Future Leaders of Kalebuka

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Democratic Republic of Congo, Kalebuka
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €72,000
Foundation funding €35,000
Project identifier 20201055
Partners Georges Malaika Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Despite being one of the most resource rich countries in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces challenges related to poverty, education and access to resources. Kalebuka, where Malaika operates, has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. The lack of education and opportunity needs to be addressed in order for the community to thrive. Malaika works with community members to provide education, access to sports and sports for social development. Malaika’s programmes equip the young people of Kalebuka to become the future leaders of their communities. Youth who are educated, confident, and respected will become adults who change their community, their country and the world.

Project content

By providing access to formal education, sports and health programmes, Malaika is helping to change a community in the DRC. The Kalebuka Football for Hope Centre provides young people with free access to literacy, IT, English, health and sports. The Sports for Development programme addresses topics such as conflict management, COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and communicable disease prevention, leadership skills, reproductive health and children’s rights.

Objectives

  • Develop leadership and life skills in Kalebuka’s youth to enable them to access their potential and empower themselves and their community.
  • Improve the young people’s physical and mental health by providing health education and encouraging them to prioritise themselves and their health.
  • Improve public health by disseminating health information and disease prevention tools and distributing hygiene supplies.
  • Improve overall life outcomes.
  • Foster community cohesion and respect.
  • Progress gender equality.

Project activities

  • Implementing games and outreach sessions through sports for social development.
  • Hosting workshops on children’s rights, gender equality, conflict and violence prevention, hygiene and health.
  • Holding daily classes for out-of-school youth in literacy, English, IT and mathematics.
  • Hosting tournaments to raise awareness across communities.
  • Hiring and managing coaching staff.
  • Training staff in health outreach and social development techniques.
  • Repairing and maintaining football pitches and community centre facilities.

Expected results

  • More peer leaders and coaches (up from 12 to 17) via leadership training programmes.
  • More young people (up from 65 to 80) attending health-based sports sessions, giving them a safe space to discuss health topics.
  • More young people (up from 90 to 115) attending life outcome training sessions designed to positively change youth mentality in regard to conflict resolution, drug and alcohol use and domestic violence.

Partner

Football3 Empower Girls

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Poland
Start date 12/01/2020
End date 08/31/2022
Cost of the project €100,131
Foundation funding €50,501
Project identifier 20200985
Partners Stowarzyszenie "Trenuj Bycie Dobrym"
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

Two of the biggest problems facing sports in Poland, especially youth football, are inequality and the exclusion of girls and women. Poland has 1,125,159 registered football players and only 40,695 of them are female. In fact, only 3% of players and coaches are female. Another problem is that sustainable development is not an important topic in Polish society and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are virtually unknown. Remedying these problems begins in schools where:

  • there are no separate PE lessons at primary school level (age 6–9);
  • there is a lack of global education connected to the SDGs;
  • team sports are promoted mainly among boys.

Project content

The aim of the project is to empower girls and women in football in Poland, especially at grassroots level, through football3 and cooperation with schools. The project will stress that football is a game for everyone by encouraging boys and girls to play together. Playing football3 teaches the fundamental values of equality, respect and cooperation.

Objectives

  • Promote equal access to football and equal treatment of women and girls in football in Poland through football3.
  • Increase the number of female football3 coaches and mediators in Poland through training.
  • Promote equality, respect and cooperation between boys and girls through football3 in Polish schools.
  • Promote the SDGs, in particular SDG 5: Gender Equality.

Project activities

  • Organising football3 lessons in 33 schools in rural areas for over 7,000 children, including a minimum of 3,600 girls.
  • Providing football3 training to 33 female coaches and 33 female mediators.
  • Organising 33 local community football3 tournaments (in villages and small towns) promoting the SDGs for over 2,000 participants.
  • Organising a final football3 festival in Warsaw for 240 children (aged 6–9), at least 50% of whom are girls from rural areas.
  • Creating 11 local teams (leaders, teachers and volunteers) with an equal gender balance.
  • Creating three online preparatory training courses for leaders, teachers and volunteers.
  • Creating an online certification course for female football3 coaches and mediators.
  • Translating the online certification course into Polish.

Expected results

  • 528 football3 lessons for boys and girls.
  • 33 local community football3 tournaments.
  • Over 50 agreements with volunteers.
  • A documentary clip about the football3 festival in Warsaw.
  • An online football3 certification course available in Polish.
  • 33 certified female football3 coaches.
  • 33 certified female football3 mediators.
  • An impact report.

