Football for health prevention

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso
Start date 01/01/2019
End date 12/31/2019
Cost of the project €412,000
Foundation funding €181,249,20
Project identifier AFR - 2018491
Partners Streetfootballworld
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

The issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) involves complex social, cultural and gender-specific factors. Since that practice contributes to the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, eliminating FGM is also an essential step on the road to achieving other sustainable development goals (SDGs), including targets relating to health and well-being, high-quality education, safe motherhood and economic growth, all of which are underpinned by work that empowers women and girls. It is clear, moreover, that the struggle against HIV/AIDS requires a far greater focus on women, since the reasons for women’s particular vulnerability to HIV are complex and varied. Indeed, social obligations and the lack of dialogue between men and women remain persistent barriers to the containment of both FGM and HIV.

With all of that in mind, this project focuses on female empowerment, education and the life skills of marginalised young people (both male and female).

Project content

This project offers low-threshold access to safe spaces where girls and young women can open up, build trust and acquire the knowledge they need to lead healthy, autonomous lives, ultimately acting as an important vehicle for change. We use football as a way of engaging in a sustainable manner with an extremely hard-to-reach target group: vulnerable children between the ages of 10 and who are living in areas that are particularly affected by HIV/AIDS and FGM. That target group will be given comprehensive information relating to sexual health, personal rights, and the risks and realities of both HIV/AIDS and FGM via a fun, innovative and educational football-based programme. The project will seek to engage with young people and other members of the community through training sessions, football festivals, discussions and workshops, and these activities will be delivered with the support of local multipliers. Educators and coaches will be trained to deliver HIV/AIDS and FGM-related football activities in their own local communities, and they will be given extensive support in this regard. Activities will be implemented in cooperation with health facilities, community centres, sports clubs and other local organisations with a view to providing information, testing and appropriate counselling to a wide audience.

 

Objectives

The UEFA Foundation for Children, streetfootballworld and the various local partners are aiming to achieve the following objectives:

  • Local partners acquire competence and expertise in a controlled organisational environment and systematically anchor the Football4Good method within their respective organisations. Those partners take responsibility for implementing project activities for disadvantaged children and adolescents and develop the skills needed to teach the Football4Good method at local/regional/national level.
  • 3,000 participating children and young people learn to protect themselves and others against health risks such as HIV/AIDS and the practice of FGM.
  • 40 volunteer multipliers establish civic structures and independent training courses where health messages are conveyed. In addition, 20 young programme alumni between the ages of 18 and 35 serve as mentors for a new generation of volunteers, further improving their own knowledge and skills, which they can then pass on.
  • Parents, siblings, teachers of participating children and adolescents, and decision-makers from the worlds of politics, religion and civil society gain knowledge about innovative approaches to health education as regards FGM, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and sexual/reproductive health/rights. As part of this, knowledge transfer will take place through target groups’ participation in community festivals.
  • The concept of ‘quality management’ is developed and implemented in project operations, laying the foundations for its future use outside West Africa.

Project activities

  • Thus far, 3,000 children between the ages of 10 and 18 (30% of whom are girls) have participated in at least 60% of all weekly training sessions in project locations in West Africa.
  • 70% of those 3,000 children have gained knowledge about FGM, the prevention of HIV and sexual/reproductive health/rights through their participation in such training sessions.
  • Participants have access to a sheltered forum where they can engage in open discussions about sexual/reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, FGM and health education in general.
  • At least 70% of the 40 volunteer multipliers have successfully completed their training and received their certificates.
  • At least 70% of those 40  multipliers are running weekly local education and football training sessions, providing simple and effective health messages to more than 3,000 young people.
  • Five high-impact festivals have been successfully implemented with a view to engaging with communities, families and local stakeholders as regards health education (FGM, prevention of HIV/AIDS, sexual/reproductive health/rights, etc.), gender equality, football and life skills.
  • 80% of local partners have reported an increase in their competence and expertise as regards the implementation and assessment of Football4Good
  • In cooperation with local stakeholders, a sustainability strategy for safe spaces (community pitches) is being developed and put in place in Dano, Burkina Faso, to ensure that usage remains in line with the project’s developmental objectives in the longer term.

Expected results

  • Health education: Reduction in new HIV infections and a decline in the incidence of FGM in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast through (i) the delivery of football-based life skills training sessions which improve knowledge and encourage positive behavioural change, and (ii) the training/education of multipliers, who communicate the project’s values, activities and methods to children and peers in their own communities.
  • Establishment of safe spaces: Building of football pitches, which creates a safe space for young people and the broader community, underlining football’s ability to foster behavioural and social change.
  • Quality assurance: Establishment of a quality management process that supports the implementation of programmes in the West African region and serves as a basis for the design and implementation of Football4Good projects in general.

Partner

Girl Power at the Football Foundation

Location and general information

Terminé
Location South Africa
Start date 12/01/2018
End date 12/31/2019
Cost of the project €133,000
Foundation funding €25,000
Project identifier AFR 2018489
Partners Grootbos Green Future Foundation
Categories Personal development

Context

The Football Foundation of South Africa, which is subsidiary of the Grootbos Green Future Foundation, was founded in 2008. Its aim is to build a network to reach large numbers of beneficiaries through local schools and the community in South Africa (in the area between Stanford and Gansbaai in the Western Cape). Most South Africans attend schools that are overcrowded and under-resourced. Few qualify for university and very few can afford tertiary education. The aim of the project is to empower South African girls by giving them improved opportunities in football, other sports and life skills, along with a better, sustainable future, improving their position in society. Young girls are particularly vulnerable and disempowered in low-income communities. The town of Gansbaai is situated in a rural area with an exceptionally high rate of unemployment and characterised by an influx of migrant workers from neighbouring Eastern Cape. Unemployment and a lack of parental guidelines often result in young girls having to take on parenting roles in spite of their young age.

Project content

Educational initiatives include the grassroots soccer HIV/Aids programme, female empowerment programme, Dibanisa environmental education, food for sport and various life-orientation curriculums that are developed using football and other sports terminology to illustrate and consolidate life skills and learning. Programmes are tailored to girls and boys in two age groups. For children up to 6 years, there is a programme that develops gross motor skills; for children from 6 to 19 years there is a programme for afterschool training and opportunities in football, hockey, athletics, rugby, netball and canoeing in Gansbaai, Stanford and Hermanus.

Additional guidance programmes are provided for over 1,300 high school students a year to help them with subject choices and career guidance.

The female empowerment programme is essential in reaching out to young girls who are, in the organiser’s opinion, increasingly difficult to reach through sport once they become teenagers.

Objectives

To empower vulnerable young girls and teenagers by giving them access to sport, educational programmes, environmental awareness and health programmes.

Project activities

  • Female empowerment
  • Excursion
  • Self-defense course
  • Inclusive integration camp
  • Grassrooths soccer HIV testing
  • Multiple sports trainings, camps and tournaments

Expected results

  • Increase attendance among girls from age five and into their teenage years
  • Increase the number of girls who attend the female empowerment programme from 20 in 2018 to 60 in 2019
  • Increase the number of girls who attend Rock the Boat canoeing from 11 in 2018 to 20 in 2019
  • Increase the number of girls who take part in football, rugby, hockey, netball, track and field, cross country from 2,286 in 2018 to 2,500 in 2019
  • Increase the number of girls attending swimming from 77 in 2018 to 100 in 2019
  • Organise a girl power tournament to coincide with International Women’s Day

Partner

Malawian Youth Kicks Back

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Malawi
Start date 01/01/2019
End date Ongoing
Cost of the project €240,000
Foundation funding €54,886
Project identifier AFR-2018652
Partners SIMAVI
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

The UEFA Foundation for Children’ support will help develop the sporting dimension of the project, which aims to combat the gender stereotype, that women are inferior to men, in Malawi. As a consequence, girls and young women feel vulnerable and are often the target of sexual and gender-based violence.

