Fundação Benfica organises first edition of #Diversitywins Festival

24 February 2020

Fundação Benfica welcomed over 350 children from local primary schools to Estádio da Luz today (Monday 24th February) for the first edition of the programme’s Festival to celebrate diversity.

The young people from primary schools in Lisbon took part in the education programme, combining classroom based activities with a physical activity session. The Festival, featuring several sports stations, brings together all pupils who participated in the programme to celebrate diversity and equality together.

Speaking at the Festival, Fundação Benfica’s Director Jorge Miranda said: “Although we don’t want to admit it, racism is a very serious and long-standing problem in Portuguese society. This is what we would like to emphasize during the programme.”

“It is important to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. The programme’s interactive sessions will place the youngsters in a position of weakness and will have them experience how it feels to be treated differently.”

“The various activities will raise an awareness of the unfairness of this weakness and what it takes to become a more inclusive society. In case of racism, it is not a question of weakness, it is a stigma.”

The Foundation’s commitment to the promotion of ethical values, in their community engagement projects, has been presented with a recognition. During the event, Fundação Benfica received the Flag of Ethics from the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ), certifying the ‘Show Racism the Red Card Europe’ initiative.

IPDJ Board Member, Carlos Pereira, said: “Fundação Benfica has proven, through several initiatives and projects, that the Foundation places inclusion at the core of their strategy. The ‘Kid Fun’ programme was previously awarded with the Flag of Ethics. Once again, this anti-discrimination programme deserves the recognition.”

“The team of Show Racism the Red Card Europe would like to congratulate Fundação Benfica for receiving the Flag of Ethics.” Project manager, Claudia Kreileman, continues: “We’re proud to have helped develop this powerful initiative and even more so for receiving European-wide recognition for all the hard work.”

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