Partner

Football without Borders

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Austria, Vienna
Start date 12/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €203,050
Foundation funding €40,550
Project identifier 20200145
Partners Kicken ohne Grenzen
Categories Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality

Context

Around 11% of Austria’s 15 to 24-year-olds are not in training or employment. Most have a migrant or refugee background. According to the OECD, almost half of all unemployed young people are ‘inactive’, which means they are not seeking work or being reached via conventional integration measures. Alternative forms of learning, like Kicken ohne Grenzen’s football-based education project, therefore, have a key role to play.

Project content

Kicken ohne Grenzen aims to achieve the long-term and equitable integration of young refugees into society. Over a two-year period, 240 young people (>50% female) improve their social, mental and emotional skills through weekly open football training sessions. Intensive supervision both on and off the pitch allows the project team to evaluate the participants’ skills and interest. This insight helps the project team to organise career taster days and training opportunities as part of the award-winning Job Goals programme.

Objectives

  • Improved social and interpersonal skills, such as concentration, decision-making, self-motivation, and frustration tolerance.
  • Greater self-confidence and stability.
  • Better self-awareness and ability to identity strengths and areas for development.
  • Ability to improve performance.
  • Seamless transition to realistic training or work goals.

Project activities

  • Open football training sessions.
  • Football-based soft-skill training sessions to help the young people apply the skills they have acquired on the football pitch – like motivation, self-reliance, decision-making and teamwork – to their everyday lives.
  • CV writing workshops with external partners.
  • Individual counselling off the pitch (Job Goals programme).
  • Yearly tournament promoting gender equality and fair play.

Expected results

  • 250 open football training sessions across Vienna.
  • 240 participants between 15 and 24 years old.
  • Female participation of at least 40%.
  • Yearly tournament, with at least 300 participants, in which young referees, tournament directors, players and coaches act as role models for active integration.
  • 60 beneficiaries of the Job Goals programme (with a target achievement rate of 96%).

Partner

Good Health and Climate Action through Football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Lesotho
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €245,000
Foundation funding €122,600
Project identifier 20201058
Partners Kick4Life
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle

Context

Young people in Lesotho face many severe and overlapping health challenges that negatively impact their well-being and prospects, including:

  • The world’s second highest prevalence of HIV and a lack of access to HIV testing and counselling.
  • High levels of gender-based violence.
  • A lack of access to sanitation facilities and poor standards of hygiene, contributing to the spread of preventable diseases such as TB.
  • An accelerating COVID-19 infection rate.
  • Drug and alcohol abuse.
  • Extremely high levels of poverty and food insecurity.
  • An urgent need for mental health support, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A reduction in vital resources due to climate change.

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

  • Children living on the street.
  • HIV-positive youth.
  • Orphans.
  • Teenage mothers.
  • Children living in poverty.
  • At-risk children and vulnerable girls.
  • Children engaged in child labour.

Project content

The project focuses on improving the health and long-term prospects of Lesotho’s youth, with an enhanced emphasis on gender equality and reducing gender-based violence. It tackles issues such as HIV prevention, hygiene, nutrition and urgent COVID-19 health education, as well as facilitating referrals to specialist healthcare providers. The project also develops key life skills, empowering participants to protect the health of people and the planet. Participants are also encouraged to take part in other Kick4Life activities such as employability programmes and training and employment opportunities within its hospitality social enterprises.

The expanded project also aims to reduce the health impact of climate change, with new sessions on water conservation, biodiversity and preventing land degradation. A Youth Climate Action Group will be set up to drive climate action by young people across Lesotho.

Objectives

The project aims to increase the health-related knowledge of 5,000 young people through a football-based curriculum in order to improve their physical and mental health, well-being and nutrition and reduce their vulnerability to HIV and COVID‑19. The project’s outcomes are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 3 (good health and well-being), 5 (gender equality), and 13 (climate action).

Project activities

  • Delivery of an 18-session football-based curriculum to 5,000 young people, in 200 intakes of 25 participants, with an even gender balance
  • Creation of four new climate education sessions and a Youth Climate Action Group
  • Development of a COVID-19 adaptation plan for alternative delivery if regular programming is interrupted
  • Two training courses for 20 coaches, including updated COVID-19 safeguarding
  • 500 referrals to health and protection services
  • Monitoring and evaluation including 125 pre- and post-tests and eight focus groups

Expected results

5,000 young people will have:

  • Increased health-related knowledge, including on HIV prevention and sexual health, hygiene and sanitation and nutrition
  • Improved attitudes to gender equality
  • Improved access to healthcare, including HIV testing and mental health services
  • Better understanding of climate change and motivation to take climate action
  • Greater confidence in maintaining their health and achieving their potential

Partner

Mbo Mpenza Challenge

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Belgium
Start date 10/01/2020
End date 06/30/2022
Cost of the project €163,770
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20200480
Partners Impala Performance ASBL
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Belgium does not currently have a satisfactory strategy to integrate vulnerable young people, particularly refugees, disabled children and institutionalised children. The Mbo Mpenza Challenge project has been working to rectify this for the past three years by using football to promote the sporting values of respect, solidarity and pushing yourself.