Project content

The Centre for Alternatives for Victimised Women and Children (CAVWOC) organises sports activities, such as football and karate, to bring vulnerable girls and boys together in a setting of greater equality.

The goal is for the children to learn mutual respect, develop self-esteem and start a process of resilience. Combining sports training with information on sexual and reproductive health rights will help girls and boys protect themselves.

If the girls play football with boys, the masculinity related to the game will disappear. This will give an enormous boost to their self-esteem and will be one step towards breaking the gender stereotype. Sport will help the girls to work in a team and develop their objective-setting skills. Working with coaches, trainers, and teammates to win games and meet objectives is great practice for success later in life. Sport will also make them better able to accept defeat and emerge stronger from it. Being a team player will make it easier for them to work with others and resolve issues, whether on the field or in their personal lives.

CAVWOC will set up 12 girls’ football teams and organise a football tournament, inviting successful national female players to take part. This experience will boost the girls’ feeling of empowerment.

CAVWOC has run a pilot programme to teach the girls karate, and it has increased their self-esteem and confidence and even the boys are more understanding and treat the girls equally. In addition, the karate training helps them to defend themselves.

In addition to the sports activities, boys and girls will take part in the information campaign about sexual and reproductive rights. We aim to reduce the inequalities and power imbalance between boys and girls. We believe that men and boys are not only part of the problem in gender imbalance, but also part of the solution. This is one way to increase solidarity with girls. Male champions can influence their peers about how boys and men can support girls.

Beneficiaries:

  • 1,000 vulnerable children aged between 16 and 18 living in rural areas
  • More than 76% are girls
  • Around 5% are disabled children
  • 5% are orphans
  • 25% live in difficult social contexts

Objectives

The overall objective is to reduce the number of women and children that encounter rights violations in Malawi. The project provides infrastructure and support to enable communities to acknowledge and value the laws that protect and allow all women and children to live healthy lives and sustain themselves financially.

A society in which women and children feel safe and protected from gender-based abuse and are economically strengthened.

Project activities

  • Educate 30 boys and girls on sexual rights and health (SRH) and a gender-transformative approach (GTA).
  • Support girls’ football
  • Raise awareness of teen pregnancies and gender equality
  • Teach girls karate
  • Train girls in leadership
  • Communication with international female football stars

Expected results

  • 15 girls and 15 boys trained in SRH and GTA
  • 8,000 youngsters taught awareness of teen pregnancies and gender equality
  • 12 girls’ football teams set up
  • 30 girls taught karate
  • 30 girls trained in leadership skills
  • Nationwide campaign on female empowerment with the support of international female football players

Partner

Tusobola

Location and general information

Closed
Location Uganda
Start date 01/01/2019
End date 12/31/2020
Cost of the project €250,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier AFR-2018270
Partners Right To Play
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Kampala has an estimated population of over 1.5 million according to the 2014 national census. It has 62 informal settlements that are home to 560,000 families, most of which do not meet minimum humanitarian standards for access to water, shelter and sanitation facilities. The impact of poor sanitation, coupled with the lack of hygiene knowledge and bad practices, is evident in Kampala, especially among low-income households.

According to a Right To Play assessment report, Kamwokya is one of the most poorly planned and congested settlements in Kampala. The quality of public sanitation is still poor and there is a serious lack of sewer systems. It is estimated that fewer than 10% of the residents make use of these systems, while the rest use on-site or collective sanitation facilities with a few well-maintained public toilets. Kamwokya has both public and private health service providers, public and private education services at primary and secondary level, and no public tertiary education institution. The teacher-to-pupil ratio remains as high as 1:110, reducing access to effective and quality teaching that caters for children’s needs, especially girls and vulnerable children, contributing to the high youth unemployment rate in the city.

Based on studies carried out by the Uganda Youth Development Link and other organisations, the key challenges in Kamwokya include child prostitution, high school drop-out rates, high teenage pregnancies, child labour, drug abuse, youth unemployment, absolute poverty, poor health services, child abuse and limited education opportunities for most children and teenagers. These challenges also negatively affect overall community development.

Project content

The Tusobola (Improving Quality Education through Sport and Play) project aims to enhance the quality of children’s education in Kamwokya. In a series of training courses, school teachers and community coaches from youth associations will be equipped with the tools to run regular, good-quality sport and play-activities. These activities will enhance the life skills of the child beneficiaries, and address issues of child protection, gender equality and health. The project will take a proactive approach towards engaging community stakeholders (parents, caregivers, education authorities, community-based organisation, local leadership) to address barriers to education and positive youth development in Kamwokya.

Objectives

Right To Play uses sport and play as a way to develop life skills and increase knowledge in children and teenagers, so that they are well equipped to rise above their challenges. The Right To Play methodology comprises several manuals of football for development, positive child and youth development and play-based learning. This approach ensures that:

    • children and teenagers learn football skills through age- and developmentally appropriate activities while gaining important life skills;
    • they learn how to make better life choices;
    • positive attitudes, values, and behaviours are promoted;
    • children have access to good quality education in a supportive environment, using play-based learning.

Project activities

The project will comprise the following key activities:

  • Train 40 teachers in gender-responsive play-based methodologies. Teachers will attend a series of courses, be monitored continuously, and take part in themed workshops to meet specific needs. This professional development approach contributes to the project’s sustainability;
  • Train young people to become football coaches in partnership with the Ugandan Football Federation (FUFA);
  • Build networks of teachers so they can exchange information about good practices;
  • Raise parents’ awareness of the benefits of play-based learning;
  • Teach girls about menstrual health and reusable sanitary pads;
  • Organise regular sports and play activities in schools and communities to give children the opportunity to learn life skills, such as self-confidence, communication and leadership outside the classroom;
  • Organise stakeholder and community review meetings to share best practices and project progress;
  • Advocate for healthy and positive learning environments by ensuring that environment-related health risks are minimised or avoided altogether.

Expected results

  • Children and teenagers engage in regular sport and play-based learning activities
  • Teachers and coaches are trained in child-friendly and participatory play-based learning, gender equality and creating a positive learning environment
  • Improved school attendance rates among children and teenagers
  • Partner schools have an established safe and positive learning environment

The programme is expected to benefit 3,500 youngsters aged 6 to 18, 40 teachers and 20 coaches, as well as parents, caregivers, and other community members in Kamwokya.

Partner

Using football to end child marriage and FGM in Tanzania

Location and general information

Closed
Location Tanzania
Start date 02/01/2017
End date 01/31/2020
Cost of the project €824,000
Foundation funding €39,186
Project identifier AFR-2018571
Partners Plan International UK
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Tanzania has one of the highest rates of child marriage globally, with over 37% of girls married before their 18th birthday. Early marriage not only has a significant impact on girls’ health, well-being and personal development, but every year more than 8,000 girls in Tanzania drop out of school due to child marriage and pregnancy. Moreover, the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is closely tied to marriage in Tanzania. Complex social pressures can force girls into having the procedure, but it can be extremely dangerous. To give girls a future beyond an early marriage, and to enable them to say no to FGM, they need help in claiming their rights and changing the minds and attitudes of their communities. In this context, Plan International UK has set up a project to work specifically in the regions of Geita and Mara. In Mara 40% of girls are subjected to FGM; significantly above the national average of 15%.

Project content

We are seeking to create real change in people’s attitudes towards girls and young women, to enable these individuals to exercise their rights and to have the potential to be more than just a wife or mother. To do this, we will engage the support of decision-makers and seek to change the minds of those in charge.

