In Santander, the Arcángeles Foundation's Sport Power2 initiative, with support from USAID and the Victims Unit, seeks to launch a second phase for the inclusion of victims with disabilities through sport, income generation and access to health.

"We have the power to overcome limits" is the slogan of the Sport Power 2 project, an initiative that was launched in 2018 and has maintained the connection of 119 people in Santander, who have participated in workshops related to lifestyle habits healthy, personal assistance devices, promotion and prevention, caregivers and self-help groups, in the municipalities of Lebrija and Puerto Wilches”.

The second phase, beginning in July, aims to continue to positively impact the lives of those affected by the conflict with disabilities, through sports, income generation and organizational strengthening, so that through disability committees and organizations of people with disabilities it is possible to facilitate the construction of public policies.

For this period, the Arcángeles Foundation, the entity that leads the project, contemplates a series of non-face-to-face strategies to facilitate access by publics of interest in the context of the emergency by Covid-19.

“We have been working since March on the virtualization of content; Regarding the sports program, virtual training sessions are being carried out, dissemination is being done through social networks, we have WhatsApp groups in the different territories to maintain direct contact with the population, by telephone the group of psychologists also It is conducting an orientation and monitoring specific cases to meet the particular needs of some members", said Adriana Rincón González, director of the Sport Power2 project.

"What we do is first invite them to learn about the sports program that is the gateway to the process. They can contact the telephone number 3175024453, where they can request information regarding the project; There is no deadline for registrations, we register people from 14 years onwards", added Adriana Rincón.

The Victims Unit, in addition to facilitating access to databases for targeting the population with disabilities, will guide those who are interested in participating and advise the population that is not immersed within the Single Registry of Victims (RUV).

In July 2018, the focus group and the Unit's International Cooperation Office managed the memorandum of understanding with Arcángeles Foundation so that the population subject to the Sport Power 2 project is 70% victims of armed conflict, with funding resources from USAID. Magdalena, Antioquia, and Caquetá will also be part of the prioritized departments for the implementation of the project for the benefit of the population with disabilities affected by the armed conflict.

(End/YUM/CMC)