Football for social cohesion and regional cooperation

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Monténégro
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €64,705
Foundation funding €39,605
Project identifier 20210919
Partners FK Breznica
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Social exclusion and marginalisation can be a problem for children and young people in northern Montenegro, depending on their social and economic background. This is especially true for girls, children with special needs and Roma children, many of whom lack opportunities for enriching educational and leisure activities, which in turn hinders their development. The COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions and migration crises have exacerbated these problems. Thanks to its popularity, football offers opportunities to develop social cohesion and educate through play.

Project content

FK Breznica’s goal is to use sport as platform for social inclusion, women’s empowerment and regional reconciliation. Coaches and youth leaders from Montenegro and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia will be trained to use football as a tool to engage kids in inclusive educational and developmental activities. They will then organise inclusive in-country and cross-border activities involving Roma, migrant children and children with special needs.

Objectives

  • Educate coaches and youth leaders to use football as a tool for inclusive education and development
  • Use a ‘train the trainer’ approach to ensure the benefits are multiplied and sustainable
  • Promote gender equality and equal participation of boys and girls
  • Promote social cohesion through inclusive and integrated educational and sports activities involving
  • Roma, migrant children and young people with special needs
  • Promote regional reconciliation through joint cross-border activities

Project activities

  • Training in Football3 methodology and football for good for coaches and youth leaders
  • Monthly inclusive and integrated educational and sports activities
  • Two Football3 festivals
  • Friendship tournament in Pljevlja to celebrate International Migrants Day, involving
  • migrants, Roma and children with special needs from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia
  • Translation of Football3 manuals into Montenegrin
  • Quarterly project support and monitoring of online sessions with the Czech Association for Voluntary Activities INEX-SDA

Expected results

  • 30 football coaches and youth leaders educated and their professional skills increased
  • 150 coaches given informal training
  • Up to 5,400 youngsters involved in project activities and their social skills increased
  • More girls involved in sports activities
  • More children with disabilities and special needs involved in social activities
  • Migrant and Roma children included in activities
  • Football3 manuals published in Montenegrin

Partner

All In: Girls Play

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location American 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 identifier 20210417
Partners Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
Categories Access 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

Partner

Football for Kids – the ball is spinning for everyone!

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Switzerland
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €41,500
Foundation funding €18,500
Project identifier 20210333
Partners PluSport
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

Over the past 10 years, Football for Kids programme from PluSport has been establishing football as a sport for everyone. Weekly training sessions and competitive tournaments run by many programmes all over Switzerland meet the high demand and enable children and young people to practise their favourite sport. Roughly 100 children with various kinds of disabilities presently enjoy football and new teams are being set up all the time.

To finance the programme, we rely heavily on support from local partners, sponsors and donors. A key project partner for many years withdrew its support at the end of 2021, putting the programme in jeopardy. The financial support of the UEFA Foundation secures the future of the football activities for kids and youngsters.

Project content

Football for Kids offers weekly training sessions and competitive tournaments for children with disabilities through several programmes all over Switzerland. It positions football as a sport for everyone, but it does more than that: it provides children with an opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie and emotions of a team sport, fosters inclusion, provides both physical and mental benefits as well as a sense of accomplishment. It builds social bridges and provides everyone involved with a sense of respect and admiration for each other and the game of football.

Objectives

General objectives (2022–24)

  • Ensure exercise through sport (especially football) for children and young people with disabilities
  • Systematically promote and develop football as a sport of inclusion
  • Facilitate access for children and young people with disabilities
  • Expand the number of participating children and young people (+20 new children)
  • Increase the proportion of girls taking part in this sport
  • Secure enough financing to ensure the continuation of the football programme, especially the weekly training sessions and the tournaments

Project activities

Football is the world’s most popular sport, including among people with disabilities. Almost all youngsters want to play football. Promoting football and ball sports in general as integrative disciplines is of major importance to PluSport : they bring joy and team spirit to the lives of young athletes together with essential qualities that also help children with a disability to progress in their daily lives. Over the past few years, the development of disability football has been in full swing. What started with the promotion and integration of children and young people with disabilities in a youth development project has continued successfully with the creation of football teams and regular tournaments for all age groups and all kinds of disabilities.