Additionally, in order to include the most at risk and most marginalised girls, namely those who have dropped out of school, the project is working with village leaders to identify girls living in remote areas with disabilities and without parental care. Girls are at the heart of this project. We will be working directly and extensively with them to give them the skills, knowledge, attitudes and power they need to make their own choices.

Objectives

With the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, and by engaging young people through football, the objective is to help girls raise their voices against the traditions which affect their rights. Reaching young people through peer support and young women through vocational training, we will work to create lasting change in several communities by engaging with men, women, leaders and government officials. The ultimate goal is to use football to end child marriage and FGM in Tanzania, as well as to empower girls and young women.

 

Project activities

  • Build a support network for girls by setting-up 49 girls’ clubs in 31 schools with the aim of creating a safe and supportive space for girls who are likely to face the challenge of traditional harmful practices.
  • Encourage girls to raise their voices by delivering training in life skills to members of girls’ clubs during sessions, helping them to build self-esteem and self-worth.
  • Bring issues onto the football pitch and into the open. 40 coaches (30% female) will be trained to deliver football drills for 1,470 girls and 620 boys. The events will use football to spark discussions and boost knowledge about early marriage and FGM. Generally speaking, football will be used to attract support.
  • Turn influential women into champions of change. We aim to secure the support of female decision-makers and empower them to raise their voices against harmful practices.
  • Give vulnerable girls the chance to earn a living. In parallel with working alongside influential women, 160 of the most marginalised girls and women aged 15-24 will take part in a livelihoods development scheme. They will be trained in starting their own businesses and with their own independent income they will be better-equipped to negotiate the pressures of early marriage.
  • Help communities support young people to reject FGM and early marriage. We are seeking to create real change in people’s attitudes towards girls and young women, so that these individuals can exercise their rights and have the potential to be more than just a wife or mother. To do this, we will engage the support of decision-makers and endeavour to change the minds of those in charge.
  • Effectively engage with communities and gain government support. To achieve real and lasting change, it is vital that local leaders work with the project. We will meet with the key decision-makers at district, ward and village level to introduce the project and ensure their support. We will make everyone aware of the relevant policies and laws about children’s rights and examine the impact of early marriage and FGM on girls and their communities.
  • Strengthen and support local systems for protecting girls. This will be achieved through establishing and supporting child protection teams at government level, collaborating with these teams to maximise their effectiveness, and influencing the government’s decisions by working closely with national and district authorities.

Expected results

In total, 1,470 girls will be helped to raise their voices against the traditions which affect their rights. Through peer support networks we will reach a further 2,100 young people, and 160 young women will be provided with vocational training.

Overall, the objective is to create lasting change in 31 communities by engaging with leaders and government officials. The project has been developed with local partners and has a clear definition of the roles and responsibilities, thus ensuring sustainability of the aims and achievements. The expected results will be to spread awareness, knowledge and support among young people, and girls and women will be empowered to make informed decisions about child marriage and FGM.

Partner

Good Health and Well-being through Football

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Lesotho
Start date 06/01/2019
End date 06/01/2020
Cost of the project €244,210
Foundation funding €122,105
Project identifier AFR-2018543
Partners Kick4Life
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Over the last few years we have become aware that the various health challenges facing young people in Lesotho are interconnected and that there is a need for a holistic approach to health education.

These challenges include the following:

  • HIV is prevalent in Lesotho and young people are vulnerable to infection due to a culture of multi-partner relationships, pressure to have sex at a young age, a lack of access to HIV testing and counselling, stigma and discrimination.
  • Drug and alcohol abuse are another key driver of new HIV infections.
  • Both poverty and food insecurity contribute to the propagation of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and respiratory illnesses.
  • Poor standards of hygiene lead to the spread of preventable communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.
  • Road accidents kill or injure more than 1,500 people every year in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho.

The young people taking part in the programme come from a range of underprivileged and vulnerable backgrounds including:

  • Street children
  • HIV+ youth
  • Orphans
  • Teenage mothers
  • Children and teenagers living in poverty
  • At-risk children and vulnerable girls
  • Children engaged in child labour

Project content

The project includes the development and delivery of a holistic and integrated health and well-being programme for 3,000 children and teenagers in the Maseru district of Lesotho, using football to engage, educate and motivate positive behaviour change.

The programme will focus on key health challenges faced by vulnerable girls and boys, including:

  • Communicable and noncommunicable diseases
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Nutrition
  • Sanitation and hygiene
  • Road safety
  • Mental health
  • Access to health services
  • Environmental protection

There will also be a strong gender-equality and life-skills component, with personal development critical to ensuring that acquired knowledge leads to sustainable changes in attitude and behaviour.

Objectives

The project will conduct a mapping exercise to identify partners in other districts of Lesotho that can be trained to deliver the programme going forward. This will ensure effective future scalability of the initiative to reach many more vulnerable young people in Lesotho. The programme will also be developed with a high level of flexibility so that it can be adapted to a variety of health challenges, offering potential for delivery by other organizations beyond Lesotho and for the most pressing health challenges in any given community.

Project activities

The programme includes the following sessions:

  1. Welcome to Good Health & Well-being through Football: A focus on building self-esteem and gaining the confidence to be active members of the programme. It considers the importance of making your own choices, building a support structure and setting goals.
  2. Tackling HIV: Covers the basics of the HIV virus and encourages healthy behaviours that prevent infection.
  3. Goal Protection: Promotes the importance of protection and prevention when it comes to sexual health.
  4. Be Fair (gender equality): Focuses on promoting gender equality, challenges stereotypes about the role of women in society.
  5. Only Girl Goals: Reinforces the importance of gender equality and valuing the contribution of women and girls in all areas of society.
  6. Nutrition & HIV: Explores how good nutrition and regular meals can boost the immune system of someone living with HIV, and how diet can support the effectiveness of medication.
  7. Healthy versus Unhealthy: Empowers participants by giving them the knowledge to judge what is healthy, and what is not.
  8. Be Healthy and Be Clean: Focuses on healthy eating and exercise and how developing healthy behaviours can reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The session also covers the importance of basic hygiene and sanitation in preventing illnesses such as diarrhoea and food poisoning.
  9. Balanced Football: Focuses on eating healthily and the importance of a balanced diet in maintaining good health.
  10. Planet Football: Focuses on the importance of protecting the environment, including topics such as recycling, single-use plastic and rubbish collections. The session includes a group discussion about how they can make a difference to the environment in their own communities.
  11. Crossbar Soap of Challenge: Reinforces the importance of cleanliness and promotes safe practices regarding hygiene and sanitation.
  12. Be Safe on the Road: Focuses on road safety, avoiding risky behaviours and encouraging safe practices when crossing roads.
  13. Traffic Football: Reinforces the importance of avoiding risky behaviours for pedestrians and the importance of crossing roads safely.
  14. Balanced Future: Brings together everything learned in the programme. Each participant is helped to develop an individual plan and goals to improve their health in the longer term.

The programme will be delivered by our experienced and inspirational coaches through local partnerships, as well as reaching out-of-school youth through an extensive network of community-based organizations and community mobilisers.

Expected results

  • 3000 children and young people complete the programme, demonstrating improved knowledge and attitude related to health
  • 3000 children and young people have improved health and well-being
  • 15 young people trained as programme coaches
  • 300 young people have improved access to health services through referrals to external health provision
  • 1000 children and young people linked to further development opportunities with Kick4Life

The project will include a robust approach to monitoring and evaluation that will assess changes in knowledge, attitude and behaviour, in line with the specific targets of SDG 3.