Project content

The Association of Francophone Football Clubs will hold selection trials in early 2021 for over 2,000 girls and boys aged 10 and 11 from all backgrounds at the football fields of Decathlon stores. The Mbo Mpenza Challenge project will educate the children about combating racism and provide high-quality coaching focused on integrating every child. All children will be able to take part in these trials thanks to support from children’s institutions, vulnerable children’s coaches and carers of disabled or refugee children.

The 120 children selected will take part in a big one-day tournament involving small individual challenges and a final.

 

 

 

 

Objectives

The Mbo Mpenza Challenge seeks to educate children at an early age about discrimination and use football to instil the fundamental values of respect, team spirit, fair play and pushing yourself. The challenges are designed to foster team spirit by removing difference-related barriers.

Project activities

  • Training sessions for over 2,000 girls and boys aged 10 and 11 from all backgrounds
  • Small challenges at Decathlon football fields
  • Trials for a one-day tournament
  • Tournament activities: orientation for the children, training by qualified coaches, formation of twelve teams of ten children who have never met before, football challenges, a final in which the winning team will be selected based on criteria including fair play and pushing beyond limits

Expected results

  • Positive experiences will boost the confidence and self-esteem of the children
  • Excellent support will encourage the children to practise sport
  • Difference-related barriers will be removed allowing children from all backgrounds to mix
  • 2,000 children will directly benefit from the project and over 5,000 will benefit indirectly through 500 amateur clubs
  • At least 10% of the beneficiaries will be girls
  • A large number of disadvantaged children will benefit from the project and the club registration fees of the most disadvantaged will be paid for

Partner

Education and sport for street-working children in Afghanistan

Location and general information

Closed
Location Afghanistan
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €296,936
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20200614
Partners Action for Development
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Violence, extreme poverty and food insecurity are everyday problems for many Afghans. The country’s critical situation, exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic, hits the most vulnerable groups, such as children, the hardest. The children who work on the streets have the starkest future prospects, due to their lack of access to education among other factors.

Project content

This project aims to improve the health, quality of life and access to education of children working on the streets in Afghanistan. Action for Development (AfD) has developed teacher training modules on literacy, numeracy, social behaviour, and advocating for children’s rights in Afghanistan. The focus is on empowering children with education, making the government aware of their special needs, providing meals and football lessons for their social development, and helping them to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.

 

Objectives

  • Provide children working on the streets with access to a quality, tailor-made education programme, with the aim of improving their overall wellbeing in the short term, and reducing poverty and child labour in the long term.
  • Give 200 street-working children aged 5–13 access to education and food by the end of 2021.
  • Strengthen gender equality.
  • Further develop special training methodologies.
  • Adapt to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
  • Establish a vocational training programme for 20 students aged 14–15.

Project activities

  • Continuing to organise awareness sessions and promote education and sport for girls.
  • Continuing to provide one healthy meal per day to the children.
  • Increasing the number of football lessons to accommodate more children.
  • Improving the current teaching methodology and bringing the curriculum in line with the formal school curriculum.
  • Continuing to train the teachers to deliver student-centred lessons and learning through fun.
  • Training the teachers in special education provision and providing them with material for tailor-made classes for street-working children.
  • Providing English language training to teachers and children.
  • Prevent the spread of COVID-19 by reducing the number of students per classroom; providing hand sanitisers, face masks and thermometers; and designing a distance learning strategy in case of a new lockdown.
  • Recruiting new teachers.
  • Designing a vocational training programme for older students and working with local partners to design modules on in-demand skills (mechanics, carpentry, gem cutting, etc.).
  • Increasing synergies with local government schools to learn from their expertise, support AfD’s teachers and help integrate the children into the formal education system.
  • Identifying and setting up new centres close to the areas where children work.
  • Introducing regular health checks and proper growth monitoring and vaccinations in collaboration with AfD's Comprehensive Health Centre.
  • Equipping classrooms with technology (iPads/PCs and projectors).

