LocationAmerican Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu
Start date
03/08/2023
End date
03/31/2025
Cost of the project€1,170,904
Foundation funding€175,000
Project identifier20230422
PartnersOceania Football Confederation (OFC)
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships
Context
In 2022 the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) set about trying to understand and overcome the barriers to participation faced by women and girls, setting up a project that would address gender inequality and gender-based violence in the region.
The Pacific region faces some of the highest rates of violence against women and girls – twice the global average – with an estimated two out of every three women affected by gender-based violence. Discrimination extends onto the football pitch, with 70% of women insufficiently active and women and girls significantly underrepresented among players and in football leadership.
Football is unique in its ability to reach communities and bring individuals together across the Pacific. It is the most popular sport in the region and a high-impact, low-cost means of delivering social change and achieving our regional and international development goals.
Project goals
General
This is How We Football is designed to break down barriers to participation for women and girls and inspire a life-long engagement with the sport, supporting positive attitudes and action towards gender equality, delivering safe and supportive institutions and creating advocates for broader social change across all areas of the game.
Specific
15,000 girls aged 13 to 18 participating in football and receiving messages of empowerment and resistance to gender-based violence every year across the Pacific
30,000 boys and girls aged 6 to 12 participating in programmes that promote gender equality
800+ coaches exhibiting enhanced understanding and positive attitudes towards girls’ in football
800+ coaches, teachers and community volunteers trained in effective safeguarding for children
Online courses on gender equality, diversity and inclusion reaching 5,000 people annually
Safeguarding policy and focal point in all OFC member associations, and national action plans to achieve gender equality and address violence in and through football, including partnerships to enhance safe female participation
Project content
This is How We Football takes a holistic approach to achieving greater equality, by understanding needs and supporting change among players, coaches and organisations and in the community as a whole. The programme has been informed by extensive research and key activities outlined in the OFC Gender Equality Playbook.
It delivers programmes to children and adolescents that establish the knowledge, attitudes and practices needed to enhance gender empowerment, address gender-based violence and enable the participants themselves to become change makers in their communities. These activities are bolstered by training and capacity building, support for OFC member associations and other football organisations, and national and regional gender empowerment campaigns.
PartnersUniversity of New South Wales, Football United programme
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships
Context
Football United is a member of the Common Goal movement that unites 200 grassroots organisations that use football to promote social change, in areas such as gender equity, climate action, social inclusion and poverty reduction. An essential part of these organisations’ sustainability efforts is training and empowering youth to become leaders in the football for good (F4G) space, providing organisational sustainability, enabling the global movement to further develop and improving the impact of the F4G sector. F4G festivals enable such training opportunities.
Project goals
Festival 23 will build youth leader capacity to create positive social change in 25 communities throughout Australia with immediate practical engagement during the festival. Training from global experts will focus on the UN’s Global Goals to enhance the capacity of F4G organisations to achieve the objectives in health; education; access to sport; personal development; integration of minorities; and the protection of children’s rights.
Project content
Festival 23 will provide the social legacy for the upcoming 2023 Women’s World Cup. F4G festivals have been a way to build youth leadership capacity at every FIFA World Cup since 2006. Evaluations indicate participants increased their capacity to take on leadership roles in their respective communities after the event.
Festival 23 will bring up to 120 youth leaders from around the world together for ten days of capacity-building through F4G themed training alongside community engagement mechanisms and activities. Festival 23 is therefore a catalyst for progressive leadership development in F4G organisations, leveraging the immense power of mass football events.
1. Four days of capacity-building workshops by global experts in F4G, Global Goals themes relating to climate action, gender empowerment, health, education, employability, advocacy
2. Application of training as youth leaders will engage with 25 diverse, low socio-economic communities in football gala days
3. Fair-play tournament between teams comprising the youth leaders and Common Goal footballers
4. Increased engagement and application of acquired competencies in the participants’ home countries following Festival 23
LocationAmerican Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu
Start date
01/01/2023
End date
01/01/2024
Cost of the project€1,088,500
Foundation funding€190,000
Project identifier20220628
PartnersOceania Football Confederation
Categories
Context
Girls in the Pacific experience the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world. They also face discrimination and exclusion, with inequalities in education, decision-making processes, access to health services and opportunities to play sport. Some 70% of women and girls in the Pacific are insufficiently physically active, resulting in health issues and exclusion from the benefits of sport, including peer support, accessing new networks, leadership and other skills.
