Marley Family to release a jersey commemorating Bob Marley’s last-ever outdoor gig, in Dalymount Park, raising funds to bring music and sports equipment to refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland.