Expected results

  • 200 children receive quality education, daily meals, health checks and play football.
  • 20 older students get access to vocational training.
  • Gender parity increases in classes and football training, most staff members are women and awareness of female education increases.
  • Teacher training is enhanced.
  • The curriculum is further aligned with the governmental one.
  • The project is resilient to COVID-19 challenges.

Partner

Girls on Track

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Tanzania
Start date 07/01/2020
End date 04/30/2021
Cost of the project €447,646
Foundation funding €48,739
Project identifier 20200526
Partners Right to Play
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

In Tanzania, nearly one third of the population live below the poverty line and the country has one of the highest birth rates in the world.

Tanzanian girls do not have the same educational and life opportunities as boys. Despite girls enrolling in primary education at the same rate as boys, only 73% complete it and less than 26% progress to secondary education. Literacy and numeracy skills in Tanzania are poor, with 19% of children finishing primary school classified as illiterate, and the situation is worse for girls with national primary pass rates of 49% compared to 56% for boys. For women and girls, improvements in the quality of education will have direct and long-lasting benefits to health, such as a huge reduction in under-five mortality.

 

Mara and Morogoro are two of the most marginalised regions of Tanzania, with household income below the national average. Mara has the lowest Kiswahili literacy pass rates in the country, the fourth lowest primary school leavers pass rates, and the third worst ratio of school toilets to girls, at only one per 192 girls. Morogoro has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children, the majority of whom are girls. High number of girls in these regions drop out of school due to socio-cultural practices, negative attitudes toward girls’ education, early marriage, high levels of gender-based violence, and the stigma attached to teenage pregnancy. This is exacerbated by poor gender responsive education and a lack of conducive learning environments for girls.

Project content

The project will improve the quality of education for children, especially girls, in Tanzania. Better education and life skills will empower girls to transition to womanhood, become better parents in the future and break the cycle of poverty endemic in the target regions. Investing in quality education will also pay dividends in health and gender equality.

Objectives

  • Improve children’s life skills to support their educational attainment.
  • Promote gender-sensitive and safe learning environments in primary schools to improve the engagement and performance of girls.
  • Enhance local community support for girls’ education to reduce barriers and tackle negative gender norms.

Project activities

  • Supporting teachers to develop gender-sensitive, play-based learning through training, mentoring and support, and the provision of learning aids and sports equipment.
  • Facilitating peer exchange among teachers and government education staff to help integrate gender-sensitive, play-based learning into teaching practices.
  • Organising community play days and sports tournaments to raise awareness of gender equality.
  • Rehabilitating sanitation facilities in schools to reduce barriers to girls attending school.
  • Engaging community groups in dialogue on gender equality and the value of education for girls and boys.

Expected results

  • 60% of girls in target locations demonstrating an increase in leadership, confidence, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities.
  • 60% increase in the number of girls with improved knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
  • 80% of teachers applying a gender-sensitive, play-based approach to curriculum subjects and life skills development.
  • 6% increase in school attendance rates.
  • 2% increase in girls’ transition rates to secondary school.
  • 50% of parents/caregivers regularly participating in community awareness campaigns on the value of education for girls.

Partner

EFDN STEM Football and Education Programme

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location The Netherlands, United-Kingdom, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Poland
Start date 12/01/2021
End date 11/30/2022
Cost of the project €279,495
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20200793
Partners European Football for Development Network
Categories Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The importance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education is becoming more apparent every day. Demand for STEM jobs tripled between 2000 and 2010, and it has continued to grow exponentially over the past decade due to developments in technology and artificial intelligence.

The EFDN STEM Football and Education Programme aims to provide STEM learning opportunities for children from disadvantaged areas through football-based activities. It seeks to enhance their self-confidence and teach them skills that will improve their future employability.

Some of the project partners have experience delivering similar projects in their local communities and will be able to use this to good effect.

Project content

This ten-week, football-based educational enrichment programme for children aged 9 to 12 will be delivered by football club foundations in collaboration with local schools and supported by local and international companies. It aims to use football as a tool to inspire and educate the participants about STEM. The project partners will achieve this by pairing strategic STEM-based activities with essential gameplay and current topics. The target group will learn how to program, code and understand technological devices. External partners will provide educational robots to assist the delivery of the programme and to add an element of fun to the learning experience.

