Play It Safe

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Thailand, Mae Sot and Phop Phra districts
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €59,079
Foundation funding €45,243
Project identifier 20230667
Partners Help Without Frontiers Thailand Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The economic impact of COVID-19 and the Myanmar military coup in 2021 amplified the vulnerabilities of the Burmese migrant population in Mae Sot. Communities face increased risks of food security, exploitation, mental health issues and unemployment. Children are particularly vulnerable, as they are exposed to risks, including mental health issues, early marriage, child labour, and limited access to sport and recreation due to security concerns.

Project goals

  • Enhance child-protection preventive and response mechanisms at the Thai–Myanmar border by providing training and resources for migrant teachers, coaches and children taking part in the football training activities
  • Challenge gender roles and social norms among migrant teachers and children at the Thai–Myanmar border through gender-sensitive child-protection and football activities
  • Strengthen mental health support for migrant children at the Thai–Myanmar border by implementing a football programme

Project content

Play it Safe addresses inequalities and risks faced by migrant communities by equipping children and adults with knowledge and skills to overcome challenges, inspire positive social change and passing these on within their communities. The project delivers integrated gender-sensitive sports activities through community-based youth coaches that promote gender equality and child protection. It also strengthens safeguarding good practices, ensuring communities have a safe and inclusive learning environment.

Partner

Girls Community League (GCL)

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Philippines, Tacloban
Start date 02/01/2024
End date 01/31/2025
Cost of the project €169,950
Foundation funding €32,975
Project identifier 20230961
Partners Fundlife International Inc.
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

In the Philippines, 4.8m children drop out of school every year, mainly due to poverty as they are forced to work. The poverty rate in the Leyte region is almost 48%, the second highest in the country after the Mindanao region. The COVID-19 pandemic had a catastrophic impact because schools were closed for over 700 days, and online education opportunities were not provided for the poor. Typhoon Rai in December 2021 aggravated access to education. School restarted in late 2022, but children have struggle to go back.

Project goals

FundLife's mission is to give every child equal opportunity and support to help them succeed. The GCL objectives are:

  • Provide children forced out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or Typhoon Rai with access to safe play and learning spaces within their communities
  • Provide them with educational support during their back-to-school journey through our Play-Believe-Achieve methodology
  • Increase girls' engagement and decision-making abilities through a girls-front-and-centre approach

Project content

Girls Community League (GCL) is the continuation of FundLife’s flagship project, which is currently running in Tacloban and Cebu. GCL is designed to alleviate the negative impact that the pandemic and Typhoon Rai had on access to education. It is a girl-focused protection/education programme based on experiential play and learning that helps children 1) return to school after a 700+ day break; 2) not drop-out later on and finish their education; 3) improve their future employability or entrepreneurial skills.

Partner

Football for Equality and Education

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Palestine, Tulkarem, Nablus, Ramallah and al-Bireh, Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Start date 12/01/2024
End date 07/30/2024
Cost of the project €30,000
Foundation funding €30,000
Project identifier 20231061
Partners Palestine Sports for Life (PS4L)
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

As a result of decades of political and economic pressure associated with conflict and oppression, Palestinian society has become increasingly fragmented, leaving many Palestinians disconnected from and unfamiliar with one another. These divides are particularly harmful for young people who are already vulnerable and in need of guidance and opportunities to develop their life skills and maintain their well-being.

Vast numbers of Palestinian children are exposed to dangers such as physical and emotional violence, sexual abuse, child marriage, child labour, political violence and conflict. Poverty, unemployment and overcrowded living conditions further exacerbate the risks to their safety and the impact of the trauma they suffer. Football-based projects are a creative approach to combating violence, abuse and neglect by strengthening institutional capacities and addressing the beneficiaries’ unique psychosocial needs.

Project goals

All children have the fundamental right to live, learn and play in a safe and stimulating environment, which has a big impact on their mental health. The project’s overall goal is to enhance the well-being of children and teenagers attending schools run by UNWRA (the UN’s relief agency in Palestine) in the Palestinian West Bank through sport and life skills activities. The programme also aims to provide an inclusive safe space where young girls, in particular, can play sports.

