The UFEC Social Action Area participated, on April 8, in the online kick-off meeting of the 2019 selected projects by the European Commission within the Pilot projects and preparatory actions in the field of sport (PPPAFS) program.
In 2019, UFEC’s SPEY (Sport for prevention of extremism in youth) project was one of the 7 selected. This initiative aims to prevent the radicalization of young people through sport and, among other actions, aims to develop a set of selection, identification and measurement tools to detect indicators of risk of radicalization. Milena de Murga, creator and director of SPEY, explained the main characteristics of the initiative, led by UFEC with 9 collaboratives partners from 7 European countries. The meeting also provided an overview of how project activity could be affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
PPPAFS are projects that combine the efforts of public bodies and non-profits entities from different European countries to identify and test new and appropriate networks, as well as good practices, in sport. Initiatives that have focused on fields such as the promotion of gender equality in sport, the fight against doping, the social inclusion of refugees and the fight against radicalization, among others.
The meeting was intended for Yves Le Lostecque, head of the Sport Unit of the European Commission, to explain the wide range of funding opportunities in the field of sport given by the commission. During the period 2014-2020, EC has allocated 265 million euros in budgets that have grown annually from 19 million in 2014, to more than 70 in 2020.
Lastly, EC technical staff detailed financial aspects of the projects, providing tools, procedures and resolution of doubts in aspects focused on the justification of expenses and other aspects related to the granting of grants.