  • Regular weekly training sessions held throughout Switzerland
  • Four or five tournaments per year
  • Opportunity for trial training sessions
  • Programme promotion through PluSport’s communication channels and network

Expected results

  • Expand the number of children and young people taking part (+20 new children)
  • Set up or expand football teams for children and young people
  • Increase the number of girls taking part (+5)
  • Expand the number of annual tournaments to at least five a year

Partner

YES!: Youth Empowerment through Sport

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Cameroon
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 09/30/2022
Cost of the project €48,954
Foundation funding €48,954
Project identifier 20210730
Partners Street Child
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s northwestern and southwestern regions has affected over 900,000 children, many of whom have been exposed to violence as well as the risk of family separation, exploitation, and abuse. Approximately 85% of schools have closed. Most of the children concerned have missed out on several years of schooling, and many have been separated from their parents and communities after fleeing fighting. To overcome the challenges they face, children need safe spaces to play, recover from trauma and regain psychosocial stability. This project will use sport to provide these safe spaces, and as an entry point for the children to heal, develop life skills and improve their resilience and well-being.

Project content

The aim of this project is to provide psychosocial support for 4,990 children through sport, to improve their psychosocial well-being and resilience.

Both in-school and out-of-school children will be enrolled in the project and participate in weekly sports and games along with psychosocial support (PSS), counselling and life skills development. The project seeks to be inclusive, so the sports activities and PSS/life skills sessions have been tailored to different ages, genders and disabilities.

Teachers, community coaches and youth leaders will be trained to lead the sports and PSS sessions, and refer any children who are in need of specialised child protection or therapy services. Each school and community will be provided with a package of sports equipment, such as footballs, bibs and cones. By supporting schools and community centres, and training teachers and community leaders to lead the sessions, we expect the sports and PSS sessions to continue at community level even after the UEFA project ends.

Objectives

  • Provide PSS and life skills through sports to school children affected by conflict and displacement.
  • Provide PSS and life skills through sport to out-of-school teenagers affected by conflict and displacement.
  • Build the capacity of teachers and community stakeholders to promote children’s rights and strengthen protection mechanisms in their communities.
  • Reduce protection risks and strengthen menstrual hygiene management for out-of-school teenage girls.

Project activities

  • Training community-based coaches, teachers and youth leaders in coaching skills, PSS, child protection and safeguarding

Ten community-based coaches, 16 teachers and 6 youth leaders will be trained over the course of two days to lead the sports and PSS sessions, as well as educated on key child protection and child safeguarding issues.

  • Provision of sports and play equipment for schools and communities

The schools/community centres will be provided with sports and play equipment to be used during the weekly sessions. This will include footballs, handballs, plastic balls, skipping ropes, bibs and whistles – all of which will be used in a variety of international and local games and sports activities.

  • Provision of weekly sports and PSS sessions for 4,240 in-school children and 750 out-of-school children

Every week, the coaches will lead sports and PSS sessions for the children, supported by the trained teachers or youth leaders. Alongside games and sports activities, the coaches will provide PSS and life-skills sessions (on topics such as health, general hygiene, menstrual hygiene, children’s rights, self-esteem, teamwork and leadership) to help the youngsters overcome trauma and build resilience. The sessions will be held at selected schools (integrated into the school day) and at community centres. A total of 4,990 children will take part, at least 50% of whom will be girls. It is expected that 50% of the children participating will be internally displaced persons as a result of the current crisis, and 25% will be children separated from their parents through displacement.

  • Distribution of dignity kits for protection and menstrual hygiene management to out-of-school teenage girls

In recognition of the particular vulnerability of teenage girls, dedicated sessions will build their knowledge of their rights and protection mechanisms available. These sessions will include information on menstrual hygiene management and sexual and reproductive health. Out-of-school teenage girls will be provided with dignity kits to allow them to maintain hygiene and respect and also to offer protection.

Expected results

  • Ten community coaches, 16 teachers and six youth leaders (50% female) have improved knowledge of coaching skills, PSS skills, child protection and safeguarding.
  • Eight schools and three community centres are provided with a package of sports and play equipment.
  • 4,990 children (at least 50% girls) participate in weekly sports and PSS sessions.
  • 375 out-of-school teenage girls are provided with dignity kits and have improved knowledge of their rights, health and hygiene.

