Mpira Fursa: grassroots football for girls and child safeguarding

Location and general information

Closed
Location Nationwide, Tanzania
Start date 05/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €55,000
Foundation funding €55,000
Project identifier 20221136
Partners Karibu Tanzania Organization
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Tanzanian society suffers from considerable gender disparities that restrict girls’ and women’s access to basic services. The country has some of the highest rates of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy in the world (MoEVT, 2008; BEST, 2010), with the consequent adverse effect on school dropout rates for girls. Incidents of child violence and abuse are also increasing throughout the country. Violence against children is a serious problem, with the 2019 Violence Against Children report stating that nearly three in ten girls and approximately one in seven boys experience sexual violence before the age of 18. Almost three-quarters of both girls and boys experience physical violence before they are 18 (NICEF, 2019).

There are many talented girls in Tanzania who could be great football players, coaches, referees, administrators and sports medicine practitioners. The challenge is the lack of organisation and infrastructure to encourage women to become involved in football, combined with the negative cultural norms that restrict the participation of girls and women in sports activities.

Project goals

  • Promote girls’ football in primary schools through folk development colleges (FDCs)
  • Empower girls to become skilled, confident football players with knowledge of football and economic opportunities
  • Promote girls’ engagement and strengthen girls’ self-esteem, self-confidence and knowledge about their rights
  • Reduce school dropout rates in primary schools
  • Raise awareness of children’s rights and the importance of child safeguarding
  • Promote sports for child development and learning at daycare centres and in children’s homes

Project content

The Mpira Fursa project offers girls the opportunity to immerse themselves in football. It introduced football activities to 86 primary schools in collaboration with 43 FDCs in 23 regions during 2022. The project will be scaled up to involve 108 primary school in 54 FDC catchment areas in 24 regions in 2023. The initiative has increased the proportion of girls playing football at different levels.

Project activities

1) Conducting stakeholder orientation and project review meetings; providing training in children’s rights and safeguarding

2) Supporting the primary schools involved in the project, providing football training and supplying educational materials including football equipment (shirts, footballs and bibs)

3) Organising football matches and tournaments for girls’ primary school teams

4) Improving primary school PE teachers’ understanding of children’s rights and safeguarding

5) Engaging communities in a dialogue on gender equality, girls’ participation in football, children’s rights and safeguarding

6) Media engagement to improve public awareness and promote the project

7) Project monitoring

Partners

FOOTBALL4WILDLIFE

Location and general information

Closed
Location Maasai Mara ecosystem, Narok County, Kenya
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €51,568
Foundation funding €3,000
Project identifier 20220309
Partners Water4Wildlife Maasai Mara Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

The Maasai Mara national reserve is a wildlife conservation area in Kenya that is also home to human settlements.

Project goals

1. Increase children's access to football training sessions and matches to promote the social integration and cohesion of communities in Maasai Mara

2. Encourage girls' involvement through training and coaching

3. Educate children on wildlife conservation and life and social skills while countering adverse behaviour such as drug abuse and negative peer pressure

Project content

The Football4Wildlife programme promotes conservation awareness and encourages positive relationships in the community. The beneficiaries are children from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds in state primary schools in Maasai Mara. They are given access to sports and football in particular, while encouraging their commitment to wildlife conservation through fun activities. Information sessions and guidance on conservation will be provided alongside the sports activities. Girls are encouraged to take part in football training, to enhance gender equality. Schools will be supplied with football equipment, such as playing kits and footballs, as well as educational materials, i.e. books and marker pens, for wildlife conservation training.

Partners

Football for Climate Change

Location and general information

Closed
Location Cairo, Egypt
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 05/31/2024
Cost of the project €100,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20220602
Partners Terre des Hommes Egypt
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Egypt currently hosts nearly 290,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers. Children and young people from these communities report high levels of discrimination, exploitation and insecurity, among other protection issues.

Programmes based around sports, playing and art are important for the physical health and social, psychological and developmental needs of young people who have experienced the stress and anxiety of forced displacement.            

