Belgrade Marathon and UNHCR Join Hands in Supporting Youth Centre “Zvezda”

Even since before the signature of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in 2022, the UNHCR and the Belgrade Marathon have been working together on the inclusion of refugees and asylum-seekers into the Serbian society through sports.

Refugees have thus ran in the annual Belgrade Marathon and the annual Women’s Race, and champion guest refugee marathon runners and members of the international Refugee Olympics Team, Yonas Kinde and  Tachlowini Gabriyesos, who scored top results in the marathon race, received the recognition for a special contribution as “Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon”. 

This year, the cooperation went a step further, when a #ForRefugees team was formed to compete in the races in the 36th Belgrade Marathon on 23 April, also contributing into a joint ad hoc fund, formed by Belgrade Marathon and UNHCR, towards supporting refugees in Serbia. Contributions were received from United Nations staff, staff of foreign embassies and international organisations in Serbia, and, of course, the Serbian citizens.  

“Zvezda” Centre in Belgrade was selected as this year’s beneficiary. The Centre cares for local youths leaving foster homes and unaccompanied and separated refugee youths, helping them find their feet upon coming of age for a period of up to two years.

The recent establishment of a new Foundation “Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon” paves the way for Belgrade Marathon and the UNHCR to establish new partnerships that will facilitate refugees’ well being and integration in the Serbian society, and all parties interested in joining in this initiative are welcome to contact:

Vera Dragović O’Donell, dragovic@unhcr.org 

Jelena Đurđević, jelena.djurdjevic@bgdmarathon.org