Partner

Empowering children from La Matanza through sport, culture and education

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Argentine, Buenos Aires
Start date 02/28/2022
End date 02/28/2023
Cost of the project €47,645
Foundation funding €10,000
Project identifier 20210704
Partners United Through Sport Argentina
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

La Matanza, 25km south-west of Buenos Aires, is a severely disadvantaged area where poverty levels are higher than the 60% national average. There are also high rates of drug use and related violence, poor infrastructure (access to water, electricity and rubbish disposal), malnutrition and little access to healthcare services.

Project content

The mass participation programme consists of a combination of sports coaching and life-skill lessons. It is currently run daily in four public schools in the city of Buenos Aires. We aim to expand into schools in La Matanza to increase the reach and impact of our work. The programme consists of structured sports coaching, e.g. football, rugby and field hockey, in combination with life-skill sessions on cultural exchange, sustainability, individual and community well-being and gender issues. The sessions will be led by local staff and supported by international volunteers.

Objectives

  • Use our combined sports and life-skill coaching model to improve physical and mental well-being and to develop and sustain life skills (teamwork, leadership, decision-making and communication).
  • Use sport to improve educational engagement and provide pathways to success for talented and dedicated individuals.
  • Develop and establish our sport and life-skill model and methodology for further expansion.

Specific objectives:

  • Partner with at least three more schools to add another 2,000 children and teenagers to the programme
  • Provide workshops for 2,000 children and teenagers and achieve an average academic improvement of 15% per child, as in our programmes in Buenos Aires, and also achieve a 5% improvement in academic attendance per child
  • Use sport to address critical issues, such as crime and drug awareness, in a fun and interactive manner on the sports field

Project activities

January–February 2022 Contact new schools and local authorities to explain and develop the programme

February–March 2022 Purchase private mini-bus

March-April 2022 Hire new staff to work alongside PE teacher in local schools

March–April 2022 Design and coordinate sports and teaching curriculum after consultations with local staff

April 2022 Submit deliverables (curriculum)

May 2022 Programme starts

July 2022 Winter games event

August 2022 - September Interim report and assessments submitted

December 2022 Programme graduation ceremony

February 2023 Final report submitted

Expected results

  • Partnering with at least three and a target of four schools in La Matanza
  • Enrol at least 1,500 and a target of 2,500 youngsters
  • Achieve an average increase of at least 15%, target 25%, in participants’ academic grades
  • Achieve an average increase of at least 5%, target 10%, in participants’ academic attendance

Partner

Learning to change

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ghana
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 02/28/2023
Cost of the project €57,149
Foundation funding €18,387
Project identifier 20211184
Partners Play Soccer Ghana
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The education system in Ghana is mainly theory, with little attention paid to practice. Many pupils are therefore unable to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Project content

This programme harnesses the unique appeal of football for community development by creating learning opportunities for children between the ages of 5 and 15 to improve their life skills, health and playing ability. Besides applying the football3 philosophy, the programme collects used plastic bags that are knitted into goal nets. The project will be run in 11 satellite communities in six regions for 12 months, reaching a total of 880 beneficiaries.

Objectives

Children will gain additional learning opportunities through ‘play for fun’ and ‘learn for life’ (PFFLFL) sessions to learn more about good health, develop life skills and apply the knowledge they acquire to real-world problem-solving.

The children will sort plastic bags used in their homes and schools which will then be knitted into goal nets.

The football3 philosophy will be used to teach fair play, equality and participation of girls in soccer.

Project activities

  • Coaches will be trained to use the PFFLFL curriculum to educate the children in life skills, health and football;
  • Beneficiaries will take part in weekly PFFLFL sessions;
  • Youngsters will be trained how to re-use plastic bags to produce goal nets and promote clean cities;
  • football3 matches will teach children about fair play and avoiding discrimination.

Expected results

  • 33 coaches will learn how to use football activities to promote learning;
  • 880 children in six regions throughout Ghana will benefit from PFFLFL activity sessions to improve their life skills, health and football;
  • 200 households will sort their plastic waste and plastic bags will be knitted into goal nets;
  • football3 matches will teach children about the need for inclusion, fair play and gender equality.

Partner

Football United Myanmar

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Myanmar
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €75,000
Foundation funding €65,000
Project identifier 20210751
Partners Football United (University of New South Wales)
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims

Context

Football United (FU) brought the sport for development and peace (S4DP) concept and practice to Myanmar in 2013 and has since then worked with various in-country partners across the country, introducing S4DP in four thematic areas: football for youth leadership and life skills development; social cohesion; resilience building; and psychological support.