An additional objective is to strengthen the capacity of teachers to deliver sports-based development activities, conduct gender analyses, and ensure child protection and safeguarding in refugee camps.

Project content

PS4L works closely with UNRWA to provide essential psychosocial support and development programmes in the agency’s schools. Ten teachers will be trained in the football for development methodology, enabling them to deliver high-quality football and life skills sessions. At least 500 marginalised refugee children of different abilities, of which 70% should be girls, will be engaged and empowered through weekly football-based educational sessions on life skills and gender equality.

Partner

Flexible Education and Sports for Children out of Education System in Afghanistan

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kabul, Charikar and Bagram, Afghanistan
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €258,558
Foundation funding €75,000
Project identifier 20231088
Partners Action for Development
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Extreme poverty and food insecurity have increased in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over and banned education for girls. Poverty due to the failing economy has caused an increase in vulnerable children seeking survival on the streets doing small jobs or selling items to support themselves and their families. These children come from vulnerable families, some of which have migrated to the cities in search of better living conditions, security and food. They are employed in dangerous jobs, exposing them to abuse, illness, injury or even death.

Project goals

AfD supports street-working children (6–13 years old) by providing semi-formal education (basic literacy, numeracy, sport) and food, psychosocial support, football training, etc. We also have a class of 49 children who receive vocational training (English and computer classes). Since the education ban, AfD has set up home-based schools to provide girls over 13 years old with an education. The organisation is committed to empowering children to build their resilience.

The main objective is to provide children with quality education so that they can support themselves when they become adults. Our aim is to reduce poverty and child labour. With a rise in street-working children, AfD’s objective is to open more classes. The goals are as follows:

  • Provide access to quality education and food for 750 children (through centres for street working children and home-based schools)
  • Improve gender parity
  • Enhance opportunities for girls to gain an education through a digital learning platform
  • Increase the capacity of the vocational education and training programme to 50 students

Project content

The various activities and programmes organised to achieve the above goals are as follows:

  • Introduce a digital platform to increase access of girls above 13 years old to quality education.
  • Establish 6 education centres to facilitate enrolment of girls and street-working children.
  • Provide one daily meal, football lessons, health checks and vaccinations to street working children.
  • Conduct awareness sessions on the importance of education and sport for girls.
  • Increase the participation of teachers in teacher training sessions.
  • Ensure a safe learning environment for social inclusion and networking.

Partner

Kick for Hope

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Azraq and Zaatari, Jordan
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €420,000
Foundation funding €175,000
Project identifier 20231224
Partners Association Football Development Programme (AFDP) Global
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

The Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps have been hosting Syrian refugees since 2011. The refugee camps are as big as ever, and 50% of the population are children. The Kick for Hope project, established with UEFA in 2011, continues to support those children and young adults by providing meaningful football activities intertwined with social support, to harness the positive impact of sport on children.

Project goals

  • Engage with Syrian refugee children and young adults by organising football and other sports activities
  • Train and educate Syrian refugee coaches and referees and provide them with tools to run their own activities
  • Integrate a specific life skills curriculum based on the context and needs of the children involved
  • Establish football clubs within the camps
  • Empower children, cultivate leadership skills, and promote physical and mental well-being
  • Establish a Zaatari Camp Youth Club and enable members to participate in local competitions

Project content

AFDP Global has a team of coaches at the Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps who manage daily football activities for over 6,000 children and young adults. The organisation runs an education programme for the coaches to ensure they have the skills required to coach young people to the standard expected of them.

This work is bolstered by friendly competitions organised within the camps, giving the youngsters the opportunity to put their training into practice.

AFDP Global also organises activities that promote positive social change. These activities are integrated into the coaching curriculum to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge and capitalise on the youngsters’ enthusiasm for football.

The organisation also works with other NGOs in the camps, sharing knowledge and participating in complementary initiatives to encourage more football activities and improve the quality of all the activities provided.

