1,030,000.00 dinars collected for the support to the programme “Improving the mental health of children and young people”

Novi Sad, 10 September 2022 – UNICEF’s traditional Fair Play half-court basketball tournament was held yesterday at the PE “Sports and Business Centre Vojvodina”. The organization of the tournament was supported by the PE “Sports and Business Centre Vojvodina” and UNICEF’s traditional partner VODAVODA.

The tournament gathered the following companies: Continental Automotive Serbia, ProCredit banka, Exlrt, Intens, CIS, NIS, Mad Head Games, Express Trans and OTP banka.

1,030,000.00 dinars were collected from the companies’ registration fees. The funds are intended for the further development of the programme “Improving the mental health of children and young people”, that UNICEF is implementing with its partners in Serbia.  

The winner of the tournament in Novi Sad is NIS. Continental Automotive Serbia came in second, while the OTP banka team won the Fair Play Award. 

“We are glad that we could support UNICEF’s campaign for improving the mental health of children and young people as a company, because we believe that their mental health, as much as their physical health, is a prerequisite for them growing up into healthy people who believe in themselves. At the same time, we are extremely proud of our employees, our colleagues who took the initiative and responded to the invitation to play in the tournament. I would like to congratulate all the participants and companies that showed responsibility towards the community and participated in this event”, said Sasha Cioringa, General Director of Continental Automotive Serbia from Novi Sad.

UNICEF’s Fair Play tournament is a traditional sports event that brings together the business community in Serbia to support programmes for children and young people implemented by UNICEF Serbia.

“I would like to thank all the tournament participants, and all the partners who helped organize the tournament. Novi Sad is the home town of the 3x3 basketball world champions. That is why it is our great pleasure that the business community teams gathered in Novi Sad to demonstrate their skills in this sport. Our joint goal is to support young people together and ensure efficient services that will help them cope with challenges that can affect their mental health”, said Vesna Savić Đukić from UNICEF.

Almost one in four young people worldwide struggle with a mental health problem. There are even more of them who encounter numerous daily challenges that can lead to such problems. The situation is similar in Serbia as well. That is why UNICEF and its partners have launched the programme “Improving the mental health of children and young people”. The online platform “Everything is OK” was developed within the programme and it helps adolescents and young people aged 13 to 24, as well as all their caregivers, to find useful information on pressing issues in the lives of young people and proven ways to resolve them.