The violent crackdown following the coup in 2021 caused people to flee to areas controlled by armed ethnic organisations. Kayin is one of the few states where people have been able to seek refuge, with many living in refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Social, emotional, and basic needs are critical. Operating in the state since 2016, Football United provides staff and logistics to address many of these needs.

Project content

FU has developed special learning materials to help young people and communities to build up resilience, life skills and psychological support through specially designed football activities.

Objectives

  • Engage the conflict-affected communities in specially designed playing opportunities and football-based behaviour-change mechanisms to improve resilience and reduce vulnerability;
  • Build capacity and a flow-on effect in the broader conflict-affected communities, enabling them to recover from trauma and other stresses and faster develop more sustainable solutions to crises.

Project activities

  • Situation analysis: roles, contributions of key stakeholders; sites in addition to the FU Peace Centre; SWOT;
  • Develop tailor-made curriculums including virtual delivery mechanisms;
  • Staff/volunteer induction course delivered either face-to-face or online depending on circumstances;
  • Weekly football-based resilience activities;
  • Fair play tournaments delivered quarterly, conditions permitting;
  • Training of trainers: community members trained to develop future programmes.

Expected results

  • Kayin state has more safe spaces for community members to play and heal;
  • Participating youngsters and coaches experienced an increased sense of hope and healing, through positive changes in attitudes, beliefs, community solidarity actions. Quantitative result: at least 50% improvement compared to baseline figures;
  • Mechanisms introduced for mutual support and continuing engagement of partners: Red Cross branch leaders, IDP camp and conflict-affected non-IDP community leaders to further develop football-based psychological support and resilience-building in their communities.

Partner

Safer Play – Safeguarding in Sport for Development

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Worlwide
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 05/31/2023
Cost of the project €140,044
Foundation funding €140,044
Project identifier 20210464
Partners Streetfootballworld
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Throughout the world, more and more organisations are using sport as an effective development tool to meet targets related to education, social inclusion, child protection and empowerment. However, it must be accompanied by high-quality safeguarding training and robust safeguarding practices at all levels.

In 2021, the UEFA Foundation for Children and streetfootballworld took the lead in the sport-for-good sector by launching an online safeguarding course. A five-track training programme was developed in collaboration with experts to educate, support and raise the awareness of coaches, volunteers and everyone working in the sport-for-good sector.

Project content

In 2022, the online training programme will be refined and adjusted to the specific needs of those working with at-risk children and adults. All the content will be made available to all sport-for-good organisations worldwide with the aim of nurturing a global culture of mutual support in the safeguarding sector. The ‘do no harm’ principle will be at the core of each sports-based activity and regional, contextual and cultural specificities will be taken into account.

Objectives

The overall goal is to minimise intentional and unintentional harm to vulnerable groups, especially children, in sport-for-good contexts. This will be achieved by building on UEFA’s previous safeguarding initiatives to develop a certification course for all practitioners working with children and at-risk youth and with adults within the sport-for-good sector. The knowledge and training track will benefit from local expertise by engaging sport-for-good organisations working closely with children in their communities.

Project activities

  • Refining and scaling up the existing sport-for-good safeguarding certification course to reach new organisations with the aim of obtaining feedback and making further improvements and thematic additions;
  • Boosting organisational capacity by developing tools and providing workshops on organisational safeguarding structures.

Expected results

  • 150,000 at-risk youngsters will be reached indirectly by the ten organisations that complete the online certification programme and attend the organisational safeguarding workshops;
  • 150 new coaches and other sport-for-good practitioners, including youth leaders and counsellors, from ten new organisations will complete the online certification programme and take part in the workshops, gaining a qualification in safeguarding and building knowledge and skills relating to child protection;
  • The updated course will be disseminated to all of the 154 organisations in the streetfootballworld network, indirectly benefiting a total of 1.3 million at-risk youngsters.

Partner

Football for children with Down syndrome

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Russia
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 01/31/2023
Cost of the project €114,497
Foundation funding €28,046
Project identifier 20210323
Partners Syndrome of Love
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities

Context

In Russia, people with Down syndrome still face many barriers to their integration into society. It is widely recognised that sport assists social integration because it develops physical and mental abilities and improves emotional and psychological well-being. However, there are still not enough classes, clubs, coaches, methods or facilities to enable children with intellectual disabilities in Russia to participate in sports.