Objectives

  • Improve the digital skills of digitally excluded groups (including migrants and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds) through partnerships between schools, business and non-formal sectors, including public libraries
  • Reach a minimum of 4,800 participants aged 9 to 12 from disadvantaged backgrounds
  • Disseminate the project to over 100 clubs, leagues and FAs across the European continent
  • Produce an effective and user-friendly practitioner’s guide and methodology
  • Positively impact education policies across the partner countries

Project activities

  • Five international project meetings for project managers and coaches to share best practices and establish a practitioner’s guide
  • Three 10-week programmes delivered to schools in disadvantaged areas: these will include inclusive educational and practical workshops alongside football-based activities to educate participants about the importance of STEM
  • One mid-term dissemination event and one final international dissemination event

Expected results

  • Awareness raised of the importance of inclusive education
  • Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds will have been given opportunities to access high quality, innovative education
  • STEM learning opportunities provided to those who do not usually participate in them
  • Engagement of other organisations in the development of their own football-based STEM education programmes
  • Higher educational standards to benefit the future European labour market
  • Better equal opportunities in employment

Partner

RISE – Beyond Goals 2

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Greece, Athens, Thessaloníki
Start date 03/01/2021
End date 08/31/2022
Cost of the project €121,050
Foundation funding €99,260
Project identifier 20200333
Partners ActionAid Hellas
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Two out of five children in Greece live in low-income households at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The situation is exacerbated by the migration crisis, with 50,000 refugee and migrant children in Greece. These children face numerous challenges, including domestic violence, high levels of school dropout and high levels of stress and depression. They also lack basic resources, educational support, and creative and life-skills education, resulting in fewer opportunities and social exclusion.   

Project content

Beyond Goals 2 is the second phase of ActionAid Hellas’ RISE programme aimed at deepening and scaling up its impact. The programme is led by international football player Dimitris Papadopoulos, who was inspired to create a football-based programme that would provide marginalised children with life values and skills affording them a better life with dignity and greater opportunities to develop themselves and their communities.  

Objectives

RISE's mission is to empower disadvantaged children by providing them with skills and access to opportunities in order to build their resilience and thus the resilience of their communities. This second phase aims to deepen and mainstream RISE’s impact by:  

  • developing football and youth club activities in Athens to address youth disengagement, social exclusion and community-building issues; 
  • providing targeted dissemination/capacity building to sports, education and CSO professionals across Greece. 

Project activities

  • Foodball3 training and matches: Access to sports and motivation through positive role models (professional athletes and peers) for marginalised youth
  • National football3 tournament
  • Psychosocial and educational support services
  • Youth civic engagement activities (local youth action groups, capacity building and youth-led civic initiatives)
  • Community-building activities bringing onboard families
  • RISE model transfer workshops (physical and digital)

Expected results

  • 50 disadvantaged children aged 12–17 will participate in football activities, receive support and be actively engaged in youth club activities in the long term 
  • 15 children aged 14–17 will build leadership skills and act as youth mediators for their peers 
  • Five youth-led local initiatives 
  • Ten schools and 200 representatives from sports clubs, CSOs and schools across Greece will receive information, training and support in implementing the RISE model 
  • At least 1,250 children will benefit indirectly from transfer of the RISE model 

Partner

Team GOALS

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Haiti
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €221,326
Foundation funding €15,935
Project identifier 20210108
Partners Global Outreach and Love of Soccer
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The GOALS organisation uses football to engage young Haitians in programmes focused on education, health and the environment to improve their quality of life. Through leadership development and social change initiatives, GOALS is creating stronger, healthier communities in areas where no other non-profit or government services exist. People in these severely deprived areas have no electricity or running water and 80% of the players’ parents are unemployed.

Project content

Team GOALS is a sport-for-development programme focused on football, education and community service. It is designed to develop leadership skills, spark change, and promote equality. The emphasis is on teaching life skills such as literacy, health literacy, conflict resolution and gender equality. It takes a holistic approach and actively engages each of the participants. Through their love of playing the game, they learn how to be engaged members of their community.

Objectives

Team GOALS aims to improve physical and mental health as well as the environment. Each objective relates to GOALS’ overall mission to create healthier and more stable communities in the long term, so that every child in rural Haiti can realise their potential and follow their dreams. By using football as a platform for development, GOALS reaches children who are left behind by conventional educational systems.

Project activities

  • Football: daily practice using specialised curricula (CAC and SFW games) to teach inclusion, conflict resolution and gender equality; friendly matches; and rural outreach.
  • Health education: disease prevention; sex education; and proper hygiene.
  • Climate action: tree planting; recycling; and community gardens.
  • Leadership training: youth leaders identifying community issues and solutions.
  • Education: literacy programme and high school scholarships.
  • Community service: volunteerism.

