Celebrating Peace with Soccer

Mercy Corps organized soccer matches in six countries to celebrate the Sept. 21 International Day of Peace.

The agency is answering the call from Peace One Day, a UK-based organization that in 2001 helped convince the UN to designate a day each year to promote peace. This year, its "One Day One Goal" campaign aimed to see soccer matches take place in all 191 UN member nations on Sept. 21.

Around the world, Mercy Corps uses sports to promote health awareness, accelerate psychological healing and promote integration between different groups.

As part of Peace Day celebrations, Mercy Corps field offices organized the following matches:

Colombia: Seven hundred youth participants, along with Mercy Corps project facilitators and community leaders, played in the main sports stadium in Cartagena, a city impacted by high levels of crime, and displacement.

East Timor:
A 60-minute match was held on the Democracy Soccer Field in Dili between teams mixing Timorese and international staff of non-governmental organizations and the UN.

Iraq:
In light of the recent high levels of tension in the city of Khanaqin between the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga, Mercy Corps organized a soccer match that brought soldiers from both sides to the field for a friendly match. The atmosphere was jovial, and the players made frequent displays of unity.

Uganda:
Matches were held with Mercy Corps, the Ugandan People's Defense Force, and local young people, as part of a peace summit organized by Mercy Corps in Pader, a district which has suffered greatly from the long conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army.

India:
Mercy Corps organized matches in Darjeeling that brought together students from different ethnic backgrounds to promote unity in diversity against the backdrop of increasingly divisive Indian politics.

U.S.:
Mercy Corps, FC Portland Soccer Academy, the University of Portland and Pacific University organized the first annual Peace One Day soccer match. Players hailing from the U.S. and abroad picked teams and battled for the "Peace Cup" at Lincoln High School in Portland.