Location and general information
Access to Sport - 
Gender Equality - 
Healthy lifestyle - 
Personal development - 
Strengthening partnershipsContext
In 2022 the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) set about trying to understand and overcome the barriers to participation faced by women and girls, setting up a project that would address gender inequality and gender-based violence in the region.
The Pacific region faces some of the highest rates of violence against women and girls – twice the global average – with an estimated two out of every three women affected by gender-based violence. Discrimination extends onto the football pitch, with 70% of women insufficiently active and women and girls significantly underrepresented among players and in football leadership.
Football is unique in its ability to reach communities and bring individuals together across the Pacific. It is the most popular sport in the region and a high-impact, low-cost means of delivering social change and achieving our regional and international development goals.
Project goals
General
This is How We Football is designed to break down barriers to participation for women and girls and inspire a life-long engagement with the sport, supporting positive attitudes and action towards gender equality, delivering safe and supportive institutions and creating advocates for broader social change across all areas of the game.
Specific
- 15,000 girls aged 13 to 18 participating in football and receiving messages of empowerment and resistance to gender-based violence every year across the Pacific
- 30,000 boys and girls aged 6 to 12 participating in programmes that promote gender equality
- 800+ coaches exhibiting enhanced understanding and positive attitudes towards girls’ in football
- 800+ coaches, teachers and community volunteers trained in effective safeguarding for children
- Online courses on gender equality, diversity and inclusion reaching 5,000 people annually
- Safeguarding policy and focal point in all OFC member associations, and national action plans to achieve gender equality and address violence in and through football, including partnerships to enhance safe female participation
Project content
This is How We Football takes a holistic approach to achieving greater equality, by understanding needs and supporting change among players, coaches and organisations and in the community as a whole. The programme has been informed by extensive research and key activities outlined in the OFC Gender Equality Playbook.
It delivers programmes to children and adolescents that establish the knowledge, attitudes and practices needed to enhance gender empowerment, address gender-based violence and enable the participants themselves to become change makers in their communities. These activities are bolstered by training and capacity building, support for OFC member associations and other football organisations, and national and regional gender empowerment campaigns.
Partner