 

Partner

Girls’ football league: Mutola Cup

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Mozambique
Start date 02/01/2019
End date 11/30/2019
Cost of the project €200,000
Foundation funding €80,000
Project identifier AFR-2018573
Partners Futebol dá Força
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

In Mozambique 60% of the population lives below the international poverty line. Traditional social practices deteriorate the situation further; the educational system remains poor and 50% of Mozambican girls marry before the age of 18. Early marriages lead to less power in decision-making and early unwanted pregnancies, increasing the risk of maternal and child mortality. In this context, girls unfortunately have very few ways of obtaining information and support when they need it.

To improve the situation, alternative educational platforms that can reach girls need to be set up, empowering these young women by giving them knowledge and practical information on how to exercise their rights daily. The independent foundation, Futebol dá força, which uses football to empower girls is actively engaged in creating this educational platform for both girls and their community. By providing safe places and football teams with well-equipped leaders, the goal is to influence girls’ ability to improve their own future prospects.

Project content

Futebol dá força has a plan to develop a girls’ football league in Mozambique called the Mutola Cup. The football league is a structure which already exists, and it is run jointly by local stakeholders, such as the Mozambican Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ministry of Health, as well as the Mozambican Football Association. Concretely, training sessions and football matches will be organised, as well as workshops and interactive discussions on topics including life skills, children's rights and sexual and reproductive health. This will create an established safe space where people, especially girls, can engage in dialogue.

 

Objectives

  • Reaching 15,000 girls (aged 11 to 15), increasing their awareness of children's rights and health issues
  • Empowering these girls to build agency and increase their self-esteem
  • Engaging community members to highlight the role they play in girls’ strategic life choices
  • Training 800 voluntary football coaches, of which 100 should be female
  • Organising football training, matches and workshops
  • Maintaining low costs, in order to integrate the project as part of everyday activities
  • Having a long-term impact, which means working closely with the national structures

Project activities

The girls’ football teams will have several weekly training sessions between February and November. The training sessions, reaching 15,000 girls (15 to 25 per team), will take place in eleven provinces in Mozambique. In parallel, together with local stakeholders, the Mutola Cup football league will take place between April and October, as part of which girls’ football teams will play games every Saturday at district level.

Before each football game, the 800 volunteer coaches trained will facilitate a workshop with the girls on key topics linked to their rights and health with the purpose of increasing their ability to make informed decisions regarding their future. The workshop themes will be streamlined throughout the football league so that all teams get access to the same evidence-based information.

In addition to the girls' workshops and between games, the coaches will engage spectators at the football grounds. In this way, the message will also be shared with the girls’ parents, friends, siblings and other community members, meaning approximately 45,000 individuals. Here, the focus will be on how community members can apply children's rights, in particular sexual and reproductive health rights, to support girls in their decision-making processes.

Expected results

In practice, Futebol dá força will look at a number of indicators measuring the current situation and future opportunities for girls, to assess whether the expected changes in attitudes and behaviour actually take place. These indicators include:

  • girls' views of their own value (self-esteem)
  • attitudes in relation to gender equality
  • assessment of girls’ treatment by the surrounding community
  • access to educational opportunities
  • number of early marriages, pregnancies, school drop-outs and cases of abuse

The objective is to track the achievable outcomes by doing a baseline survey and monitoring the activities and their quality. Regular visits will be conducted and, at the end of the project year, a follow-up end-line survey will be conducted.

 

Partner

Solidarité aveugle ; Blind Solidarity

Location and general information

Context

The project began with keen photographer Catherine Cabrol taking pictures of blind and partially sighted children at the Institut des Jeunes Aveugles (IJA), a school for blind children in Bamako. Catherine, who is also founder of the Libre Vue (Free View) association, wanted to connect with these girls and boys in a meaningful way and help them by selling her photos to fund a project to introduce them to blind football.

Thanks to her photography and the support of benefactors, Libre Vue was able to build a pitch designed especially for blind football, which opened in October 2012.

Solidarité Aveugle (Blind Solidarity) is a sustainable project designed to promote and develop blind football activities at the IJA. Focusing on the considerable needs of the school, the project aims to improve the lives of blind and partially sighted children by using football as a force for integration and development. By visiting mainstream schools, the project also aims to raise awareness among other children and change attitudes towards disability and difference. Sport plays an educational role, promotes important values, combats exclusion, improves well-being and increases self-esteem. At the IJA, the children receive special education, but in difficult conditions and with poor infrastructure. Sports facilities are limited and the football pitch, which floods during the monsoon season, requires regular maintenance.

Project content

In 2017, Libre Vue received initial support from the foundation following the annual call for projects. This funding was used to achieve the following objectives:

  • management of the sports centre and its activities;
  • first-rate training of coaches and young players in blind football, in accordance with international standards;
  • organisation of Mali’s first blind football cup; the first official tournament in Bamako was finally held as described in the interim report
  • raising awareness of visual impairment among the young people of Bamako;
  • building of new facilities, including separate showers and changing rooms for girls and boys. This ‘house for blind football’ project was finally launched at the end of 2018 and will finish in April 2019. The part of the grant earmarked for this project was therefore used at the end of last year.
  • participation of young people from Libre Vue in the Africa Cup of Nations thanks to additional funding alongside the association’s crowdfunding campaign

Results obtained:

  • 120 young people, including 35 girls, aged between 7 and 25 benefited from the project.
  • Four weekly training sessions were organised.
  • Eleven coaches were trained by a coach and a player from the French blind football team.
  • The ten best youngsters participated in the CAN2017 in Cape Verde, winning a silver medal that enabled them to qualify for the Blind Football World Championships in Spain in 2018

At the IBSA Blind Football World Championships held in Madrid in June 2018, the Mali team finished tenth out of 16 participating nations, a remarkable performance for a first appearance.

[Photo of the Mali team at the World Championships]

On 21 April 2018, UEFA and the United Nations Office in Geneva joined forces to organise the Match for Solidarity. All the gate receipts, along with funds generated by an auction, were donated to humanitarian and development projects selected by the UEFA Foundation for Children.

Some of this income was used to provide a second payment to the Blind Football in Bamako project. Further activities are being planned for 2019 and 2020.

Objectives

  • Make blind football more accessible: annual pitch maintenance and gradual renovation of existing facilities; replacement of sports equipment (bell balls, including Youthorama mini-balls (also recently provided by your organisation), blindfolds, shirts, shin guards, bags, boots); and purchase of specific equipment for girls (sports bras).
  • Promote elite performance: support from an expert coach for competition preparation, assistance from therapists; purchase of specific equipment (treadmill, exercise bike and street workout equipment); training for referees and guides; and coach education.
  • Adapt the ‘house for blind football’ partially funded by the foundation (opening in spring 2019): furniture for the changing rooms and teaching staff offices; and energy-producing technologies (solar panels to heat water for the showers and generate electricity for the building).
  • Encourage girls: launch of an art project combining photography and a poetry competition to help partially sighted girls excel; organisation of an event at the French Institute in Bamako; and publication of an explanatory booklet.
  • Promote economic and social integration: help with clothing and mobility (white sticks, transport subsidies); awareness-raising in schools; academic support (braille paper, portable braille computers for older children); and creation of a professional integration centre involving companies in Bamako.

Project activities

  • 120 blind and partially sighted children participate in blind football activities, with access to a new building with changing rooms and showers
  • 20 youngsters are given extra support to play at elite level
  • 12 youngsters receive support with professional integration from a dedicated project manager
  • 120 young people receive general support
  • 16 girls involved in an art project

Partners

Children on the Move Uganda

Location and general information

Closed
Location Moyo, Uganda
Start date 01/01/2019
End date Ongoing
Cost of the project €296,592
Foundation funding €140,000
Project identifier AFR2018161
Partners Swiss Academy for Development (SAD), Community Psychosocial Support Organisation (CPSO, local partner)
Categories Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

The current conflict in South Sudan has led to the arrival of nearly 800,000 refugees in Uganda, the largest group of refugees in the country.[1] Uprooted from their homes as a result of the war, many refugees suffer from severe mental illness. Unfortunately, trauma victims are rarely treated on account of the focus on meeting immediate basic needs. In addition to mental illnesses, UNICEF recently reported that over 4,400 children and 2,706 pregnant women in Ugandan refugee camps were living with HIV.[2] These figures do not include undeclared cases, which could be much more numerous. It is therefore vital that refugees are given accurate information.