A co-design process was initiated with OFC member associations to develop female participation programmes that would meet the needs of girls and create a safe, sustainable environment to develop female footballers.
Project goals
Change perceptions among boys, girls, women and men involved in football
Empower young people to be leaders and advocates for broad social change
Train young people and coaches on gender-based violence and ensure they have access to services
Guarantee that strategies, systems and training are in place to support non-discrimination and reduce the risks of harm
Project content
This is How We Football was launched in 2022 as part of the OFC’s commitment to a long-term women’s football strategy to ensure that girls throughout the region have the opportunity to take part in football in a safe, supportive environment.
This is How We Football focuses on creating supportive environments through regional and national communication campaigns, policy and strategy development, training and delivering programmes focused on safe female participation. We are partnering with UN Women and national women’s and children’s crisis centres to offer support and education to women and girls in our region, promoting gender equality, leadership, responses to gender-based violence and training on health and hygiene. The programme includes:
Youth football programmes that provide opportunities for boys and girls to interact and change perceptions around gender roles
A girls’ (13-18) football participation programme integrating messages of gender empowerment, life skills, health and responses to gender-based violence
Regional and national communications campaigns and festivals to promote awareness of gender equality
Gender equality training and capacity building workshops for coaches across 11 member association countries
Bespoke safeguarding training for all instructors across the Pacific
Long-term gender inclusion and safeguarding action plans developed in 11 countries in respect of EVWAG (the elimination of violence against women and girls)
LocationAmerican Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu
Start date
01/01/2022
End date
01/01/2023
Cost of the project€1,150,000
Foundation funding€200,000
Project identifier20210417
PartnersOceania Football Confederation (OFC)
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development
Context
The OFC is committed to raising the profile of women’s football, breaking down the barriers to access and creating greater opportunities for participation. Sport for development is a critical component of the OFC’s approach to helping to build stronger Pacific Island communities.
Violence against women and girls in the Pacific is among the highest in the world. Up to 80% of Pacific women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime and 75% adolescent boys think that it is acceptable to beat a wife. Girls face discrimination, exclusion and inequalities, and these are exacerbated by COVID-19. Sport plays a critical role in changing perceptions and relations between boys and girls, providing a supportive and safe environment.
Project content
This project drives gender equality in and through football by facilitating interaction between boys and girls, challenging perceptions of gender stereotypes and norms of violence as well as providing the tools to develop female leaders in communities across the Pacific region. Gender equality and safeguarding strategies and training will support the sustainable and safe delivery of football for all and ensuring a lasting legacy hosting the 2023 Women's World Cup in the region.
Objectives
Change perceptions among boys, girls, women and men involved in football to promote greater lifelong inclusion and access to football
Empower youth to be leaders and advocates for broader social change
Train youth and coaches on gender-based violence and ensure access to services
Ensure strategies, systems and training are available to combat discrimination and reduce risks of harm
Project activities
Boys’ and girls’ gender integration programmes to teach vital skills and attitudes relating to gender equality and acceptance
Girls’ football programme teaching life skills, leadership and how to respond to violence and abuse
Development of gender equality training and capacity building for coaches in 13 countries
Safeguarding training for all instructors across the Pacific
Long-term gender inclusion and safeguarding action plans developed in 13 countries
Expected results
7,000 girls (13–18) participating in football with messages of empowerment and responding to gender-based violence across the Pacific
30,000 boys and girls (6–12) participating in a gender-equality promotion programme
800+ coaches with enhanced knowledge and attitudes toward girls’ participation in football across the Pacific region
800+ coaches trained in effective child safeguarding
Enhanced safeguarding awareness, with a regional campaign and 176 festivals promoting safe sport
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development
Context
The Pacific region is home to half a million children spread over 17.2 million square kilometres of ocean. These children face significant challenges as they navigate their way through daily life.