Project content

This project is a continuation of the 2021 project supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children. Regular football training sessions are planned for 200 children and teenagers with Down syndrome aged 7 to 18, as well as a training camp and the third interregional football competition. The Syndrome of Love foundation plans to help four regional non-profit organisations set up football training groups for children with Down syndrome. One of the long-term objectives is to set up a national football team for people with Down syndrome to compete internationally.

Objectives

  • Involve children and teenagers with Down syndrome in regular football training in five regions of Russia (including Moscow);
  • Help four regional non-profits set up football training for children with Down syndrome;
  • Improve the skills and qualifications of coaches and physical education teachers working with children with Down syndrome;
  • Demonstrate the ability of people with Down syndrome to participate in sports by creating a friendly and tolerant environment where equal rights and opportunities are supported;
  • Inform parents, coaches and university students about the importance of sports activities for children and teenagers with Down syndrome.

Project activities

  • Regular football training sessions for children and teenagers with Down syndrome;
  • Competitive selection of non-profits to receive funding to set up football training groups for children with Down syndrome;
  • Skills improvement course for coaches in adaptive physical education and organising mini-football training for children with Down syndrome;
  • Seminar for more experienced coaches;
  • Training camp for children with Down syndrome based at a sports camp in the Moscow region;
  • Third interregional football competition for children and teenagers with Down syndrome;
  • Information campaign on developing opportunities in sports for people with Down syndrome;
  • Information campaign for parents to involve as many girls as possible in sports.

Expected results

  • Six football groups for children with Down syndrome in Moscow and the other regions;
  • 200 children regularly playing football in groups;
  • 26–50% of participants involved in the project are girls;
  • 600 football training sessions for children with Down syndrome;
  • 10 coaches completed the skills improvement course;
  • 200 participants (including children, accompanying persons, coaches and organisers) in the third interregional football competition for children and teenagers with Down syndrome;
  • 200 participants in the training camp (including children, accompanying persons, coaches and organisers);
  • 1,000,000 people reached by the information campaign.

Partner

Generation Sport 2022

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Armenia
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €64,086
Foundation funding €55,162
Project identifier 20210723
Partners Armenian Fund for Sustainable Development
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

This project is a follow-up to Generation Sport in 2021, which was a huge success throughout the country. In August 2021, Armenia had 1,403 schools with 368,184 pupils: 175,359 girls and 192,825 boys.

The lack of suitable equipment and the bad state of repair of the sports facilities hamper the PE classes that the children enjoy so much.

The armed conflict in 2020 took its toll on the children, who now need positive, fun experiences.

Project content

The project will promote sport among young people and encourage physical eduction throughout the country. Twenty-five schools will be selected to receive sports equipment. Events will be organised to promote sport and exercise among the school-age population. Organised meet-and-greets with sports personalities will motivate the youngsters and encourage them to fulfil their potential. The project will help promote the inclusion of disabled children in sporting activities.

Objectives

Overall objective: Promote sport and exercise among young people

Specific objective: Motivate the children and help them to fulfil their potential through the following activities:

  • Providing sports equipment for 25 schools, prioritising schools in remote regions and those with disabled pupils
  • Promoting the inclusion of disabled children through sport
  • Involving the ministry of education, science, culture and sport in organising sports competitions
  • Organising sports events

Project activities

Applications and selection

  • Launch, jury, school selection
  • Equipment purchases
  • Distribution to schools

Sports events

  • Meet-and-greets with sports celebrities
  • Promote the inclusion of disabled children
  • Sports events in schools

National school football competition

  • Promote sport
  • Award prizes

Expected results

  • At least 150 schools (over 40,000 pupils) apply for sports equipment
  • 25 schools (over 7,500 pupils) receive equipment
  • At least 10 motivational meet-and-greets, involving 1,000 youngsters
  • At least 4 sporting inclusion events, involving 200 youngsters
  • 300 brochures on the importance of sport distributed
  • 300 sports awareness posters distributed to schools

Partner

Bijzondere Eredivisie (Special Premier League)

Location and general information

Closed
Location The Netherlands
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €175,000
Foundation funding €75,000
Project identifier 20210337
Partners Stichting Het Gehandicapte Kind
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

There are currently about 1,500 children practising disabled football in the Netherlands. Just like children without disabilities, they dream of playing for their favourite professional football club. Thanks to the Bijzondere Eredivisie, this dream can become a reality! Children with a disability are placed in the spotlight and everyone can see that it is also possible for every child to play at the highest level. We hope to inspire more children with disabilities to also play football and other sports.