In addition to health issues, tensions and conflicts between the refugees and their host communities serve to amplify the difficulties faced by the refugees.

[1] UNHCR, https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/southsudan

[2] UNICEF Uganda CO Humanitarian Annual Situation Report 2018  https://www.unicef.org/appeals/files/UNICEF_UGANDA_CO_Humanitarian_Annual_Situation_Report___January_to_December_2018.pdf

Project content

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 65% of South Sudanese refugees are under the age of 18.[1] In this context, the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD), in collaboration with the Community Psychosocial Support Organisation (CPSO), wants to enable young refugees in the Moyo district to better cope with trauma and stress by increasing their resilience and self-belief and by encouraging peer support through sport and play-based psychosocial activities. A 24-month programme of supervised group sport and play activities, including non-competitive team sport, will be implemented to help them overcome feelings of stress and anxiety and develop social cohesion, trust and critical life skills. Life skills training will be expanded to include HIV/AIDS awareness, while a new environmental focus will highlight the need to maintain a clean space within the camps.

[1] UNHCR, https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/southsudan

Objectives

  • To support the most vulnerable young South Sudanese refugees living in camps in the Moyo district.
  • To offer regular sport and play-based programmes designed to help children and young people to build essential life skills, strengthen resilience and foster social cohesion between refugees and local populations.
  • To improve young refugees’ resilience and offer them sustainable livelihoods.
  • To reduce the negative psychosocial effects of war-related trauma on displaced children and young people from South Sudan.

Project activities

The sport and play sessions will be based on the ’Life Skills for Overcoming Trauma and Coping with Stress Curriculum’, which the SAD and the CPSO developed together and is being continuously adapted. In an easy-to-read format with clear objectives for each session, the curriculum document contains precise instructions for every activity, while teaching aids are adapted to refugee camp settings. Each session will be followed by an educational activity on topics relevant to the participants’ age group, such as alcohol and drug abuse, child marriage and early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention, psychosocial awareness, hygiene and healthy relationships.

Similarly, the ‘Children on the Move Uganda’ project will provide a theoretical basis for the organisation of sports programmes specifically designed for victims of trauma.

Supervised team sports (particularly football) and life skills games will continue to be used as a powerful vehicle for bringing children and young people from different social backgrounds together in a relaxed and enjoyable setting, where they can share their emotions – both verbally and non-verbally – and be distracted from their immediate sorrows and suffering. At the same time, sport and play activities will strengthen social bonds among refugees and members of the host community, and provide a positive, safe space to deal with difficult emotions such as fear and frustration.

The project will include group discussions and workshops designed to raise refugees’ awareness and understanding of the mental health problems that could result from their exposure to traumatic events before, during and after their displacement. Participants will be taught a variety of response and coping strategies.

Discussion sessions will also help CPSO psychosocial counsellors to identify more serious psychological problems, as well as problems with family dynamics that require individual, family or group counselling or referral to more specialised mental health care services.

Expected results

 

  • During phase I, the CPSO has been working in eight of the 15 camps established for refugees from South Sudan in the Moyo district. In phase II, it plans to extend its activities to two more camps and open two new safe spaces as well as five satellite playgrounds. In total, ten safe spaces and ten satellite playgrounds will be established within the ten camps. Weekly sport and play sessions for children and young people will be planned and run by a total of 20 coaches. Five additional coaches will be recruited. Sessions will be held at a convenient time for all (late afternoon) and last two hours.
  • The provision of sport and play activities in a psychosocial context requires an effective team of facilitators. To this end, the SAD and the CPSO will train existing and newly recruited coaches to run trauma-informed sport and play activities and use sport, games, drama, singing and storytelling to lead discussions on coping with trauma and daily stress.
  • Weekly sport and play sessions will be followed by educational activities aimed at children, young people and women, covering topics associated with trauma, PTSD and coping strategies. Participants will learn how to recognise the signs of trauma and PTSD, and will develop their personal understanding of coping strategies.
  • Thematic sessions will be run for children, young people, women and men on health (HIV/AIDS), peace-building and conflict resolution. This will support their general well-being, and their resilience and ability to cope in particular.
  • Individual, family and group counselling sessions will be held to provide children, young people, men and women with support and a safe place to talk about psychosocial issues and concerns. Through these sessions, participants will strengthen their support networks, improve their communication skills and find a safe place to discuss challenging issues.
  • Ten mobile clinics (one for each camp) will be equipped and ready to provide medical support for camp residents with severe mental health disorders. Patients who exhibit signs of need during sport and play or counselling sessions will be referred to these clinics.
  • Ten additional saving and loan groups will be established to give young people and men an opportunity to develop an income-generating activity.
  • Technical training (i.e. entrepreneurship and agriculture) will be provided to at least ten groups of young people, women and men in each camp to help them establish their income-generating activities.
  • Seed capital will be provided to help young people, women and men start their income-generating activities based on the training they receive.

Partner

BOPHELO KE KGWELE – “The game, The life!”

Location and general information

Context

In South Africa, physical education was removed from the school curriculum in 1994, before subsequently being reinstated, thanks to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, among other things. However, sport is generally neglected in townships such as Mamelodi, which have few suitable sports pitches and playing fields. As a result, only schools with sufficient infrastructure and financial resources are able to offer such lessons, which are essential for children’s development.

Project content

The Bophelo Ke Kgwele (The game, the life!) project offers a programme based on three pillars: educational support, sport and the development of life skills. Through extracurricular activities combining sport and education, it aims in particular to equip children with the tools they need to develop as people and reduce high-risk behaviour. The project uses football (among other sports) to drive social cohesion, personal development and children’s awareness of issues such as criminality, health, HIV/AIDS, self-esteem and high-risk behaviour (violence, alcohol, drugs, gangs, early and unprotected sex, teenage pregnancies, etc.). Most of these activities, which are supervised by six young local coaches, are held on the public Rethabile Sports Ground (RSG) and at the project’s partner schools.

IMBEWU runs the Bophelo Ke Kgwele (The game, the life!) project in partnership with Altus Sport, a local organisation that has spent almost 20 years providing youth education through sport, and four partner primary schools that host the ‘Read & Write’ educational support sessions. Aimed at children in years 1 to 4, these sessions are teacher-led, although youth leaders can also monitor the children’s progress and help them with any problems. Furthermore, since many children in Mamelodi township are malnourished, the project’s objectives now include a nutritional element, with each participating child given a piece of fruit every day (except Fridays, when the number of participants is unpredictable).

Objectives

The primary objective of the project is to use sports and educational activities to improve the life chances of children from the townships and to help them become drivers of change within their own community.

  • Improve children’s physical and mental well-being: sport gives children and young people a healthy lifestyle, and this is accompanied throughout the programme by personal development sessions spelling out sport’s intuitive lessons.
  • Support children’s general education by means of ‘Let’s Read’ sessions: enabling the very youngest children (six to eight years old) to learn to read and write in English in a stimulating environment.
  • Raise awareness and provide information about HIV/AIDS: the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS is one of the main issues addressed at these sessions, as children and disadvantaged groups in townships have to deal with this pandemic from a very young age.

