RSD 2,190,000 raised for improving the mental health of children and young people

Belgrade, 25 September 2022 - UNICEF's traditional Fair Play Half-Court Basketball Tournament was held at the magnificent ComTrade Sports and Event Centre in Belgrade over the past weekend.

Twenty-nine teams from the corporate sector participated in the tournament. RSD 2,190,000.00 were raised from the participation fee paid by the companies. The funds are earmarked for further development of the Improving the Mental Health of Children and Young People programme implemented by UNICEF and its partners in Serbia.

Half-court basketball teams of Imlek, OTP Bank, SAGA, L' Oreal Balkan, Brose, Delta Foundation, Delhaize, RNIDS, SBB, ComTrade, Mercata VT, ProCredit Bank, Nordeus, Yettel, NIS, Lotus Flare, Zuhlke Engineering, Robert Bosch, Asee, Mad Head Games, Things Solver and Dr. Milan Jovanovic Batut Institute for Public Health demonstrated their half-court basketball skills, fair play, team spirit and satisfaction to be able to reinforce their corporate culture through this kind of activity.

The funds are earmarked for further development of the Improving the Mental Health of Children and Young People programme, implemented by UNICEF and its partners in Serbia.

ComTrade hosted the tournament and supported the organisation of this sporting event.

"As a member of the UNICEF Business Council, I have the honour and responsibility to include the business community of our society in resolving the most urgent problems of children and young people in our country. The Fair Play Half-Court Basketball Tournament, which was held at the ComTrade Sports Centre in Belgrade last weekend, is proof that the business sector is able and willing to be involved in supporting the improvement of the mental health of children and young people. Twenty-nine teams from Belgrade, or 50 teams, including the Novi Sad tournament, donated significant funds by participating, but we should not disregard their time, good will and beautiful energy they brought with them. On behalf of UNICEF, I would to thank them very much, and on behalf of the ComTrade Group, I would like to say that it was a pleasure to be their host. Congratulations to the tournament winner for their well-deserved victory, although we are all in agreement that our biggest winners are children and young people who need this help and because of whom we were all there last weekend," said Anja Aleksic, a member of the UNICEF Business Council on behalf of ComTrade.

The tournament was also supported by the VodaVoda company. Physiotherapists from the Profizikal medical office were also on hand at the tournament.

The winner of the Belgrade tournament is NIS. The second place went to Yettel, and the third place to Saga. The Fair Play Prize was awarded to Mad Head Games, whose players made the fewest fouls and were supported by family members demonstrating fair cheering and support for the tournament.

UNICEF Fair Play Tournament is a traditional sports activity bringing together the business community in Serbia to support, through their participation, programmes for children and youth implemented by UNICEF in Serbia.

"Half-court basketball tournaments in Novi Sad and Belgrade held during September showed that the business community in Serbia is ready to participate in sports activities that have a worthy goal. I would like thank all the tournament participants, the ComTrade Group, which welcomed us at its sports centre and hosted basketball teams, as well as the VodaVoda company, which is a regular partner of UNICEF’s sports events. All of us aim to support young people together and provide efficient services that will help them face challenges that can affect their mental health," said Vesna Savic Djukic, UNICEF Private Sector Fundraising Specialist.

Almost a quarter of young people around the world are struggling with a mental health-related issue. There are even more of those who, on a daily basis, face numerous challenges that can lead to these problems. The situation is similar in Serbia. That is why UNICEF, in co-operation with its partners, launched the Improving the Mental Health of Children and Young People programme. As part of this programme, an online platform Everything Is OK has been designed, enabling adolescents aged between 13 and 24, as well as all their caregivers, to find useful information about the burning problems in the lives of young people and the verified ways of resolving them.