Obesity and diabetes are on the rise. Only 18% of children in Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu attend regular physical education classes, and fewer than 20% play for 60 minutes or more a day. More than 25% of children are overweight or obese at 13 years of age.
Children with disabilities experience discrimination, exclusion and social barriers; and girls are marginalised and face inequalities in education, decision-making processes and access to health services.
Children are exposed to high levels of violence at home and at school and one in four live below the poverty line. More than 40% miss school and up to 30% of those aged 15–24 are illiterate.
Furthermore, the region is prone to natural disasters, with children one of the most severely affected groups.
Through structured sport-for-development interventions, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) seeks to enhance national capacities to tackle the issues affecting children in the Pacific region, particularly non-communicable diseases, child protection, gender and social inequality, and humanitarian response.
Project content
As the most popular global sport, football has the power to influence the perceptions, behaviours and actions of children and their communities. Whether it is a training session, fun activity, kick-about or competition, children and teenagers are forced to make hundreds of important decisions, and with no two drills, kick-abouts or matches ever the same, they are given a variety of scenarios and contexts to learn from.
The OFC capitalises on this with a learning through sport approach to programme development recognised for creating low-cost, high-impact tools to achieve global development priorities. The Just Play programme promotes regular physical activity and harnesses its power to impact issues such as nutrition, disability and social inclusion to bring about positive social behaviour change. By integrating social messages into its sessions – for example, the importance of eating fruit and vegetables, the programme works to reduce regional vulnerabilities to endemic social issues.
Objectives
Build stronger, healthier communities and address the social issues affecting young people in the Pacific region.
Provide a platform through which to enhance positive behaviour, build confidence and resilience, develop fundamental life skills and enable informed decision-making in children and teenagers.
Empower children and teenagers to advocate for change and create role models to encourage active civic engagement.
Empower and engage girls, broaden their opportunities, and improve their access to football and to management and leadership pathways within football.
Project activities
The Just Play programme currently has four streams: Just Play 6–12 years, Just Play 13–18 years, Just Play grassroots and Just Play emergency.It provides children and teenagers with access to quality sports activities, educational platforms, advocacy campaigns, public dialogue, and the knowledge and skills necessary to make consistent, long-term lifestyle choices that promote health and wellness, gender equality, social inclusion and child protection.
Just Play also supports the upskilling of teachers and community volunteers to enable them to deliver programme activities. It develops partnerships with inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations to expand and enhance the delivery of football for development programmes.
Expected results
Since 2009:
317,004 children and teenagers have taken part in the Just Play programme across the Pacific region
7,198 teachers and community volunteers have been trained to deliver the programme
17,390 children and teenagers have taken part in Just Play emergency programme festivals
After participating in Just Play:
82% of children chose to drink water instead of soda (compared to 52% previously)
72% of boys said they enjoyed playing football with girls (53% previously) and 85% of children said they acknowledged and celebrated differences (65% previously)
59% of children said they felt safe in the wake of a natural disaster (24% previously)
54% of teenagers said they knew how to make SMART goals
98% of teenage boys saw their coach as a positive role model
71% of teenagers said they had someone to talk to if they had a problem or needed help and 93% said they knew what to do if they or someone they knew was being bullied
LocationGreece and more than 170 countries across five continents
Start date
01/01/2021
End date
01/01/2021
Cost of the project€100,000
Foundation funding€95,000
Project identifier20200573
PartnersYouthorama
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development
Context
There is a challenge globally to include pupils with visual impairment in physical education (PE) in general primary schools. There is generally only one type of PE class for all pupils and there are limited inclusive sports tools. As a result, pupils with visual impairment do not participate in PE at the same level as their sighted classmates. This project meets this global need and provides a sustainable solution. It supports children’s right to education and their right to play as well as Sustainable Development Goals 4 (quality education) and 10 (reduced inequality).
