The camp, located 70 kilometres east of capital city Amman, was officially unveiled at a special ceremony, which was attended by WTF President Chungwon Choue.

A total of 14 members of the elite WTF taekwondo demonstration team performed various aerial kicks, self-defence techniques and board breaks to those at the ceremony, which included a host of local high-ranking officials.

Choue then declared the WTF Taekwondo Academy open.

The WTF President also met with Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, International Olympic Committee member and President of the Jordan Olympic Committee, Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Prince Rashid bin El Hussein, President of the Jordan Taekwondo Federation, to discuss how the pilot programme could go alongside current Governmental initiatives in the country to help with the refugee crisis.

“The opening of this academy will, I hope, help improve the quality of life of refugees resident in this camp,” he said.

“I invite anyone in Zaatari who has an interest in physical fitness, sport or self-defence - be they young or old, male or female - to avail themselves of this facility.”

The Academy itself will include a training hall and classrooms and will help local refugees learn taekwondo.

Hong Shi-young, a member of the WTF’s taekwondo demonstration team, will train four Jordanian instructors in coaching techniques and they will then go on to teach the sport to Syrian refugees at the Zaatari and Al Azraq camps.

The WTF are due to launch a second pilot programme in Nepal in January, where Choue will visit the country along with 15 members of the demonstration team.

The THF will discharge teams of instructors to teach taekwondo to young people in refugee camps around the world, keeping them active, while aiming to instil in them taekwondo's philosophy and values of Olympism.

“The global refugee crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, and the plight of child refugees, as I have personally witnessed in recent days, is heart-rending,” Choue said.

“As an Olympic federation, it is the WTF’s responsibility to be part of the solution, and the THF is our vehicle to do that.”

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