Expected results

  • Improved physical and mental health of GOALS participants.
  • 92% of participants will have played sports for the first time.
  • 77% of underweight children reached the normal weight range.
  • Annual pregnancy rate in GOALS areas under 1% compared to a 7% country average.
  • 35 literacy class graduates, 25 scholarship recipients and average test scores up from 13% to 71%.
  • 300 trees and three community gardens planted.
  • 400 youth aged 8 to 18 will have increased their self-confidence, health literacy and awareness of social issues through purposeful play.
  • Six youth-led community improvement projects.

Partner

Open Fun Football Schools in Syria

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Syria
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 06/30/2021
Cost of the project €200,000
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20200868
Partners Cross Culture (CCPA)
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Syria is still one of the worst humanitarian crises in human history, with 6.1 million internally displaced people, including 2.5 million children.

Many families have started to return to their homes and are trying to get back to a ‘normal’ life. However, organised sports activities are still rarely accessible to children.

Project content

The Open Fun Football School initiative has proved to be an excellent tool to mobilise local communities and volunteer coaches in some of the most politically uncertain and conflict-sensitive areas across the world.

CCPA will use the Open Fun Football School (OFFS) initiative as a tool to enhance peace education, safeguarding and resilience among children and teenagers throughout Syria.

Objectives

The overall objective of Open Fun Football Schools in Syria is to enhance resilience and encourage a culture of peace and non-violence, gender equality, child protection, an appreciation of cultural and social diversity and of culture’s overall contribution to sustainable development.

    1. Mobilise a network of young Syrian leaders and coaches and build their capacity to independently organise Open Fun Football Schools and other community-based fun football activities
    2. Organising Open Fun Football Schools and other fun football activities for children aged 6-12
    3. Anchoring the network in sustainable and community-based clubs that organise day-to-day Open Fun Football School activities throughout Syria

Project activities

Open Fun Football Schools will focus on following areas : Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hamah, Latakia, Tartus

  1. Introduction to the CCPA child-centred and community-based approach for eight Open Fun Football School leaders/trainers-of-trainers who will receive training in theory and practice.
  2. 60 hours of Open Fun Football School coaching seminars for 96 coaches to teach them the approach. The seminars will be led by the eight leaders/trainers-of-trainers under the supervision of the CCPA and its associated partners from CCPA Lebanon, CCPA Jordan and CCPA Iraq.
  3. 30 hours of seminars run by the eight leaders for 96 young coaching assistants aged 14–18 to teach them the approach.
  4. Eight six-day Open Fun Football Schools organised by the leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for 1,600 children aged 6–12.
  5. One-day fun football festivals organised by the leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for a total of 1,600 children (show-ups) aged 6–12.
  6. Three-day seminar for 60 Open Fun Football School leaders and coaches so they can set up football clubs.
  7. Regular fun football training sessions organised by the Open Fun Football School leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for a total of 1,000 children.

Expected results

8 Open Fun Football School leaders /trainers-of-trainers

96 Open Fun Football School coaches

96 coaching assistants aged 14–18

  • gender balance: minimum 30% females
  • social balance: minimum 50% refugees/internally displaced persons/socially disadvantaged individuals

3 capacity-building seminars

3,200 children aged 6-12 years in 8 Open Fun Football Schools and Festivals

1 club-formation seminar

60 clubs set up

Partner

SCORE

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ivory Coast, Abidjan, Bouaké and Man
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 06/30/2022
Cost of the project €131,578
Foundation funding €86,197
Project identifier 2019969
Partners La Balle aux Prisonniers (LaBAP)
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Ivory Coast’s efforts to reintegrate young offenders into the community have been largely unsuccessful. After observing young people locked up all day in the juvenile detention centres with nothing to do, LaBAP approached the authorities about setting up activities that meet international standards aimed at helping the detainees prepare for reintegration.

The SCORE project targets young people, especially girls, in the Abidjan, Bouaké and Man juvenile detention centres. The detainees, mostly boys, are aged between 12 and 17 and have usually been sentenced to 3–6 months, although some end up being detained for longer or have been given longer sentences. The turnover of detainees is high, with the population changing almost daily – every 18 months, at least 220 minors pass through the three centres.

Project content

LaBAP’s programmes are inspired by the fundamental principles of sport and recognise sport as a driver of social change, education and development. It provides young offenders with an escape from daily life in detention and promotes cooperation, solidarity, tolerance, understanding, social inclusion and health. Combined with other activities, such as vocational and literacy training, sport is a first step towards their reintegration.

Objectives

  • Help juveniles to reintegrate socially and professionally through training and support.
  • Create social cohesion between juveniles in detention and society through sport.

Project activities

  • Developing sports programmes for juveniles in detention (weekly football training and introductory sessions).
  • Sports events with outside teams.
  • Celebration and media coverage of human rights days.
  • Providing materials and logistical support to the centres’ literacy programmes.
  • Practical training in income-generating activities.