Partners

Football for All

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Lebanon
Start date 03/01/2023
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €95,000
Foundation funding €63,500
Project identifier 2023001222
Partners Tawazon
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Lebanon has been hit by a succession of economic, health, social and political crises since October 2019, exacerbated by the huge explosion at a Beirut port in August 2020. Football for All aims to help Lebanese children affected by this crisis by providing them with access to football training centres.

 

Project goals

  • Create safe spaces where young people can play football
  • Give disadvantaged children access to structured football training sessions so that they can spend their free time on the pitch instead of falling victim to the dangers and vices that surround them.
  • Teach children football skills and instil in them its core values (working together, team spirit, fair play, mutual aid and community) while shielding them from political, religious and sectarian conflicts
  • Promote the personal development social integration of the country’s young people

Project content

Former members of the Lebanese national team, qualified as coaches, deliver three training sessions each week at five training centres across the country, each in a different region. A coordinator liaises and organises matches between the centres.

Partners

Enhancing left-behind children’s social resilience through sports

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Yunnan Province, China
Start date 03/01/2024
End date 03/31/2025
Cost of the project €100,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20230441
Partners Plan International Hong Kong
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Nearly 70% of middle school students in Jinping County, Yunnan Province, China are classified as ‘left-behind children’. These children are disproportionately vulnerable to emotional disturbances, psychological distress and other related challenges that have an impact on their physical and mental well-being and their academic performance. Girls are particularly disadvantaged thanks to ingrained gender stereotypes.

Project goals

The main objectives of this project are to help middle school students to develop their social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, to challenge gender stereotypes in sports and to bring about transformative change among girls and boys as well as their families, schools and communities.

Project content

To achieve the objectives, the following activities are planned in ten schools:

  • Conduct capacity-building training with SEL modules for school sports teachers
  • Train peer educators to build SEL skills through sports activities
  • Help and guide peer educators to organise club-based sports activities for school students with a focus on building SEL skills
  • Organise events raising awareness of gender issues among teachers, students and parents
  • Conduct girls’ football tournaments among schools, with SEL integration

Partner

FootSteps of Hope

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location India, Nagpur
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €50,821
Foundation funding €36,011
Project identifier 20230438
Partners Krida Vikas Sanstha
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

The COVID-19 lockdown caused havoc to the vulnerable psyches of disadvantaged slum children. Many became embroiled in antisocial or illegal activities, and then spent time in young offender institutions before returning to unsavoury disruptive habits on their release, which in turn often has a detrimental effect on their peers. The reason? Neither the young offender institutions nor the slums in which they live offer a conducive environment for healthy reformative activities. Consequently, these children are stigmatised and lose their self-esteem.

Project goals

  • To promote the social reintegration and rehabilitation of 350 young participants who have a history of antisocial activities or are considered to be at high risk of delinquency by giving them a safe space to play
  • Equipping the participants with basic life skills such as teamwork, communication and good health and hygiene habits to foster their personal development and self-esteem
  • To provide a platform for children to learn and play football and take part in grassroots tournaments for 350 participants

Project content

The programme uses the Sport for Development pedagogical approach to impart life skills through football training. Participating in a team sport gives delinquent and at-risk children a new focus and a better way to channel their energy, helping them to regain their self-esteem and reintegrate into society as law-abiding citizens.

Partner

Ensuring Continued Access to Education for Afghan Girls

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Afghanistan
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 01/31/2025
Cost of the project €701,644
Foundation funding €25,000
Project identifier 20230601
Partners Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan)
Categories Gender Equality

Context

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, more than 80 decrees have been issued that restrict Afghan women and girls’ rights, including a ban on the right to learn. This is an alarming violation of fundamental human rights and poses a grave threat to the progress, prosperity and well-being of the nation.

By leveraging technology, this project aims to bridge the educational gap and empower Afghan girls – both those who remain in the country and those who have been displaced – through access to high-quality learning materials and educational opportunities.