Project Activities

‘Let’s Move’ sports sessions

The children participating in the project learn how to play a wide range of sports four times a week throughout the year. Every Friday, non-participants are also invited to attend open-doors events known as ‘Fun Fridays’, when sports matches and tournaments are organised.

‘Life Skills’ sessions

‘Life Skills’ sessions promote social awareness and health prevention through fun, interactive games. They start with a game that focuses on a specific life skill, which is followed by a discussion on the chosen theme. The children then participate in an activity linked to the theme, before the session concludes with a final game involving the sport and the life skill taught during the session. The sessions address social and health-related topics such as HIV/AIDS, the environment, rights and responsibilities, criminality and gender equality. Older children tackle more sensitive issues linked to sexual and reproductive health, drug use and various addictions.

Educational support

Through its ‘Let’s Read’ programme, the Bophelo Ke Kgwele project offers support with reading and writing in English to children aged between six and eight.

Camps and other weekend and holiday activities

In order to give children a chance to get away from the harsh realities of life in their township, camps are organised once a year, when they can escape, discover nature, spend time with their peers and develop a sense of responsibility by cooking, cleaning and tidying. These camps also enable the coaches to assess the children’s leadership skills.

Monthly meetings and training sessions for the six young coaches

A training workshop is held for all the coaches involved in the projects run by Altus Sport in order to provide opportunities for discussion and dialogue between the young leaders and offer them training that will help them find employment.

Expected results

Specific objective A:

Enhanced psychosocial well-being and general education for the children and teenagers participating in the Bophelo Ke Kgwele project.

Expected results A:

A.1         Improved social skills and behaviour among the children and teenagers participating in the project.

A.2         Improved personal skills among the children and teenagers participating in the project, as well as development in various areas such as leadership, target-setting, sense of responsibility, etc.

A.3         Improved English and critical thinking skills among the children and teenagers participating in the project.

A.4         Improved sports performance and health among the children and teenagers participating in the project.

Specific objective B:

By building partnerships, the local partner (Altus Sport) becomes stronger, more sustainable and more autonomous in the local and international contexts.

Expected results B:

B.1          Local partners (primary schools, Tshwane municipal authority and parents) are involved in the project and contribute to its sustainability and success.

B.2          Lessons learned from the experience within the partner organisation are used to improve the quality of the project.

Partners

IMBEWU, Altus Sport, Pula Difate, Zakhele, Balebogeng and Mononong primary schools, University of Pretoria

Open Fun Football Schools programme – Playing for peace

Location and general information

Closed
Location South Sudan
Start date 12/01/2018
End date 12/31/2020
Cost of the project €300,000
Foundation funding €250,000
Project identifier 2019722
Partners Cross Culture Project Association, South Sudan Football Association and Nasvick Initiative
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

After 42 years of intermittent civil war and local conflicts, the situation in South Sudan is fragile. As of 2018, this conflict had resulted in almost 400,000 deaths and the displacement of millions. Since 2014, South Sudan has been experiencing one of the most acute refugee crises in the world. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1.9 million people have been forced from their homes. The country is also facing considerable humanitarian challenges. Consequently, much of the population lacks human rights protections and is dependent on humanitarian assistance. Moreover, many children in South Sudan are traumatised by the war and do not have access to schooling or any opportunity to take part in safe, fun activities.

Project content

The Cross Cultures Project Association is collaborating with the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) to provide access to football activities for children affected by decades of war and conflict, and to contribute to peace and reconciliation among different ethnic groups. In December 2018, Cross Cultures undertook a small baseline study together with the SSFA, which revealed that only 67 boys and 48 girls aged between 6 and 15 years played football in a formal club in the Torit area, and only 71 youth teams for children under 17 and 12 female teams were registered with the SSFA in Juba (involving fewer than 1,500 persons).

Some 3,600 children now take part in weekly Open Fun Football Schools activities organised by Cross Cultures. The programme provides a friendly, joyful and non-violent environment in which people of different backgrounds can play together, along with an informal platform for educating children and youngsters in other life skills.

The project focuses on the integration of school dropouts and the large number of internally displaced children returning to their homes after many years. The activities are primarily run by youth leaders, young volunteer coaches and coach assistants.

(Note: The Covid-19 pandemic is of course impacting the programme. The number of people affected by Covid-19 in South Sudan is increasing every day. Schools are closed. Children are at home. Their movements are restricted, and they are prohibited from gathering in larger groups and playing football with their friends.

However, maintaining a lockdown in South Sudan is challenging because it is among the poorest countries in the world and households need to earn a daily income for food and other necessities. People are therefore forced to move around cities visiting locations such as markets and taxi stands, with a high risk of spreading the virus. In addition, poorer families, orphans and street children do not have access to information regarding the outbreak or proper sanitation.

In light of the above, the Open Fun Football Schools programme has been suspended and its 200 young volunteer football coaches are assisting South Sudan's health authorities, for example by providing Covid‑19 information and distributing sanitation kits directly to 1,000 vulnerable households and orphans involved in the programme and distributing information in public places. These activities were not originally included in the programme.)

Objectives

The Open Fun Football Schools programme aims to mobilise and train 200 young men and women to run activities that contribute to peaceful inter-ethnic relations, improved livelihoods, health, gender equality and the protection of the environment and natural resources. The project focuses on the inclusion of orphans and internally displaced people and returnees in Torit and Juba communities.

Project activities

  • A train-the-trainers seminar will be held for Open Fun Football Schools instructors on how to use grassroots football to encourage integration, peaceful inter-ethnic relations and social change.
  • A two-day capacity-building seminar for voluntary coaches as well as on-the-job training will be run by the youth football instructors and international CCPA staff.
  • A five-day Open Fun Football Schools course will be offered for vulnerable, socially vulnerable and isolated children.
  • Training and coaching will be provided to football instructors, coaches, assistant coaches, parents and older children on how to include hygiene, sanitation and Covid-19 awareness campaigns in the programme.
  • The young volunteer coaches will hold health and hygiene training on Covid-19, water-borne diseases and other related illnesses, which are among the leading causes of human suffering and death in South Sudan.

Expected results

  • At least 40% of the children involved in the programme must be girls and a minimum of 50% of the participants must be orphans, children from poor families or other out-of-school children.
  • Sixteen young people are to be trained to become instructors and football instructors.
  • The 16 football instructors are to recruit 96 volunteer coaches and 96 volunteer assistant coaches.
  • Some 2,000 children aged between 6 and 12, of whom a minimum of 50% are to be girls, are to take part in five-day Open Fun Football Schools courses, with eight festivals to be held.
  • The Open Fun Football Schools approach is to be formalised and implemented, providing a sustainable support structure for volunteer-led sports activities.
  • The young football instructors and coaches are to be trained in health and hygiene.
  • A further 194 voluntary coaches and assistant coaches are to be trained by the instructors in health and hygiene.

Partners

Giving youth and peace a sporting chance on and off the field

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Kenya
Start date 01/01/2019
End date 12/31/2019
Cost of the project €134,400
Foundation funding €114,000
Project identifier AFR - 2018289
Partners Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), streetfootballworld, East Africa Cup, Laureus Sports for Good Foundation, Noracta
Categories Personal development

Context

The Mathare area is one of the largest and poorest slums in Africa and home to around half a million adults and children. Over 70% are hardworking single mothers and their children, whose fathers have died or have abandoned their family. One of the problems in providing help to Mathare and other slums is that there are so few studies and facts available. When the United Nations collects statistics they use only two categories, urban and rural. The slums with their urban poor are hidden inside the urban statistics; just as the slums are a hidden part of the city, so few visitors ever see them. Yet in Nairobi and many other big cities in Africa, more than half the population lives in slums. The highest levels of unemployment, crime and illiteracy can be found in the slums.