Expected results

  • 324 weekly football training sessions and 18 introductory sessions giving juveniles in detention a place of freedom where the harmful effects of detention can be counteracted.
  • Three detention centres will have a suitable area and the equipment needed for playing sports.
  • Events will provide opportunities for socialisation and for society to change the way it views young offenders: 12 events with outside teams providing interaction with 120 external players and 3 gala matches.
  • All detainees will have access to high-quality, inclusive education and lifelong learning opportunities and 20 detainees will be registered for exams.
  • 6 tables and 120 benches/chairs will be provided or restored and each centre will receive a literacy kit.
  • Male and female detainees will acquire skills to help them reintegrate into the workforce: training 20 juveniles in patisserie and 60 juveniles in rabbit farming in Abidjan and Bouaké, 15 juveniles in fish farming in Abidjan, and 30 juveniles in poultry farming in Man.

Partner

Football versus Discrimination

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Republic of Ireland
Start date 12/01/2020
End date 03/31/2023
Cost of the project €212,000
Foundation funding €110,000
Project identifier 20201607
Partners Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI)
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Recently, Ireland has been under international scrutiny for falling short of its human rights commitments to tackle racial discrimination. Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) programmes give children from diverse ethnic minority and indigenous Irish backgrounds the opportunity to take part in physical activity, meet people from different cultures and learn about human rights and racism.

Project content

SARI coaches – both male and female and from diverse ethnic backgrounds – will visit primary schools across Ireland to deliver anti-discrimination workshops to pupils. The workshops, lasting 60–75 minutes, gather children on the sports field or in the playground to play football, boost their health and fitness and develop ball skills, while considering and challenging all forms of discrimination, including racism, sexism and homophobia. The idea is for the children to take what they have learnt on the pitch, such as teamwork, respect, commitment and cooperation, and apply it off the pitch.

Objectives

  • Increase mutual understanding between children and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
  • Help combat racism and xenophobia.
  • Promote the integration of immigrants into Irish schools and society.
  • Promote the involvement of immigrants in sport, volunteering and cultural activities.
  • Promote gender equality in sport and society.
  • Educate children about Human Rights.

Project activities

  • Role playing games for the children to understand and experience how it feels to be discriminated against.
  • Fair play football designed so that the players take responsibility for their own actions: there are no referees and the players are encouraged to resolve disagreements amongst themselves through dialogue.
  • An in-class questionnaire for the children about what they have learnt and their attitudes towards all forms of discrimination.

Expected results

SARI aims to deliver the workshop to over 10,000 children across the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland.

Partner

Hapoel Katamon’s Neighbourhoods League

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Israel, Jerusalem
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €304,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20200349
Partners Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem FC
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The poorest city in Israel, Jerusalem is a microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with hardly any positive contact between the two populations. Arab children in Jerusalem desperately need improved formal and informal education, including leisure time and proper facilities. Most Jewish children taking part in the programme also come from poor neighbourhoods. Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem FC (HKJFC) shows the marginalised Jewish and Arab children from the east and west of the city a different reality that radiates potency, professionalism, optimism, joy and hope.

Project content

The Neighbourhoods League consists of football teams in schools across Jerusalem. HKJFC strongly emphases the inclusion of all children from all backgrounds and the creation of equal opportunity for all. Any school wishing to enrol its boys' team in the Neighbourhoods League is required to set up a girls' team as well.

Objectives

  • Bring children from different religions, nationalities and backgrounds together.
    in order to break down walls and stigmas.
  • Use football to promote values such as tolerance, anti-violence, anti-racism and female empowerment.
  • Give children from underprivileged backgrounds a better education and high-quality sports activities.
  • Promote women’s football in Jerusalem.

Project activities

Learning centres in schools: The Neighbourhood League holds learning sessions each week before practice. The learning centre staff and volunteers help the children with their studies. The centre also provides social activities so the children can learn to work better as a group, become friends and overcome problems that occur during practice.

Football training: Two football practices for children aged 9–14 are held each week during the school year. Here the children can play organised football, learn skills, improve their fitness and develop their social skills. There are no try-outs: all children are welcome to take part.

Tournaments: All the girls' teams and all the boys’ teams take part in monthly tournaments in mixed teams, bringing children together from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and religions. Games are played simultaneously and have no referees – it is up to the players to solve their arguments and differences by themselves.