Project goals

  • Increased access to secondary education for out-of-school female Afghan students
  • Professional development and employment opportunities for Afghan women, enabling them to continue teaching virtually, whether in Afghanistan or in exile
  • Access to free, high-quality resources in Afghan languages so that students can further their education, educators can continue their careers and families can instil a love of reading in their children

Project content

The Darakht-e Danesh (DD) Academi is a collection of virtual educational tools that allow Afghan women and girls who have been cut off from conventional education to access high-quality educational resources and reach their full potential.

It consists of three virtual strands:

  • DD Library: a free repository of more than 7,000 resources on 127 different subjects in nine languages (including minority Afghan languages). With UEFA’s support, CW4WAfghan will be able to develop, translate and include new resources on nutrition, sport, inclusion, gender equity and healthy living.
  • DD Classroom: a live virtual secondary school for Afghan girls in grades 7 to 12, providing an internationally recognised qualification upon graduation. In 2024, this will be expanded to Afghan students living in neighbouring regions such as Pakistan and Tajikistan. The teachers hired are all qualified, and priority is given to out-of-work female teachers who have been denied employment in Afghanistan. All students based in Afghanistan receive ‘learning plus baskets’ (educational materials and nutritious food staples for their whole family).
  • DD Courses: professional development for educators, including DD Classroom teachers. Educators can complete a variety of online trainings, at their own pace, on a variety of topics, including virtual teaching, basic computer and digital literacy, English for beginners, an introduction to trauma, and creating gender-responsive learning environments.

Partners

Her Voice. Her Choice.

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Nepal, Lumbini Province
Start date 03/01/2024
End date 02/28/2025
Cost of the project €120,000
Foundation funding €25,000
Project identifier 20230020
Partners Atoot
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

In rural villages of southern Nepal, women and girls have no voice and are effectively excluded from life. Girls are isolated in their communities and given no decision-making power. From birth, they are expected to be nether seen nor heard, and to obey the boys and men. Their sole purpose is to become wives, mothers and homemakers.

There is an urgent need for safe, empowering spaces for these marginalised girls facing intergenerational inequalities, discrimination and injustice. The following problems in particular need addressing:

  • Child marriage: Kapilvastu district has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Nepal. 62% of girls get married between the ages of 10 and 19. The national average is 41% (Nepal Census, 2011).
  • Gender-based violence: Kapilvastu has one of the highest rates of gender discrimination and gender-based violence in the country (Nepal Census, 2011).
  • Early school dropouts: Girls’ need for education is systematically ignored and school dropouts are rampant among girls aged 11 to 14 (UNICEF). They work in servitude to their families, preparing to serve their future husband and his family.
  • Dowry system: Although it is illegal in Nepal, the dowry system is one of the most pressing issues facing girls in Kapilvastu. From birth, a girl child is seen as a burden and a liability due to the high price of dowries and, although unreported, female foeticide/infanticide is common.
  • Girls have no voice: Girls are isolated in their communities and given no decision-making power. They have no say in their own lives.

Project goals

  • Help girls break out of the vicious cycles that trap them, enabling them to make their own life choices
  • Provide multiple platforms for girls who have never had a voice to gain confidence and form empowering relationships
  • Create multiple safe spaces where girls can come together in a progressive environment to play, learn, and surround themselves with positive peers

Project content

  • Football sessions: Atoot conducts football sessions five times a week. These inclusive sessions give girls an opportunity to play sport and to meet, connect with and learn from their peers in a fun, encouraging and thought-provoking environment. The sessions focus not only on football skills but on a plethora of soft skills, offering an empowering safe space in which to be bold, take chances and gain mental, physical and emotional strength together. Girls learn about self-worth, leadership, conflict resolution, fair play, teamwork, time management, taking responsibility for themselves and their team-mates, and holistic, long-term capacity building.
  • Educational classes: Atoot organises extra classes in English, Nepali and arts & crafts five times a week to supplement the girls' studies at understaffed, often poorly taught public schools. The classes are specially designed to cater to children with different levels of literacy and continuous in-class assessments are conducted to help Atoot staff tailor the lessons to the girls’ needs. The educational classes and football sessions are intertwined, so that the girls can practise what they encounter in the classroom and on the pitch. They learn literacy, awareness, language skills, overall comprehension and alternative ways of thinking in a fun, caring and nurturing environment, increasing their educational capacity exponentially, which then encourages their families to give them more opportunities and keep them out of childhood marriage.
  • Life skills workshops: Atoot conducts life-skills workshops two to three times a week on various personal, cultural and societal issues directly affecting the project beneficiaries, as identified in discussions with the girls themselves. Topics include the girl child, gender-based violence, child marriage, human trafficking, savings, children’s rights, female empowerment, hygiene, environmental issues, etc. By broaching topics otherwise not discussed or taught in schools, families or the community, the girls bolster their capacity to break down norms ingrained in the local society.
  • Community engagement: Regular community engagement builds trust within communities and helps raise awareness and promote advocacy around the grave social and societal issues affecting the girls. We ensure that local voices are heard and opinions are valued, promoting greater acceptance in the community.

