From the Tatami to a New Start: IJF’s Refugee Work Through Judo

World Refugee Day puts the focus on people, not statistics, and the International Judo Federation used that moment to highlight how judo is helping refugees rebuild their lives. In the IJF’s view, this work is not a side project. It sits at the heart of judo’s mission as envisioned by Jigoro Kano Shihan in 1882.

Through its Judo for Peace Commission, the IJF has spent years developing long-term programmes for refugees and displaced communities. That work is carried out with national federations, local authorities, NGOs, private partners and organisations including UNHCR and UNOCT. The message is simple but powerful: judo can offer more than sport.

Across local clubs, national federations, continental unions and the IJF itself, the judo community works to create places where refugees are welcomed, not just included. Training sessions become spaces to learn, share experiences, rebuild confidence and recover a sense of belonging. The support also goes far beyond the tatami, with education, safeguarding, social assistance, infrastructure and long-term opportunity all part of the picture.

A strong example is Judo for Peace South Africa. There, refugees and members of host communities train together through the commitment of local clubs and coaches. The result is more than technical progress. The IJF describes environments where barriers linked to language, nationality and culture begin to fade, while friendships, leadership and social cohesion grow.

For many young refugees, the tatami is a place to feel normal again.

The same idea runs through refugee camps and settlements in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Türkiye. In these settings, judo gives children and young people a structured space to learn discipline and respect, build confidence and connect with host communities. The tatami becomes more than a sporting area. It becomes a stable point in lives marked by displacement.

In Zambia, where Judo for Peace activities have been in place since 2016 in Meheba, Mayukwayuka and Mantapala, the programme has built partnerships with national authorities, UNHCR and sporting organisations. The construction of dedicated dojo facilities, supported strongly by the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, has helped provide regular and structured judo education.

In Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp and Zimbabwe’s Tongogara Refugee Camp, young refugees from different countries come together through judo and also interact with local communities. They do not only learn techniques and skills. They also take on the values of friendship, courage and mutual respect, while participating in demonstrations, educational activities and environmental initiatives.

That point matters. The IJF stresses that refugees are not only receiving support. They are also contributing to the communities around them.

Judo is presented here as a pathway, not just a programme.

Some refugee judoka have even reached the highest levels of competition. The IJF Refugee Team has appeared on the World Judo Tour, and refugee athletes have also competed on the Olympic stage. For the federation, those moments show that displacement does not define a person’s ceiling when support and opportunity are in place.

Today, the IJF is also active within the Sport for Refugees Coalition, adding judo’s voice to wider global efforts around protection, inclusion and development. On World Refugee Day, its message was clear: through a shared tatami, a bow and a community, judo can help people build a future again.

Source: IJF.org

Image source: IJF / International Judo Federation