Play31

Über uns

Play31 is a peacebuilding organisation founded in 2008 in New York, and the organization´s Danish section was added in 2010. Our name is inspired by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which article 31 stipulates that all children have the right to play.Play31 uses the unifying power of football to bring together people and communities who have been torn apart by armed conflict. By facilitating community tournaments and workshops focusing on human rights and conflict resolution, we contribute to the creation of peaceful societies where children can fulfill their right to play.

What we do:

• Play31´s football (soccer) tournaments bring communities together to introduce human rights, children´s rights, and conflict resolution, and to facilitate trauma healing. We work closely with local communities and plan our work with them to ensure local ownership and leadership

• Play31´s flagship initiative, Football for Reconciliation, brings together communities that have been torn apart by war. Each community in the tournament is represented by a children´s, women´s and men´s team. On a typical match day, games are played throughout the day. After the matches, players and fans get together for communal dinners, and the day ends with a big "disco" with dancing and music until sunrise. The host community allocates houses for the guests, and as such the participants end up not just playing, dining and dancing together, but even spending the night in the same village. These activities are oftentimes the first steps toward reconciliation for people who have been torn apart since the war

• Play31´s "Peace Ambassadors" educate people in human rights, children´s rights, conflict resolution, and trauma healing. We select local leaders—such as the Mami Queen, the village chief, and the captains of the football teams—and educate them to become Peace Ambassadors. They then go on to share their knowledge and skills with their friends and peers. Since we started our work in 2008, we have reached people across communities in three districts in Sierra Leone as well as in Guinea and Liberia through our Tri-Nation Tournament.

Jakob S. Lund is the Founder and Director of Play31.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.