Kabubu - L'amitié par le sport (Kabubu - Friendship through sport)

Exclusion, isolation, prejudice and language barriers are only a few of the challenges displaced populations face when settling into a new country.
Kabubu set out to tackle the problem of including displaced people socially and economically through sports in France.
Kabubu’s solution is innovative because community and relationship-building are at the heart of our activities and we co-create our solutions and programs with the help of our resident and displaced people communities and involve them as much as possible in the life of the organisation and its development.
Besides, even though inclusion through sport is not a new concept, Kabubu is a pioneer in terms of conceiving an engaging path leading displaced people from occasionally participating to sport activities to becoming professionals in the sport industry.
Kabubu's strength lies in its multicultural community, and in the fundamental belief that each individual brings a richness to their peers and to society.

Problem addressed

Displaced people face many obstacles to integration in their host country, including exclusion, social isolation, language barriers and access to rights (housing, health, etc.).
Kabubu's actions focus on combating the social isolation and economic vulnerability of displaced people through sport.

Kabubu strives to help displaced people integrate into French society by creating social links with local people, developing a sense of belonging to a community, and acquiring and developing useful skills in the sporting arena.

In our association, we believe that their integration does not depend solely on the actions of displaced people. The host society also has a role to play in facilitating this integration. That is why we have dedicated a section of our association to raising awareness of the challenges of migration. We are also a driving force in establishing partnerships with local and state bodies to develop integration schemes for displaced people. Our aim is to mobolise the society around this issue.

Innovative solution

Kabubu carry this mission through four primary pillars :
- Free weekly sport activities open to both locals and displaced people, carried out in a safe environment (both mixed gender and 100% female sessions)
- Educational programs using sports as a tool to build social skills and acquire cultural codes and skills
- Vocational and linguistic training for displaced people leading to careers in the sports industry
- Leading awareness-raising workshops that humanize, help explain and demystify migration

This is a 360-degree approach through which we strive to reach the widest possible range of stakeholder: citizens, associations, government authorities, institutions, humanitarian organizations. Engaging all sorts of actors is the key to achieving systemic change.

Key results and benefits

In 2023, 6 years after the creation of the association, we can confirm that the measures put in place by Kabubu are having a positive impact on the integration of displaced people.

First, Kabubu has develop branches in other french cities where the need has been noticed. We open two branches in Lyon and Strasbourg.

Weekly sport activities and programs of social inclusion :

About the sporting activities organised by Kabubu and thanks to a community of dynamic and committed volunteers, we have been able to record 12,939 registrations across the 3 branches (9,743 registrations recorded in Paris, 2015 in Lyon and 1,182 in Strasbourg), with an overall breakdown of 60% displaced people and 40% locals. We were also able to involve members of our community in 1,070 one-off and unifying sports events.

Thanks to these activities, we achieve to create a community unify by sport interest and friendships.

Professional training courses

Kabubu's training and support programmes for professional integration are aimed at refugees and local people who are far from employment. Their aim is to provide professional training in the sports and entertainment professions, complemented by language and digital support and social and professional support to ensure as many positive outcomes as possible.

Kabubu has deployed 5 different training courses in 2023, representing 58 learners (23 in Lyon and 35 in Paris)

Awareness-raising workshops:

These workshops are run by trained refugee people and help to create paid employment opportunities and diversify Kabubu's resources (services). In 2023, 490 people were sensitised and we organised 82 workshops in companies, associations or for the general public.

Potential for mainstreaming

After nearly 6 years of fieldwork with Kabubu, tests, new projects, opening branches, expanding the salaried team and developing the community, we are now at a turning point.
We now want to start transferring our know-how and skills to other stakeholders in order to scale up and aim for systemic change.

Kabubu has strong potential for scaling due to the diversity of actions undertaken and the formats developed. In particular:

Replication of the Kabubu model: structuring, operation, project setup
Activities: inclusive sports facilitation methodology for displaced audiences, professional training program methodology adapted to displaced people
Support and awareness: educational engineering and methodology for creating awareness workshops, dissemination of the Migration Fresk and adaptation to the local context