Project content
Youthorama’s founder invented an innovative lightweight sound ball. The unique mini ball for all children is not for sale – it is only donated. In Greece, an educational programme using the mini ball was approved by the ministry of education for all schools – both general and special – and all grades. This project aims to establish a network of schools across the world that will promote inclusive sports through this new educational package.
Sierra Leon India
Objectives
Produce and donate up to 2,000 mini blind footballs for children
Create a more inclusive society through the use of these balls as a non-formal learning tool
Educate mainstream nursery and primary schools, NGOs and public structures on inclusive sport
Create a manual of up to 40 good practices
Launch an Adopt a Ball pilot initiative for schools to raise awareness of sports for all
Establish an Inclusive Football Network across the world (currently spanning 172 countries)
Project activities
Donation of the innovative mini blind footballs – the only ones available on a global level and not for sale – to children in need and their schools across 5 continents
Designing an inclusive educational package
Delivering up to 200 sports workshops in general and special nursery and primary schools to promote personal development, empathy and inclusion
Evaluation of the project’s success in achieving its aims
Launching the Adopt a Ball campaign and promoting open four-a-side events
Expected results
100 schools in disadvantaged areas across the network delivering the educational programme
25,000 sighted and visually impaired pupils in mixed classes
500 schools registered in the Adopt a Ball network
2,500 questionnaires
500 PE teachers and volunteers using the accessible e-learning platform
3,000 participants in the open four-a-side events
2,000 mini blind footballs donated
1 social message documentary for TV
Our vision is for the ball to be heard in every visually impaired child’s home and school around the world!
LocationCook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, India, New Zealand, American Samoa, Samoa
Start date
01/01/2020
End date
04/30/2020
Cost of the project€ 600,000
Foundation funding€ 200,000
Project identifier2019615
PartnersOceania Football Confederation
CategoriesAccess to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development
Context
Football is popular, accessible, and profound in its ability to connect people and places. Seen as an incredibly powerful platform, through which to facilitate the promotion of social change, football and sport for development programmes are recognised as a low-cost, high impact tool to supporting the achievement of global development priorities.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) focuses on sport for development as part of its overall strategy to build stronger, healthier communities and address social issues affecting young people in the Pacific region.
The purpose of the Just Play programme is to reduce vulnerabilities to endemic social issues, such as the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), gender inequality and social exclusion, by integrating social messages into sessions – for example, the importance of eating fruit and vegetables. The programme promotes the importance of regular physical activity and its impact on issues such as nutrition, disability and social inclusion, to enable positive social behaviour change.
Home to half a million children spread over 17.2 million square kilometres of ocean, children in the Pacific region face several significant challenges as they navigate their way through daily life.
Health and wellness – non-communicable diseases the leading cause of death
With obesity and diabetes on the rise, research indicates that only 18% of children in Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu attend regular physical education classes, with fewer than 20% of children in these countries playing for 60 minutes or more a day. More than 50% of children choose soft drinks instead of water, which contributes to weight gain. More than 25% of children present as overweight and obese as early as 13 years of age.
Gender equality and social inclusion – prevalence of discrimination and inequality
Children with disabilities experience discrimination, exclusion and social barriers, and girls are marginalised and face inequalities in education, decision-making processes and access to health services.
Child safeguarding – high levels of bullying and violence
Evidence shows that poverty, hunger and lack of access to services remain major challenges for children in the target countries. One in four children live below the poverty line and children are exposed to high levels of violence at home and at school. More than 45% of children aged 13–15 report being bullied; 27% have attempted suicide in the past 12 months; 12% report having no close friends; and 80% of children experience some form of direct violence or abuse.
Protection risk factors are high. More than 40% of children reportedly miss school and 35% of children report that their parents or guardians do not know what their offspring are doing or where they are during their free time.
With low levels of literacy and up to 30% of young people aged 15–24 years presenting as illiterate, employment opportunities are limited, resulting in high unemployment rates among young people in the region.