Health Status

The Mathare and neighbouring slums are densely populated and all around there is uncollected rubbish, human waste and blocked drainage systems. As a result, chronic diseases such as malaria, cholera, tuberculosis and dysentery are easily spread, and outbreaks wreak havoc among the population living in the slums.

Sickness and death is the greatest concern for those working to support Mathare. People cannot afford proper health treatment due to limitations in the health services available. Water is also a big problem in the Mathare slums and neighbouring areas. Clean water is sold in 10-20 litre containers and some people struggle to afford these. The use of dirty water causes infections and diseases.

Vulnerable populations

In Mathare and the surrounding areas young people and children under 18 years old are the most likely group to contract HIV/AIDS or get caught up in crime, drugs or alcohol. The factors behind this include a lack of education, a lack of income-generating opportunities, and cultural norms and practices that limit their opportunities to benefit from social and economic development. Alcohol abuse has also contributed significantly to the increase in numbers of young people having unprotected sex, which in turn has increased the number of sexually transmitted infections.

Project content

The Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is a community development organisation that uses sports to engender broad socio-economic development, while also effecting positive social change. Founded in 1987 as a self-help youth sport and community development organisation, MYSA has, to date, grown to be the largest youth sport and community development organisation in Africa. Over 1,500 football teams are registered, playing over 15,000 league matches a year in over 16 communities (zones) covering 11 sub-counties in Nairobi County. This means there are over 25,000 young people signed up as members. MYSA is recognised as an example of excellence within the sport and development world, especially in addressing social issues.

MYSA has continued to use sports activities, particularly football, as innovative and effective ways to get young people involved in helping themselves and their communities. In addition, over the years the organisation has expanded its activities to include other sports, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, health education, photography, youth rights, youth employability, leadership awards, a leadership academy programme and community libraries. The organisation has also replicated the MYSA model in Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya, as well as in Botswana, Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda. In total, the organisation has directly impacted over 200,000 young people over a period of 30 years.

One of MYSA’s most distinctive qualities is the fact that it is owned and managed by the young people themselves and that it is genuinely a community-driven organisation, with the average age of the MYSA officials, volunteer leaders and coaches being just 15-16 years old. But despite their age, these young leaders have benefited from MYSA programmes and have amazing enthusiasm, dedication and drive to continue the work of the organisation.

Objectives

  • Encourage peace-building by increasing the participation of young people in sports.
  • Produce effective and efficient sports administrators and leaders through training courses.
  • Create partnerships with local and international schools, colleges and other institutions.
  • Create learning opportunities for players through local and international youth exchange programmes and raise awareness about disability issues within the community.
  • Ensure that the community members living in Mathare and neighbouring slums are aware of the importance of environmental conservation and contribute toward fighting climate change.
  • Improve the quality of local playing fields in order to reduce injuries during MYSA activities.
  • Document all MYSA activities, design and publish MYSA brochures, newsletters and an annual report.

Project activities

  • Registration of teams and members, where mutual understanding and friendship is cultivated.
  • Election via a democratic process of 144 leaders who can coordinate the leagues in the 16 zones.
  • Engagement of young people in football leagues and building their environmental awareness while providing safe spaces for them to discuss and enhance peace in their communities.
  • Equip young leaders from the leagues with both football and life skills, as well as building their capacities in different areas, including photography, coaching and refereeing, among others.
  • Bringing the top achievers from the 16 zones together to share their best practices, enabling them to bond and learn from each other.
  • Both teams and players will earn points for actively and successfully completing a scheduled community service activity (which could be, among other things, opening up the closed sewerage system, levelling the playing fields, cutting grass or planting trees).

Expected results

  • Registration of 1,850 teams and over 26,900 members.
  • Over 10,000 matches played and all statistical reports provided.
  • Election of leaders in league committees, sports, community service and executive councils.
  • 72 sports, community service and executive council meetings.
  • Annual MYSA championship and film festival.
  • Engage 22 personnel in the implementation of the project activities.
  • 32 clean-up activities, building a tree nursery and more than 600 trees planted.
  • Develop and repair two playing fields a month.
  • Transport clean up equipment for all 32 scheduled community service activities.
  • Increase environmental awareness in all 16 MYSA zones.
  • Treat all injuries arising from activities related to the sports leagues.
  • Establish four new partners to support the activities.
  • Offer 24 activities, two a month for children with disabilities.
  • Two local and one international educational tour for children with disabilities.
  • Purchase stationery, sports and communication equipment and materials.
  • Train 72 members and young leaders on environmental issues, film and photography.
  • Four media briefings and a press conference.
  • Two local and one international tournament and exchange programme.
  • Report to the UEFA foundation after six months (interim report) and at the end of the year (final report).

Partner

Field in a box – Cape Town

Location and general information

Context

Following the successful installation of Field in a Box football pitches in Madrid, Spain and Mragowo, north-eastern Poland, the UEFA Foundation for Children decided to continue its work with FedEx, which has financed the construction of a new pitch in Cape Town, South Africa. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld helped to identify the location for the pitch and to select local charity Oasis FC to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use and positive impact.

Project content

The UEFA Foundation for Children has been running the Field in a Box project since 2016, the aim being to provide an enclosed, fully functional artificial football pitch to communities in need. The system is environmentally sustainable and quick to install.

Objectives

By promoting this project, the UEFA Foundation for Children aims to improve the lives of young people and breathe new life into disadvantaged communities. By providing opportunities to play football, the foundation endeavours to promote children’s health and support their personal development, while instilling in them the values of football, such as respect and team spirit.

Founded in 2000 as a football club providing opportunities for young people living on the streets to play, Oasis has evolved into an organisation that creates development opportunities for its local communities. The Oasis football club consists of six junior teams, a women’s team and two senior teams, and coaches must ensure players participate in life skills sessions as they progress through the various divisions. The primary focus is on using the ‘football for good’ and football3 methodologies to discourage young people from anti-social behaviour and to improve their life skills.

The construction of the new pitch will enable more ‘football for good’ activities to be organised, namely football club training, football3 matches after school in the local community, training sessions for other local NGOs, friendly games played at night and an annual football tournament to raise awareness of HIV.

Expected results

  • Organising football training using the football3 method
  • Developing concepts and studies to promote the continued use of football as a medium for social integration
  • Maintaining and ensuring sustainable use of the pitch by generating income through the formation of a corporate league
  • Organising an annual football tournament to raise awareness of HIV
  • Over the next year 7,800 participants are expected, 800 of whom will be taking part in the ‘football for good’ programmes organised on the Field in a Box pitch

Partners



Logo street football world

Protection, education and reintegration of street children in Bangui and Brazzaville

Location and general information

Context

According to the 2016 United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report, the Republic of the Congo is ranked 135th out of 188 countries, while the Central African Republic is bottom of the list (2016). The humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic and the endemic poverty in the Republic of the Congo are affecting highly vulnerable young children, including those living on the streets of Bangui and Brazzaville. These children can end up sleeping rough for many reasons. Whether it is a result of a forced marriage, economic pressure or fear of a ‘child witch’, these children are demonised and left to look after themselves on a day-to-day basis.

Project Content

Triangle Génération Humanitaire is an international solidarity organisation that helps to fight poverty in the world. In Brazzaville and Bangui, it hopes to develop prevention tools aimed at protecting vulnerable children. To this end, mobile teams of social workers and nurses go out into the streets of the capital cities of the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic on a daily basis. By offering them a listening ear and psychosocial and medical assistance, the multidisciplinary teams guide the children towards suitable support structures. They also organise sports, games and other leisure activities using sports equipment made available to the children.