Project content

The Bijzondere Eredivisie is a competition for professional football clubs who participate with their own team of disabled children. Launched in September 2019, this is the first competition in the world in which children with disabilities play for their favourite professional football club. The teams consist of 12 boys and girls of different ages and various disabilities. The teams are carefully selected, according to criteria that ensure a balanced competition.

Objectives

  • Increase the visibility of children with disabilities
  • Inspire disabled children to believe that anything is possible
  • Increase sports participation of disabled children
  • Increase awareness of disabled football in the Netherlands
  • Establish a sustainable competition, including all professional Dutch football clubs.

Project activities

  • Clubs 'scout' their own team
  • 12 clubs and 144 children take part in the competition
  • Teams train once a week at the professional club’s training ground
  • Clubs organise all kind of events for their disabled teams
  • Organisation of the competition (including transport)
  • Competition matches are held twice a month, and every professional football club hosts once per season
  • Activities are communicated on social media platforms: the teams’ own channels and those of the football clubs

Expected results

  • Children socialise and make new friends through their football clubs; especially during the pandemic it is very important for these children to have enough social interaction
  • Notable improvement in terms of the confidence and health of the disabled children
  • The players act as a catalyst for a more positive, inclusive perception of disabled children
  • More disabled children start to play football
  • Minimum of 18 professional clubs are involved in the competition within three years
  • Clubs are 50% self-financing

Partner

Live together II

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Turkey and Syria
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 10/30/2022
Cost of the project €200,000
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20210900
Partners Bonyan Organization for Youth and Development
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

The Syrian refugee crisis remains the largest humanitarian and development crisis in the world. Across the five main Syrian-refugee hosting countries, over 10 million people need some form of humanitarian and resilience support, the highest number in nearly a decade. This includes 5.5 million Syrian refugees and 4.8 million impacted host community members.

The key underlying issues are large-scale protracted displacement, socio-economic conditions, COVID-19 and demographic pressures. Turkey currently hosts approximately 3.6 million refugees, the majority of whom live out-of-camp, integrated into host (Turkish) communities in cities and villages. Both communities therefore share the same environment and resources.

Project content

The Live Together II project is a continuation of the 2019 Live Together project. Work will be done in schools to disseminate and mainstream football3 culture among teachers, who in turn will pass it on to the children. Capacity-building courses will be held, playgrounds rehabilitated and brochures, guidebooks and sports supplies distributed.

Children with special needs will also be included in the sports activities. Girls’ and boys’ football teams will be set up to involve girls in sports activities, with the hope that this will lead to wider inclusion of girls within the community. The project volunteers will receive training on child protection principles, awareness of child protection issues, the promotion of children’s rights and health tips to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Objectives

The project’s overall goal is to use football as a tool for building peaceful coexistence, as well as to improve the sports infrastructure in schools in the border towns of Akçakale in Turkey and Tal Abyad in Syria.

Project activities

  • Playground rehabilitation: Playgrounds in five schools – in each country - will be rehabilitated so that children attending and living near the school can play sports, which will improve their life skills and promote peaceful coexistence.
  • Teacher capacity-building: The teacher training programme will last four days and focus on mainstreaming the football3 methodology as well as other social cohesion activities that can be integrated into classwork.
  • Capacity-building for youth mediators: Youth mediators will volunteer as coaches in the football3 leagues. They will prepare and facilitate the football3 sessions, mediate any conflicts arising between the teams and act as positive role models for the children.
  • Running football3 leagues: Football3 leagues will be set up: one in Turkey and one in Syria. All teams will include both Turkish and Syrian children. Children will play in a safe environment where they will have fun, learn life skills and build their resilience. The volunteer coaches will discuss well-being with the children to provide them with psychosocial support.

Expected results

  • Playgrounds will be rehabilitated in five schools in Turkey and Syria.
  • 100 teachers will be provided with training on football3 and sports for children.
  • 240 children will take part in football3 games in Turkey and Syria.
  • 80 young people will play an active role in their communities and receive training on football3 methodology, leadership and conflict resolution.