Partner

Football for All

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Vietnam
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €59,165
Foundation funding €48,306
Project identifier 20230184
Partners Football Association of Norway/Football for All in Vietnam (NFF/FFAV)
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Men and boys enjoy a sociocultural advantage among many of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, while girls – expected to grow up to be wives and mothers – are often deprived of education, forced into early marriage and given few opportunities. Despite national laws and international conventions prohibiting it, child marriage remains a widespread phenomenon in Vietnam, particularly in rural areas. Although the practice is in decline, it was estimated as recently as 2019 that 14% of women in the country had been married before their 18th birthday.

Moreover, boys benefit from a cultural preference for males rooted in customary laws and practices, such as the belief that only men can perform ancestral rites. Children see themselves and their roles and relationships through the lens of socially constructed gender norms, which directly affects their own attitudes and behaviour.

In the Quảng Tri and Cao Bằng provinces, football is perceived as being only for boys, which is a form of gender discrimination that excludes girls and limits their opportunities.

Project goals

To raise awareness of gender rights, foster equitable practices among ethnic minority groups, empower women and girls, and equip them with leadership and life skills by supporting their equal participation in a football and life skills programme.

Project content

  • Set up 15 grassroots football clubs in Quảng Tri and 15 in Cao Bằng, replicating the FFAV model developed in Hà Giang. FFAV uses football to challenge stereotypes, promote gender equality and provide all children with an enabling environment by developing school-based clubs where equal participation of girls and boys is mandatory. Training sessions are held once or twice a week and, in parallel, girls are mentored by Women Win in Goal facilitators who teach them about economic empowerment, leadership, gender rights and reproductive health. This life skills programme helps to build girls’ self-esteem and gives them positive role models and trusted women to turn to for support.
    • Train teachers, volunteers, parents and other interested locals in coaching and refereeing, as well as teaching them how to attract participants and make their clubs fun, safe and inclusive. The training takes place over four days and is delivered by the Vietnam Football Federation using its grassroots coaching manual.
    • Train female teachers as Women Win in Goal facilitators in a three-day course delivered by FFAV’s key facilitators.
  • Continue to provide technical support and football equipment to the 30 football clubs in Hà Giang province.
  • Organise 30 Fun Football Festivals where both boys and girls can play football matches as well as games teaching life skills that they might have not experienced before. These festivals are also an opportunity to promote the clubs, attract supporters and volunteers and introduce the life skills campaign to more people.
  • Hold two internal evaluation and planning workshops for all clubs using a participatory approach, whereby coaches and Women Win in Goal facilitators evaluate their club’s activities, share experiences and learn best practices. The outcomes will be documented in a final report used for advocacy and to inform the activity plan for the coming years.

Partner

Preserving children’s well-being in displacement camps in Yemen through play and sport

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Yemen
Start date 11/01/2023
End date 10/31/2024
Cost of the project €96,840
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20230339
Partners Medair
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

After nine years of conflict, more than 60% of its population depends on vital humanitarian aid. People are forced to flee, sometimes far from friends and family. As many as 4.4 million people, including 1.8 million children, live in displacement camps all over the country. Life in these camps is marked by extreme distress and precariousness, which has a negative impact on well-being and mental health, especially of children who are the most vulnerable.