Emergency preparedness and response – high risk of natural disasters
Between 2009 and 2017, the Pacific region was affected by 44 natural disasters. Vanuatu and Fiji were hit by category 5 tropical cyclones in 2015 and 2016 that affected nearly one million people, including 450,000 children. Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu accounted for 30 of 44 natural disasters that struck the region, with children constituting on average between one third and one half of the people most severely affected.
With a focus on the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, the OFC’s sport for development activities were developed to help support and reinforce national capacities to deliver results for children and children’s rights throughout the Pacific region.
Through the provision of structured sport for development interventions, the OFC seeks to reduce risk factors associated with NCDs, child protection, gender and social inequality. These efforts were extended to humanitarian response with the success of the Just Play emergency programme.
Working with key delivery partners such as the Australian government, Football Federation Australia, the New Zealand government, UEFA Foundation for Children and UNICEF Pacific, the OFC seeks to build confidence in children and teenagers and provide access to quality sports activities, educational platforms, advocacy campaigns and public dialogue through active participation.
Project content
With a ball, a coach and a safe space to play, the Just Play programme delivers football in combination with life skills messages aimed to build stronger, healthier individuals, communities and nations by addressing social issues affecting children and teenagers in the Pacific and beyond.
Through the OFC’s Just Play programme children and adolescents are empowered to advocate for change, supporting the development of positive behaviour and the enhancement of resilience among their peers and community.
Objectives
Recognising that football for development programmes are designed to champion a learning through sport approach, the Just Play programme provides an ideal platform through which to enhance positive behaviour, develop fundamental life skills and promote action-oriented learning.
Whether it is a training session, fun activity, kick-about or competition, football provides a setting within which children and teenagers are forced to make hundreds of important decisions—where the consequences matter. With no two football drills, kick-abouts or matches ever the same, it provides children and young people with a variety of scenarios and contexts to learn from.
Project activities
Through engagement in the OFC’s four social responsibility programming streams: Just Play 6-12 year programme, Just Play 13-18 year programme, Just Play grassroots and the Just Play emergency programme, the programme helps to:
Reach children and teenagers who are most at risk, providing access to information on health and wellness; gender equality; social inclusion; child protection and safeguarding; clean water, sanitation and hygiene; emergency preparedness; and life skills;
Provide knowledge and skills, promoting positive behaviours and informed decision-making among children and teenagers;
Mobilise children and teenagers through advocacy campaigns at local, national and regional levels alongside major sporting events;
Leverage partner support to ensure a synergistic and coherent response among sports for development projects and programmes;
Create role models to promote and encourage positive behaviours and active, responsible civic engagement of children and teenagers;
Engage children and teenagers in internalising the link between football and healthy lifestyle choices;
Empower and engage girls, increasing opportunities and access to football, in addition to providing concrete links to management and leadership pathways within football;
Work with inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations that have direct and frequent contact with children, teenagers and communities, and who can create a supportive and structured environment for running football for development programmes;
Develop new partnerships to expand and enhance the delivery of football for development programmes – creating a blueprint to share and promote best practices.
Just Play in numbers
Just Play is supporting the upskilling of teachers and community volunteers to enable them to deliver programme activities that facilitate capacity building, ownership and accountability in social change through a community based, child-centred approach.
317,004: The number of children and teenagers who have taken part in the Just Play programme across the Pacific region since 2009
7,198: The number of teachers and community volunteers trained to deliver of the Just Play programme in the Pacific region since 2009
17,390: Number of children and teenagers who have taken part in Just Play emergency programme festivals in the wake of a natural disaster in the Pacific region
Results
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) recognises that children who have a positive experience of sport early on are more likely to practise sport and physical activity throughout their lives.
The OFC also acknowledges that sport helps children and teenagers to develop life skills applicable both on and off the field of play.