Partner

BRACE

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Beirut, Lebanon
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 01/31/2023
Cost of the project €183,000
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 20210392
Partners INTERSOS
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

The current deterioration of the economic crisis in Lebanon puts children and teenagers at greater risk of abuse, violence and exploitation. According to the recently published emergency response plan, there is a growing need for protection among Lebanese and migrant children. This creates risks of social tensions among different communities based on their perceptions of access to available services. The child protection sector in Lebanon reports an increased need for psychosocial support services. Additionally, there are growing numbers of children engaged in child labour. Due to the closure of schools due to COVID-19 and the deterioration of the economic crisis, many children in Syrian refugee communities, but also Lebanese and other migrants, are engaged in child labour to support their families. One of the ways humanitarian actors can meet the increasing needs for protection services, including psychosocial support, is by providing safe spaces for children, where they can take part in sports and recreational activities run by child-protection specialists.

Project content

The project BRACE, Beirut Rehabilitation of Recreational Areas for Children and Equality, aims to enhance protection and social cohesion in vulnerable areas of Mount Lebanon governorate, by providing access to a safe and secure playing field for children, where they can have fun, engage in sports activities and interact with members of different communities (refugee, migrant, host). It will be run in partnership with the local municipality and a community-based organisation to ensure its sustainability beyond the project period.

Main communication message - the well-being of vulnerable children can also be protected through access to sport.

Objectives

The overall project objective is to enhance child protection and social cohesion in vulnerable areas of Mount Lebanon governorate in Lebanon.

  • Provide a safe space where children can play and engage in sports and other recreational activities;
  • Help a community-based organisation run sports and recreational activities for children and teenagers.

Project activities

Rehabilitation of an existing playing field

  • Painting, installing walls and roofing;
  • Installing artificial grass, football goals and basketball hoops;
  • Lighting with solar panels to ensure safety and sustainability despite the worsening energy crisis;
  • -Rehabilitating WASH facilities.

Support for a community-based organisation providing

  • Sports, arts, psychosocial activities;
  • Solidarity initiatives for migrants, refugees, host-community children.

Expected results

  • A playing field in Mount Lebanon governorate is rehabilitated and upgraded, providing a safe recreational space for all communities, especially children and teenagers;
  • 200 children and teenagers are engaged in sports and art activities by the local community-based organisation supporting social inclusion and well-being at community level;
  • A community-based organisation is supported and able to provide regular sports and recreational activities for children from different communities.

Partner

Football for peace

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Colombia
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 01/31/2023
Cost of the project €88,000
Foundation funding €78,000
Project identifier 20211084
Partners Ankla Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

Colombia has suffered internal war for more than 50 years. As many as 260,000 people have lost their lives and 7 million citizens have been displaced as internal refugees. After the peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla in 2016, people have returned to their homes. Ex-guerrilla combatants are now in reincorporation spaces, but relations with the local population are difficult. This project uses football as a tool to achieve reconciliation and peace between both groups, focusing on the children.

Project content

The project supports the peace process in Colombia by promoting human rights, coexistence and inclusion among ex-FARC combatants and the local community, while also preventing new violence, through football training and psychosocial interventions with the children. It will run for one year in four territorial spaces for training and reincorporation (TSTR: land given by the government to ex-combatants to help them reintegrate into society), benefiting 615 children of ex-combatants.

Objectives

  • Promote healthy coexistence among ex-combatants and the community using football as a tool for social integration and to prevent the resurgence of violence.
  • Promote the search for talent among the children of ex-combatants to encourage development through self-realization.
  • Provide psychosocial support for the children of ex-combatants, their families and the community, in order to restore their rights, emotional integrity, and productive reintegration into civil and family life.

Project activities

  • Collecting baseline socio-economic information
  • Training and participation in local leagues (10 football training sessions per week in each TSTR)
  • Psychosocial interventions with children and their families (eight psychosocial workshops per week in each TSTR)
  • Meetings between the community and TSTR leaders
  • Competitions and participation in various leagues

 

Expected results

  • The majority of children from the TSTRs attend the training sessions and psychosocial workshops (75%).
  • Civil society that lives around these TSTRs will accept the presence of ex-combatants in their community and are in favour of their reintegration into society (70%).
  • Improved gender equality inside football groups (30% girls at least).
  • Improvements among the children and teenagers diagnosed with various psychosocial issues over the course of 12 months (50% children with psychosocial problems due mostly to the civil war experience an improvement).
  • Through football, the children develop as persons, learn about rules and are kept away from criminal activities; coaches act as mentors. Training is a way to reach the children and their families for psychosocial interventions.