Project goals

Improving and preserving the well-being and mental health of children living in two displacement camps, through sport and play activities.

 

Project content

  • Improving playing areas for children aged 0 to 6. We run sessions focused on mother-child interactions through activities, and develop positive parenting and stress management to provide caregivers with the tools and knowledge to stimulate early child development.
  • Establishing and running sports and recreational activities for children aged 7 to 13 to promote psychosocial well-being, a sense of security, and social cohesion.
  • Handing the management of the places and activities over to trained community leaders and facilitators to enable play areas to continue after the project ends.

Partner

Inclusive football based education for disabled children

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Indonesia, Jakarta
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €30,000
Foundation funding €20,000
Project identifier 20230282
Partners ASA Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Indonesia is now one of the world’s largest plastic waste producers, producing over 3.2 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. The country also struggles with high levels of poverty, poor health and education, inadequate sanitation and nutrition, and discrimination against women, girls and those with disabilities. These nationwide issues affect both rural and urban populations, including the 30.5 million people living in the capital city of Jakarta.

Disabled children face numerous barriers to education and consequently are less likely than their peers to start and complete school. Inclusive sport can improve their well-being and self-esteem and can transform how communities view disabled people.

Football is Indonesia’s most popular sport – played by children and adults alike – and is gaining popularity among women and girls.

Project goals

  • Improve the emotional, psychological and social well-being of beneficiaries
  • Develop a cohesive society that fights exclusion and promotes upward mobility
  • Enhance inclusive education through awareness and skills training in health, life skills, gender equality and the circular economy
  • Encourage female participation (at least 50%) to promote female empowerment and equal access to opportunities, resources, decision-making and autonomy
  • Improve access to education and learning outcomes for disabled children through inclusive sports and education development activities
  • Achieve a cleaner, greener society by encouraging local government ministries and schools to adopt the programme’s circular economy and recycling management processes

Project content

15 male and 15 female teachers from schools for disabled children, mainly from particularly disadvantaged areas of the capital, will be selected to attend a two-day training of trainers workshop at a carefully selected special needs school in Jakarta. They will be introduced to a collaboratively designed football-based curriculum, available in both Bahasa Indonesia and English, covering life skills development and gender equality, health and well-being, the circular economy, and waste management development. They will also learn to lead simple activities geared towards long-term sustainability, such as how to recycle plastic materials to produce sports training equipment.

The teachers will then return to their schools to lead weekly extracurricular training sessions for disabled boys and girls. The teachers will be supported, mentored, monitored and evaluated by master trainers on a weekly basis and will attend a refresher training day after six months.

Partner

Mighty Members

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Cambodia, Battambang
Start date 01/01/2024
End date 01/01/2025
Cost of the project €61,400
Foundation funding €15,000
Project identifier 20220444
Partners SALT Academy
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Generation after generation of young people in Cambodia experience neglect, trafficking and abuse as a result of poverty.

Mighty Members sets out to break this cycle through education, football and mentoring, with 40 carefully selected young adults cascading the programme in their communities and creating a positive cycle that impacts thousands of people a week.

Project goals

Empower young people to be change makers through sport

  • Build self-efficacy
  • Promote good health, nutrition and physical activity
  • Educate and create future job opportunities
  • Instil character strengths and moral values

Project content

Mighty Members is a full-time programme designed to empower young men and women who have experienced poverty, domestic violence, abandonment, child labour and trafficking. We have 40 members – 20 male and 20 female – between the ages 13 and 20. The programme uses education, mentoring and football training to give the 40 Mighty Members real-world, marketable skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

What makes the programme special is that, as the Mighty Members rise up, they themselves take what they have learned out into their communities, coaching, mentoring and teaching life skills to others.

Partner

Kick for Trade Festival

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Basra, Iraq
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €110’814
Foundation funding €110’814
Project identifier 20220939
Partners Palestine: Sports for Life
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Iraqi children have limited opportunities to take part in projects that support individual development and foster employability. This hinders them from becoming successful and engaged individuals and citizens. 