Health and wellness
Before participating in Just Play: 52% of children chose to drink water instead of soda
After participating in Just Play programme: 82%
Gender equality
Before participating in Just Play 53% of boys reported that they enjoyed playing football with girls
After participating in Just Play programme : 72%
Social inclusion
Before participating in Just Play : 65% of children reported that they acknowledged and celebrated differenced
After participating in Just Play programme : 85%
Child protection
Before participating in Just Play : 24% of children reported that they felt safe in the wake of a natural disaster
After participating in Just Play programme : 59%
Just Play has a positive impact on children and teenagers through a sport-based curriculum that enables them to develop the life skills necessary to make consistent, long-term healthy lifestyle choices that promote health and wellness, gender equality, social inclusion and child protection, including in post- emergency contexts.
65% of teenagers report they now know how to set goals; 54% know how to make the goals SMART
98% of teenage boys in the Just Play programme see their coach as a positive role model
44% of coaches in the Just Play 13–18 year programme are women
71% of teenagers report they have someone they can talk to when they have a problem or need help
93% of teenagers report they now know what to do in a situation where they or someone they know is being bulled
Sport for Development is a critical component of the Oceania Football Confederation’s approach to helping to build stronger Pacific Island communities.
With obesity and diabetes on the rise, research indicates that only 29% of children in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu attend regular physical education classes,[1] with less than 25% of children in these countries practising 60 minutes or more of sport a day.[2] More than 50% of children choose soft drinks instead of water, which is a major contributor to weight gain. More than 27% of children are overweight and obese as early as age 13.[3]
Children with disabilities experience discrimination, exclusion and barriers to being widely accepted, while all girls are marginalized and face inequalities in education, decision-making processes and access to health services.
Evidence shows that poverty, hunger and lack of access to services remain major challenges for children in the targeted countries. One in four children live below the poverty line[4]. Children in general are exposed to high levels of violence at home and at school, and more than 50% of children aged 13–15 years report being bullied[5], 26% have attempted suicide[6], 12% report having no close friends[7], and 80% of children experience some form of direct violence or abuse[8].
With low levels of literacy and up to 30% of young people aged 15–24 actually illiterate, employment opportunities are limited, resulting in high unemployment rates among young people in the Pacific region.[9]
Between 2009 and 2017, the Pacific region was affected by 44 natural disasters. Vanuatu and Fiji were hit by category 5 tropical cyclones in 2015 and 2016 that affected nearly 1 million people, including 450,000 children. Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu suffered 30 of the 44 natural disasters that struck the region,[10] with children on average constituting between a third and a half of those most severely affected.[11]
Through the provision of structured Sport for Development interventions, UNICEF Pacific seeks to reduce the risks associated with non-communicable diseases, child protection, gender and social inequality. These efforts were extended to humanitarian response with the success of the Just Play emergency programme.
Working with key partners such as the OFC, UNICEF Pacific seeks to build confidence in children and young people and create access to quality sports activities, educational platforms, advocacy campaigns and public dialogue through active participation.
[1] World Health Organization, Global School-Health Based Survey Country Fact Sheets for Cook Islands (2015), Fiji (2016), Samoa (2011), Solomon Islands (2011), Tonga (2017) and Vanuatu (2011).
[2] Secretariat of the Pacific Community and UNICEF Pacific, The State of Pacific Youth: Opportunities and obstacles, Bluebird Printery, Fiji, 2011.
[3] World Health Organization, Global School-Health Based Survey Country Fact Sheets for Cook Islands (2011), Fiji (2010), Samoa (2011), Solomon Islands (2011), Tonga (2010) and Vanuatu (2011).
[5] World Health Organization, Global School-Health Based Survey Country Fact Sheets for Cook Islands (2011), Fiji (2010), Nauru (2011), Niue (2010), Samoa (2011), Solomon Islands (2011), Tonga (2010), Tuvalu (2013) and Vanuatu (2011).
[6] Secretariat of the Pacific Community and UNICEF Pacific, The State of Pacific Youth: Opportunities and obstacles, Bluebird Printery, Fiji, 2011.