Objectives

  • To provide psychological, social and medical assistance to street children in Brazzaville and Bangui
  • To promote the social reintegration of vulnerable children:
    • by providing them with support and access to suitable services such as foster families or reception centres, which will all receive financial compensation
    • by offering them education provided by specialist local institutions
    • by offering them vocational training (in baking, weaving or repairing) provided by local instructors
  • To reunite broken families by providing support and mediation between children and their families
  • To help juvenile offenders in Brazzaville by offering them:
    • sports activities to help them learn values such as discipline, respect and hard work in order to prepare them for their release from prison
    • education sessions on high-risk activities such as prostitution, drug abuse and crime. These will be organised by the ‘Network of NGOs working with street children in the CAR’ (RFERC) and the ‘Network of NGOs working with children experiencing social disruption in the Republic of the Congo’ (REIPER)
  • To raise awareness of and educate politicians and the public sector concerning children’s issues
  • To help the project’s partners and child protection organisations, in particular by strengthening the organisational and operational capabilities of the RFERC and REIPER 

Expected results

  • 1,000 patrols carried out by mobile teams
  • Assistance given to 2,000 children
  • 23 places in foster families and 20 places in reception centres offered every month
  • 200 children placed in mainstream schools
  • 100 children reunited with their families
  • 550 visits to imprisoned minors
  • 60 education sessions for imprisoned young people
  • A three-day seminar on the protection of vulnerable children in Brazzaville

Partners

Sport for protection and social inclusion in Egypt

Location and general information

Context

By January 2017, Egypt had taken in over 191,000 UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum-seekers, 40% of whom are children. Of these children, 60% are Syrians, 17% Sudanese and 6% Ethiopians. The remainder are from Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. In 2016 the total population of concern was 50% higher than in 2015. Together with workers from other regions such as Asia and clandestine immigrants, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that the overall number of refugees and migrants in the country is probably as high as one million.

A difficult socio-economic environment, increasing living costs, discrimination and language barriers all make it difficult for refugees to integrate. Their physical safety is also cause for concern.

Limited livelihoods and a loss of hope of returning home have contributed to an increase in the number of refugees attempting to reach Europe. At the same time, the child-protection situation is alarming. In addition to the physical and psychological suffering experienced by refugee and migrant children, they are subject to gender-based violence, violence in schools and child labour, and many drop out of school. The lack of educational opportunities contributes to a sense of hopelessness and isolation.

Project Content

Target population

  • 1,500 young people (between the ages of 15 and 22) regardless of nationality, gender and refugee status, migrants and host communities. This makes an average of 150 youngsters per location, with special attention to girls (50%) and children with disabilities (when appropriate support is available).
  • 70 coaches (men and women) – 20 professionals and 50 young leaders / parents – 7 per location
  • 750 carers
  • 2,000 local community members – 200 per site

Project location

Terre des Hommes will run this project at ten sites within the governorates of Greater Cairo and Damietta:

  • in the seven existing family centres
  • in mobile units – youth centres, public spaces, community schools

In its sport for protection and social inclusion programme, Terre des Hommes focuses on community support for refugees and migrants, children and young people, as well as vulnerable Egyptian communities. Sport, and football in particular, plays an important role in healing and helps people cope with physical health issues as well as social, psychological and developmental needs, especially young people who suffer stress and anxiety as a result of their displacement.

The programmes provide a safe, structured and friendly environment for children to share their emotions, strengthen social cohesion, and reinforce educational messages. Girls and young women have the opportunity to take part in sports activities from which they were previously excluded. Recently, activities have been extended to parents, to free them from their daily routine and strengthen family relationships.

Objectives

  • Design a training programme for coaches, including not only technical football skills but also soft skills such as intercultural competence, leadership, conflict resolution, team-building and communication.
  • Organise weekly sports sessions for boys and girls in a safe and child-friendly environment. Once or twice a week per location.
  • Continue to provide weekly psychological activities. The combination of artistic and sports activities has proved to be worthwhile in terms of the impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of children and teenagers. Six days a week.
  • Provide teenagers with life skills and the knowledge they need to adapt to Egyptian society. Three days a week.
  • Provide intergenerational sports activities.
  • Organise cultural and sport events. Once a month.
  • Organise football tournaments. Every six months.
  • Create awareness of child protection, social inclusion and social cohesion during the weekly sessions and campaign during sporting events.
  • Use social media for local communication, featuring short videos and success stories.

Expected results

  1. Refugees and migrant children and teenagers become active community agents to improve their wellbeing and their social inclusion
  2. Sustainable sport together with psychosocial and life-skill activities increase social inclusion and community-based protection for vulnerable children and teenagers
  3. By the end of the project, 70 local coaches, professionals and youth leaders will have enhanced their technical and leadership skills so that they can help youngsters to act as agents of change in their refugee, migrant and host communities
  4. Through social sport activities, 1,500 young people have improved their psychosocial wellbeing (self-esteem, self-confidence) and peer support, allowing them to be more confident when interacting with peers
  5. 1,500 youngsters and 2,750 parents and locals are mobilised to take part in activities that promote community and social cohesion, including gender and disability

Partners

Life Skills Curriculum Project

Location and general information

Context

More than 25 years of international and domestic insecurity and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has left very few prospects for youth development. As a consequence of this long period of instability, the population is facing health issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, malnutrition and communicable disease transmission. In this context, Promo Jeune Basket (PJB), a locally run grassroots organisation based in Goma, focuses on educating youth through basketball. PJB aims to empower youth to overcome their difficult situations by using sport as a tool for health promotion, peace and education by requiring all participants to attend school.

The UEFA Foundation for Children is supporting the Life Skills Curriculum Project. This programme will encourage young people to focus on their future, avoid risk behaviours and engage in the world with a global perspective. The course will include a range of topics, including personal health and hygiene, the importance of education, goal setting, and non-violent communication.

This project will run in tandem with the existing programmes of the organisation: basketball training that uses sport to instil the values of hard work, team spirit, discipline and respect; and the provision of school scholarships for players who exemplify these values on the court and in the community.

Project Content

Life Skills Curriculum Project is a course tailored to the needs and aspirations of the community. These lessons provide young people with a chance to learn about personal health, practice non-violent conflict resolution, increase their ability to work with others and allow a safe, open space for dialogue about the challenges they encounter in their community. These objectives are met through the five components of the course:

  1. Personal development – focus on health, hygiene and self-confidence
  2. Collaboration and cooperation – focus on conflict resolution
  3. Interpersonal communication – focus on processing and expressing emotions, as well as on public speaking
  4. Professional development – focus on goal-setting, time management and leadership development
  5. Problem-solving and critical thinking – focus on dialogue around community issues such as poverty, insecurity, domestic and sexual abuse, and peer pressure

Objectives

  • Deliver the life skills curriculum to PJB players aged 14 and older. These youngster will develop personally and professionally, learn strategies for facilitating non-violent conflict resolution, collaborate with others and practise critical thinking.
  • Train 15 young leaders (university and upper secondary students) to teach and deliver life skills lessons on and off the court.
  • Offer the life skills curriculum to over 1,200 young people in the city of Goma.
  • Create a media programme to promote the life skills programme and reach a larger number of young people in the city.

Expected impact and results

    1. The personal development classes increase young people’s confidence and leadership skills.
    2. The communication lessons prepare young people to facilitate non-violent communication and make them fluent in peace strategies.
    3. The professional development lessons prepare young people to succeed both academically and professionally.
    4. The collaboration and cooperation lessons improve young people’s ability to work in diverse groups.
    5. The problem-solving units cultivate critical-thinking skills as well as open dialogue for talking about difficult issues such as poverty and insecurity. The ultimate result of the life skills programme is that young people are helped to become active citizen leaders in their community.

Partners

promojeunebasket