Project goals

  • Increase employment rates among young people in Basra. 
  • Promote young people’s life skills, personal development, employment opportunities and entrepreneurship 
  • Increase the leadership skills of young leaders 
  • Improve the coaching skills of coaches 
  • Provide an inclusive environment and access to sports for ethnic minorities 

Project content

The Kick for Trade Festival is an expression of the successes of the K4T programme and has sport at its heart. 

The K4T project applies a unique approach to tackling youth unemployment by engaging young people through football. Sport acts as an entry point, offering a safe space for learning and personal development, leading on to further engagement in vocational programmes and entrepreneurship opportunities. Young people are linked to potential investors and employers from the Iraqi private sector through entrepreneurial and employability activities using Kick for Trade teams and tools.  

Football3 and the Kick for Trade curriculum sessions include adapted-rules football matches that enable the youngsters to develop and implement transferable skills that are relevant for employment, such as teamwork, leadership, communication, self-discipline and resilience. The sessions are for children and young people from ethnic minorities and from marginalised rural areas and disadvantaged districts of Basra. 

Partners

GOAL 4 ALL

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Şanlıurfa (Türkiye)
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €264,316
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20220781
Partners Bonyan Organization
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

The crisis in Syria began more than 10 years ago and represents the most challenging humanitarian situation of the century anywhere in the world. According to the UNHCR and the Turkish government, Türkiye hosts 3.69 million Syrian refugees.

Syrian migration to Türkiye began in 2011 and continued to increase exponentially until the summer of 2015. The Turkish authorities adopted an ‘open door’ policy, constructed camps in the southern provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa, and referred to Syrian refugees as ‘guests’.

An average of over 20,000 refugees arrived in Türkiye every month in 2012 as a result of the conflict in Syria; this increased to nearly 40,000 per month in 2013 and some 55,000 per month in 2014. The chart below shows how the number of Syrian refugees in Türkiye has grown since 2011.

Refugees and affected host community members are becoming increasingly vulnerable owing to large-scale protracted displacement, macroeconomic forecasts, the socioeconomic conditions, the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and demographic pressures. These interlinked factors exacerbate existing issues within communities, such as gender inequality and discrimination against refugees.

The city of Şanlıurfa hosts about 430,000 Syrian refugees, of which 70.9% are women and children, and ranks as the fourth city in Türkiye by the number of refugees. The city’s sports infrastructure capacity is low compared to the number of children, which means that many children miss out on opportunities to take part in sports in safe environments such as their schools or local sports centres. As a result, they end up finding ways to play sports in non-protected environments without any guidance or supervision. This comes with many hazards, including discrimination against refugee children, psychological distress, exploitation and abuse, the development of bad habits and even dropping out of school – which in turn can lead to other dangers such as child labour and child marriage.

Project goals

The project’s main aim is to use football, and sports in general, as a tool for promoting the peaceful coexistence of children from different communities. It does this by providing Turkish and Syrian children with regular access to sports facilities; establishing opportunities for the integration of Turkish and Syrian children – particularly girls and children with special needs – through sports; encouraging schools and physical education teachers to adopt a football3 mindset; and enhancing children’s life skills such as leadership and conflict resolution skills.

Project content

1. Establishing one A-5 mini-pitch (50m x 30m) and all related facilities, including toilets, showers, changing rooms, an office, a warehouse and lighting fixtures.

2. Training five coaches and 50 youth volunteers to teach children football skills and raise awareness of gender inequality, child protection, human rights, health, education and social cohesion.

3. Distributing 75 sports kits containing balls, ball bags, t-shirts, mobile goals, vests, etc. to sports centres in three municipalities of Şanlıurfa.

4. Setting up girls and boys football teams for children aged between 7 and 16 years old, ensuring that each team of 11 contains a mix of Syrian refugees and members of the host community.

5. Delivering football training and awareness-raising sessions to the participating 500 children.

6. Organising 150 matches supervised by coaches and youth volunteers in accordance with the football3 method.

7. Nominating members of the most successful teams to compete for national team selection, especially for the national women’s youth teams.

Partners