[7] World Health Organization, Global School-Health Based Survey Country Fact Sheets for Cook Islands (2011), Fiji (2010), Samoa (2011), Solomon Islands (2011), Tonga (2010) and Vanuatu (2011).
[11] UNICEF, ‘Child-Centred Risk Assessment: Regional Synthesis of UNICEF Assessments in Asia’, UNICEF, Nepal, 2014.
Project Content
Just Play is a community-engagement Sport for Development programme developed by the OFC to improve the lives of children and teenagers aged 6–16 by means of football.
The programme engages children in a series of interactive sessions that include social messages aligned to the four key programming pillars: health and wellness, gender equality, social inclusion and child protection. Through active participation, Just Play helps children to develop healthy lifestyle habits and become confident in their abilities; encourages gender equality; promotes social inclusion; and emphasises that sport is for everyone.
The programme aims to reduce the risks associated with, and vulnerability to, endemic social issues, such as the prevalence of violence against women and children, gender inequality and social exclusion, by integrating social messages into the sessions – for example, the importance of reporting bullying and other types of violence. In doing so, the programme promotes an understanding of the importance of regular participation in physical exercise and its impact on issues such as bullying, violence and social inclusion to enable positive social and behaviour change.
Just Play also facilitates the development of critical life skills applicable both on and off the field of play, including the acceptance of rules, teamwork, respect, decision-making and fair play.
The 16-week school-based programme is delivered in primary schools during class time with the support of teachers, while the 48-week community-based programme is delivered outside school with the support of community stakeholders.
The Just Play emergency programme is now a full-scale emergency response programme that uses football to communicate critical messages about safe water, personal safety and preparedness.
Just Play supports programming activities by working with local stakeholders in areas most likely to be affected by natural disasters.
By focusing on vulnerability, the programme leverages existing content to support coping in the wake of a natural disaster, and specifically the emotional recovery of children within an emergency context.
Objectives
Just Play is run with the support of trained coaches and equipment packs containing footballs, cones, bibs, activity manuals and other resources that enable children to learn healthy lifestyle habits and social skills that focus on:
Health and wellness, by reducing the risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through healthier lifestyle decisions and choices;
Gender equality, by changing perceptions towards women and girls, and creating pathways to empower women and girls to realize their human rights;
Social inclusion, by changing perceptions towards those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity or ability, and creating equal opportunity for their full inclusion in society;
Child protection, by increasing understanding of child protection issues, and the availability of safe/protective environments, including in sports contexts, through tailored advocacy campaigns, e.g. #ENDViolence and REDcard;
Education, by facilitating the development of important life skills applicable both on and off the field of play, including the acceptance of rules, decision-making, teamwork, overcoming adversity, showing respect, and expressive play;
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), by supporting the development of positive WASH behaviours and practices in schools and communities, and in times of emergencies;
Emergency, by building reliance and supporting the emotional recovery of children and adolescents in the wake of natural disasters and conflict.
Just Play supports the upskilling of teachers and community volunteers to deliver programme activities that facilitate capacity-building, ownership and accountability in social change through a community based, child-centred approach.
284,929: The number of children and adolescents who have taken part in the Just Play programme throughout the Pacific region since 2009;
5,102: The number of teachers and community volunteers trained to help deliver the Just Play programme in the Pacific region since 2009;
17,083: Number of children and teenagers who have taken part in Just Play emergency programme festivals in the wake of a natural disaster in the Pacific region.
Image: OFC - Just Play
Expected Results
Just Play is positively impacting children and teenagers through a sport-based curriculum that helps them to develop the life skills necessary to make consistent, long-term healthy lifestyle choices that promote health and wellness, gender equality, social inclusion and child protection, even in post-emergency contexts.
After the programme:
81% of children choose to drink water instead of soda
72% of boys report they enjoy playing football with girls
85% of children report they acknowledge and celebrate differences
59% of children report they feel safe following a natural disaster
Access to Sport - 
Gender Equality - 
Healthy lifestyle - 
Personal development - 
Strengthening partnerships
Employability - 
Environmental protection - 
Children with disabilities - 