Project goals

Football for Climate Change promotes sport as a way to improve social cohesion among vulnerable young Egyptians and refugees living in Egypt and offers them the opportunity to take action on climate change. It does this by:

  1. Implementing and maintaining a sustainable, safe environment for youth participation through football in 20 schools in the El-Obour district;
  2. Organising a Climate Change Football tournament in El-Obour to promote behaviour to address climate change among local students, caregivers and families.

Project content

The project leverages the potential of Terre des Hommes’s Football for Protection (F4P) methodology to develop young people’s skills and well-being. This interactive approach consists of four interrelated programmes:

1. F4P Training of Trainers for staff and teachers in 20 schools in El-Obour district

Five-day training programmes are provided for 20 sports teachers and ten community facilitators on F4P methodology and using football to enhance knowledge of climate change issues. The programme includes technical sport skills and soft skills for children and young people, focusing on child protection, intercultural education, leadership, conflict management, community engagement, experiential learning, etc.

2. Technical and financial support to enable schools to implement an F4P programme for 400 students (at least 25% of whom are girls and 5% are disabled students)

Trained facilitators and teachers carry out weekly F4P coaching sessions to enhance the well-being and inclusion of the participating students. The project team sets up the groups, some of which are girls-only groups to encourage participation, and provides the necessary sports equipment. Safeguarding procedures monitored by the project team ensure protective, gender-sensitive environments and climate change awareness is integrated into the coaching sessions.

3. Supporting social sports initiatives

The 400 participating children, supported by the project team, facilitators and teachers, work in groups to coordinate three social sports initiatives per school. These initiatives use sport to raise awareness of climate change, reaching at least 2,000 fellow students.

4. A football tournament for the 20 participating schools in the El-Obour district

The project team organises a district football tournament between the participating schools. The students of each school design their own kit, which should promote climate change messages.

Terre des Hommes Egypt posts short videos, testimonies and success stories on social media to promote the project.

Partners

Score without barriers

Location and general information

Closed
Location Brovary, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Smila (Ukraine)
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 08/31/2023
Cost of the project €43,124
Foundation funding €35,640
Project identifier 20210735
Partners Shakhtar Social
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle

Context

Research by the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports suggests that only 6,000 disabled children took part in sports in 2019. According to a report published that year by the country’s state statistics committee, this figure represents just 3.7% of the disabled children in Ukraine.

Project goals

The project, which works in close cooperation with Special Olympics Ukraine and local partner the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine, aims to improve access to sports, and football in particular, for 180 disabled children aged between 7 and 16 years old. Some 50 coaches will be taught about disability sports and the project will promote social inclusion and protect children's rights. The children will benefit from free football sessions and masterclasses over the year, delivered by the foundation's coaches and FC Shakhtar players. At least 10% of participants will be girls.

Project content

The primary focus of the project is to provide 50 grassroots football coaches from all around Ukraine, as well as the foundation’s coaches, with training in disability football. The sessions will be delivered by local experts in grassroots and disability football. The methodology will include the major topics of grassroots football, inclusive football, football for disabled children, and tolerance and respect in football (preventing violence and bullying).

The project’s second strand is free football sessions under the ‘Score without barriers’ label. These are led twice a week by a coach and two volunteers in six locations covering almost all of Ukraine: Brovary, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Smila. Each coach trains 30 children, at least 10% of whom are girls. The one-hour football sessions include physical exercises, games, personal training and a football match, all adapted to be suitable for disabled children. All the necessary equipment will be provided: training kits, balls, disc cones, bibs, a whistle, football nets, first-aid kits, football pumps, freeze sprays and coordination ladders. Each location has an artificial pitch and sports gym.

The project’s third activity consists of six football masterclasses, one in each target location, delivered by FC Shakhtar representatives. A first-team or academy player or coach from FC Shakhtar will visit each project location to teach children basic football skills and join in fun activities and games in the two-hour event. The children will have the opportunity to chat to the players and receive gifts and autographs from the club. The local media will be invited to cover the event to boost the project’s profile. The staff of Shakhtar Social will be in charge of preparing and running the events and taking care of the associated logistics. The masterclasses aim to enhance the impact of the project, offer the children the chance to meet FC Shakhtar players and unite the participants in each location. Thirty children will take part in each event.