Expected results

  • 750 children, 30 coaches, 20 volunteers and 10 tutors trained in conflict mitigation and management.
  • Creation of a ‘bubble’ of non-conflict that will radiate out to the community at large.
  • Enabling young people to take part in a positive and meaningful activity, regardless of their ability to pay.
  • Increased dialogue through football and education.
  • Girls in Jerusalem empowered to play football.

Partner

Youth Sports Games 2021

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Serbia
Start date 02/02/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €4,634,393
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 20200528
Partners Association for Sport, Recreation and Education – Youth Games
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The Youth Sports Games started in 1996 in Split, Croatia. The primary motive was to enable children to participate in organised sporting events and other free activities. The Youth Sports Games have become the largest amateur sports event for children and youth in Europe. More than 2 million children have competed in the 25 years since they began.

The games are held in three countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. Primary and secondary-school-age children compete in ten sports disciplines free of charge, and the most successful individuals and teams get to travel to Split to participate in the international finals.

In addition to the games, the association organises regular sports and recreational activities for children to promote health, tolerance and ethical values. The association promotes a lifestyle based on understanding, friendship, solidarity and fair play as an alternative to addiction and deviant behaviour.

Project content

Sport is used as a medium to connect with the participants aged 7–18 through tournaments held in over 280 cities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The Youth Sports Games promote a healthy lifestyle and popularise all ten sports (football, street basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis, chess, dodgeball and athletics), as well as educating about sustainability.

Objectives

In 2020, 186,474 children competed. The objective for 2021 is to have 220,000 participants: 80,000 in Croatia, 50,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 90,000 in Serbia, and for 30% of the participants to be female. The association also aims to further develop football tournaments for girls and to be a preferred choice for young girls aged 12–15 years.

Project activities

From January to August 2021, there will be local tournaments held in the three countries, followed by national finals and then the international finals in Split, Croatia. There will also be marketing activities such as promotional campaigns, digital media activities, PR activities, live TV broadcasts and a TV show in each country.

Expected results

  • 35 girls football tournaments with a total of 11,000 participants in the three countries and young girl players aged 12–15 recruited.
  • Youth Sports Games football tournaments with a total of 110,000 participants in the three countries.
  • Youth Sports Games tournaments in the nine other sports (street basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis, chess, dodgeball and athletics) with a total of 110,000 participants in the three countries.

 

Partner

Cup of Trust

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Ukraine
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €235,799
Foundation funding €199,870
Project identifier 20200601
Partners Development of Football in Ukraine
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

In 2019–2020, the charitable foundation Development of Football in Ukraine developed the Cup of Trust project in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Football and the Ministry of Education and Science. The crime prevention outreach project, funded through a grant from UNICEF, was designed to engage police officers in sport for development activities with children.

In 2020, the project was supported by a grant agreement with the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the governments of Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden. The project is continuing in 2021 in cooperation with the Luhansk Region National Police Headquarters, the Ukrainian Association of Football, and the Luhansk Region State Administration.

Project content

In 2021 and 2022, 100 police officers and 100 physical education teachers will take part in a sport for development workshop. They will be taught how to use sports, including football, to build trusting relationships, prevent teenagers from breaking the law, create healthy habits and introduce teenagers to ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sport for development is a global UNICEF initiative that aims to help children develop the values of team effort, trust, mutual respect, and participation over victory, so that they can fully realise their potential.

Objectives

  • Teach police officers and physical education teachers how to use sport as a child safeguarding tool
  • Promote friendly and trusting relationships between children and law enforcement officials
  • Encourage girls to play football
  • Create a safe environment in the community through public awareness lectures on:
    • leading a healthy lifestyle
    • street safety and traffic rules
    • preventing internet and phone fraud
    • preventing and counteracting domestic violence and child abuse
    • environmental awareness (recycling and reduced consumption)

Project activities

  • Increasing the educational capabilities of police officers and physical education teachers through five two-day workshops on the sport for development methodology and the UEFA online course on child safeguarding
  • Facilitating the creation and training of mixed teams of children by the police officers in collaboration with the physical education teachers
  • Organising public awareness activities for the participating children and other schoolchildren led by police officers
  • Organising regional matches and tournaments, a press conference, a final match and a final survey

Expected results

  • 100 police officers and 100 physical education teachers will complete the sport for development workshop and the online child safeguarding course
  • 202 sets of sports and football equipment will be distributed among the police officers, physical education teachers and workshop trainers
  • 100 mixed teams of children aged 13 to 14 will be created by the police officers in collaboration with the physical education teachers – a total of 1,200 children (600 girls and 600 boys) will be involved
  • The public awareness activities will reach 60,000 children
  • Each year, 50 teams will take part in regional competitions and the five best teams will take part in the finals

Partner