Partner

Improving the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Conflict-Affected Displaced Children

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
Start date 02/01/2021
End date 11/30/2021
Cost of the project €45,884
Foundation funding €43,884
Project identifier 20201286
Partners Street Child
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

Northern Mozambique has suffered from conflict and insecurity since 2017. Deterioration in the security situation and an increase in attacks has coincided with several emergencies: cyclone Kenneth in 2019, severe flooding in early 2020 and the emergence of COVID-19 in March 2020. Currently, 335,000 people have been displaced by insecurity, with children making up 50%. During this time, children have suffered from a sustained loss of education and exposure to traumatic situations.

Project content

Sport will be used to address the psychosocial needs of children affected by conflict and emergencies, while helping displaced children integrate into their host communities. Street Child will help schools to understand the needs of pupils and facilitate support sessions for them as they return to school post displacement and COVID-19. Community sessions will also be delivered by trained facilitators to out-of-school children.

Objectives

  • Address the psychosocial needs of children who have been affected by conflict, displacement and emergency situations
  • Support retention of children in school through the provision of support services
  • Promote integration between displaced and host communities
  • Promote children’s rights and strengthen protection mechanisms in the wider community

Project activities

  • Delivery of psychosocial support sessions to in-school and out-of-school children, using recreational activities, including sport, to help them deal with trauma and build life skills
  • Providing training workshops for psychosocial support facilitators in the use of play-based activities as a tool for integration and development
  • Providing teacher and school council workshops on the delivery of psychosocial support in schools and creating inclusive environments
  • Holding community awareness-raising campaigns on children’s rights and protection services

Expected results

  • 6,000 children (3,000 girls and 3,000 boys) will receive psychosocial support and integration support through in-school and community-based activities
  • 90 school educational staff will receive training in psychosocial support to promote inclusive environments for all pupils
  • 12 local community facilitators will receive training on the delivery of play-based psychosocial support interventions
  • 6 communities will receive awareness-raising on children’s rights and child protection services

Partner

Child Safeguarding Certification Programme for Sport-for-Good Practitioners

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Europe
Start date 03/31/2021
End date 03/31/2022
Cost of the project €207,130
Foundation funding €207,130
Project identifier 20200898
Partners Streetfootballworld
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Personal development

Context

Sport-for-good (SFG) practitioners work with children on a daily basis. However, according to a streetfootballworld network assessment, only 50% have a basic or intermediate knowledge of safeguarding and only 45% have a basic or intermediate understanding of children’s rights and the rights of child athletes. 85% want to receive proper safeguarding training and with 80,000+ adults working with vulnerable groups in the SFG sector, the need for training on this topic is evident.

Project content

The UEFA Foundation for Children and streetfootballworld (sfw) will take the lead in the sector by launching a safeguarding certification and capacity-building programme to ensure children’s fundamental rights across the world are safeguarded. The programme will benefit from regional, contextual, and cultural expertise by engaging five football-for-good (FFG) organisations working closely with children in their communities. Ultimately, the online safeguarding certification programme will be made available, through the UEFA Foundation for Children, to all SFG practitioners around the world.

Objectives

The overall goal of this programme is to minimise intentional and unintentional harm to vulnerable groups. UEFA’s previous safeguarding efforts will be used to develop a certification course for all practitioners working with children and at-risk youth and adults within the sport-for-good sector.

Project activities

  • Implementing an online knowledge/training certification programme for FFG/SFG organisations.
  • Identifying and working with five organisations (diversified globally and UEFA Foundation 2020 grant awardees) to co-create content and review it contextually and culturally.
  • Training 75 staff members (15 per organisation) with the course.
  • Involving 150 local parents in assessment of the contents.
  • Together with the UEFA Foundation for Children, engaging in advocacy for sector-wide policy on training/certification of FFG practitioners.

Expected results

  • One online course on safeguarding for SFG practitioners.
  • 75 coaches and staff members from the five FFG/SFG organisations will gain a qualification in safeguarding in the SFG sector and build knowledge and skills regarding protecting children and at-risk youth.
  • 150 parents will provide feedback to ensure local receptivity to the content.
  • Evidence will be collected from the pilot programme to reflect, adjust, and advocate for a standardised approach at a policy level.

Partner