‘Uprooted to unstoppable’: UNHCR art exhibit highlights power of football to change lives of people forced to flee

NEW YORK - As the FIFA 2026 World Cup kicks off today, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is launching an exhibition, now open to the public at the UN Visitors Lobby inside the UN building in New York, highlighting the power of football to change the lives of people forced to flee. The main exhibit - 'Uprooted to Unstoppable - is a mural painted by Canadian sports artist and human rights activist Carling Jackson, depicting UNHCR's symbolic 'Gamechanging Team' of footballers, a star-studded team of players whose lives have been personally impacted by forced displacement. The 3-metre-by-2-metre mural shows the team standing in a line-up on a pitch with their childhood selves standing in front of them. Juxtaposed behind the players on the pitch is a backdrop of war and conflict.

UNHCR's symbolic Gamechanging Team was announced on 19 May to mark UN World Football Day. It is captained by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and Canada Men's National Team captain, Alphonso Davies, who was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled war in Liberia before being resettled to Canada. Davies is joined on the team by Germany's Antonio Rüdiger - whose parents fled conflict in Sierra Leone to Germany - and nine other players, each of whom has experienced the impact of displacement, including: Asmir Begović, Ali Al-Hamadi, Eduardo Camavinga, Victor Moses, Mohamed Touré, Awer Mabil, Nestory Irankunda, Bernard Kamungo and Ermedin Demirović. Many of these players will feature on the pitches at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States that starts today.

Vancouver-based artist and former soccer player Jackson, who was at the launch of the exhibition at the United Nations building in New York today, said: "Created in collaboration with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, this work celebrates the potential within every child. I wanted to capture the child each player once was alongside the athlete they have become. These portraits reflect journeys shaped by conflict and determination, anchored by the freedom found in the game."

"This painting allows the viewer to step into the metaphorical boots of players like Alphonso Davies, Eduardo Camavinga, or Ali Al-Hamadi," Jackson continued. "Each of these eleven players' stories has been shaped by displacement, reflecting the lasting impact of being forced to flee home. Some were born in refugee camps. Others have parents who fled their homes. Some made those journeys themselves. Their lives were changed dramatically. They left everything behind except their love for football. This artwork speaks to football's ability to change lives and to become a home for those displaced by war. It is football's emotional archive. Football is freedom, and football is for everyone."

In a world beset by conflict, with over 117 million people forcibly displaced globally, UNHCR's Gamechanging Team members are united, unstoppable on and off the pitch and a symbol of what is possible when young people find safety and opportunity. They stand with UNHCR in calling for safety and opportunities for every displaced child around the world.

Alongside the mural, the exhibition showcases UNHCR's short film of the Gamechanging Team that was created by upperfast, as well as explanatory boards about UNHCR's Sports for Protection work around the globe. UNHCR delivers sport initiatives in refugee and displacement settings to support positive growth and change for young refugees and their peers, families and the broader community. These sports initiatives provide a safe and supportive environment for young refugees and displaced people, who develop skills and confidence and get positive support from peers, coaches and other adults.

For more information, visit UNHCR's Gamechanging Team webpage.

For interviews with UNHCR or Carling Jackson, images of the artwork, and photos, quotes and bios of the team, please contact:

• In London, Sarah Epstein, [email protected]
• In New York, Deanna Bitteti, [email protected]
• In Ottawa, Levon Sevunts, [email protected]

Notes to editor

- See digital images of the 'Gamechanging XI' exhibit by Carling Jackson.
- Watch the short film of the Gamechanging Team.

Information on UNHCR and Sports for protection: UNHCR works with partners to deliver sport initiatives around the world in refugee and displacement settings and support positive growth and change for young refugees and their peers, families and the broader community. They provide a safe and supportive environment, opportunities to develop skills and confidence, and ongoing positive support from peers, coaches and other adults. UNHCR and implementing partners are delivering multi-year sport for protection projects in more than 15 countries and directly engaging more than 70,000 people forced to flee and host communities in safe and protective sport. Our sport initiatives are implemented in refugee camps, settlements and urban settings around the world in locations such as Burkina Faso, Uganda, Kenya, Chad, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Ecuador and Mexico, to name a few. Sport for protection activities differ from one country to the next based on the needs of displaced people and host communities in these different displacement settings. However, sport for protection projects generally include providing regular access to safe and inclusive sport and play-based activities, supporting coaches, sport facilitators and physical education teachers, and providing access to protection services and rights-based awareness raising through events.

Artist Carling Jackson Biography: Carling Jackson of Vancouver, Canada, is a humanitarian and professional, award-winning athlete portrait artist who focuses on using contemporary art to create social change and make the world a better place. A former athlete, Jackson received a full scholarship to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and later transferred to Southern University A&M, a historically Black college in Baton Rouge, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a specialization in Black History. After competing as a high-level national and Division I football athlete, chronic injuries led her to shift direction. Through her studies in social justice, history, and art, and inspired by the story of a young Brazilian boy, she found her calling: to create art that honours lives shaped by hardship, strength, and the will to succeed against all odds. A self-taught artist, Carling has used her work as a platform to raise awareness and confront injustice around the world. From working with Syrian refugees in Canada to collaborating with Save the Children in Brazil, her humanitarian work, combined with her passion for sport, has created a unique space at the intersection of art and athletics. Carling is one of the most commissioned artists by professional athletes globally. She has created over 350 pieces for athletes across 19 leagues and 28 countries. Carling has gifted her artwork, 'Gamechanging XI', to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, for their 'More than a Game' Campaign, to advocate for safety and opportunity for young people forced to flee and showcase the power of football to change lives.