DHAKA, April 28, 2022 (BSS) - Mobile sports library service has been launched in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps that is providing sporting facilities to the children of forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens aiming at helping them to grow up in a healthy environment.

French based Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Amsterdam-based social start-up KLABU in association with Friendship SPO, an organisation that addresses social issues in Bangladesh, launched the service in the first week of this month, said a press release here today.

The sports vehicle in PSG colours is loaded with sports equipment, including football, volleyball, badminton, cricket, foot volley (locally called sepaktakraw) as well as other popular sports of the region.

The vehicle, being run by local coaches, is allowing young girls and boys to take part in recreational activities and to enjoy a shared experience of joy, friendship and positivity.

Nearly five hundred children are getting benefit from this service on a daily basis while it is also allowing children to watch replays of international sports games or playing music world through a television set on a side of the vehicle.

This sports project has been supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and was warmly welcomed by the Rohingya camps and Bangladeshi authorities.

Sabrina Delannoy, Deputy Director of Paris Saint-Germain's Endowment fund, said: "This project is a huge source of pride for Paris Saint Germain and its endowment fund. We fight every day to make sports a source of inspiration and hope for children. Today, this know-how can benefit forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens now living in Bangladesh. We want to leave a smile on their faces, and unite Bangladeshi and Rohingya children around the same passion: sports."

Jan van H"vell, founder and director of KLABU, said: "It is a dream come true to bring together Paris Saint-Germain with thousands of boys and girls in Bangladesh. On the pitch, everyone is a champion. This is a new chapter for the Rohingya and Bangladeshi children in Cox's Bazar, playing fearlessly and proudly."

FRIENDSHIP founder Runa Khan said: "The development community has done an incredible job fulfilling the immense material needs of this community that had lost everything. But we need to do the same for their spirits and for their souls. Every child has a right to play regardless of where they are from. And we hope that this access will help them grow and develop as any child should."