Partners

Kick For Hope

Location and general information

Closed
Location Jordan
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €375,000
Foundation funding €175,000
Project identifier 20220925
Partners AFDP Global
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

AFDP Global and UEFA started the Zaatari Kick for Hope project in 2012 to help Syrian refugees displaced by the conflict in Syria, particularly children in the refugee camp of Zaatari, by providing football activities, training courses, infrastructure support and life skills programmes. The UEFA Foundation for Children continued to provide financial and infrastructure support from 2015 and extended the support to Azraq camp. The Zaatari and Azraq projects were combined in 2021.

Project goals

  • Engaging Syrian children and teenagers

Provide football and other sports activities in an appropriate, safe and supervised environment, allowing children to enjoy their childhood. In addition to playing and spending time together, the youngsters will learn football skills and the fundamental values of sport, such as respect, fair play, team spirit and solidarity. They will also be educated on specific social issues.

  • Training Syrian football coaches and referees

Provide training for Syrian refugees on how to run football coaching sessions, equipping them with the skills to manage a league and run football clubs, with specific classes on refereeing.

  • Integrating a life skills curriculum

Teach coaches how to apply the values of sport to facilitate children’s personal development and raise their awareness of certain social issues, paying particular attention to conflict resolution, early marriage, birth control and the importance of schooling, health, hygiene and well-being.

  • Maintaining established football clubs and league

Support administrators and coaches, ensuring that they have the ability to maintain the football clubs and league set up by the project in previous years.

Project content

AFDP Global provides weekly sporting activities for displaced Syrian boys and girls, ensuring a fun and safe environment for training and competitive activities, including football, judo, Zumba, and table tennis. The project continues to support the Syrian coaching and management team established at the Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps. Sport is used to raise awareness of social issues and impart the life skills necessary in that context. Continuous training for skills development is also provided. The youngsters are supervised by appropriate role models.

Partners

SCORING GIRLS

Location and general information

Closed
Location Germany & Iraq
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €435,000
Foundation funding €115,000
Project identifier 20220430
Partners HÁWAR.help
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

More people are displaced today than at any time since World War II. In Germany, there are approximately 1.4 million refugees, while in post-conflict Iraq, some 1.2 million inhabitants are internally displaced persons (IDPs). Action is needed to tackle barriers to the integration of refugees and IDPs, especially women and girls. Female refugees face additional hurdles to integration, from family pressures to cultural and host community expectations. These issues need to be addressed.

 

Project goals

SCORING GIRLS* uses football as a tool to empower a unique target group – refugee, migrant and underprivileged girls aged 9–18. A weekly programme promotes self-esteem and a sense of community to boost social integration. The SCORING GIRLS* project has been implemented in three IDP camps in Iraq and seven locations in Germany and encourages the development of a shared identity among the participants and their host communities.

Objectives

  1. Empower refugee and IDP girls through soft-skill development and psychosocial support
  2. Support the development of a strong, inclusive community by strengthening social cohesion and community services for refugees and their families
  3. Promote direct engagement and mutual understanding between refugee and IDP girls and host communities in Germany and Iraq
  4. Raise awareness of the potential of sport as a tool to empower and integrate refugees

Expected results

  1. Improved soft skills such as self-confidence, teamwork and resilience in 280 girls
  2. The construction of cohesive communities of girls with diverse backgrounds in nine locations
  3. Active support of girls involved in the project by 500 family members
  4. Some 700,000 people taught the power of sport to build cohesive communities and empower girls

 

Project content

The following activities will take place with 160 girls at two venues in Germany and three IDP camps in Iraq.

Weekly empowerment programme

  1. Recruitment of girls and relationship-building
  2. Weekly football-based, soft-skills programme
  3. Empowerment dialogues with role models

Community-building programme

  1. Group excursions
  2. Family engagement events and training
  3. Friendly football matches

 

Partners

Girls Community League

Location and general information

Closed
Location Tacloban City, Leyte (Philippines)
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 02/29/2024
Cost of the project €110,280
Foundation funding €35,104
Project identifier 20221010
Partners FundLife International
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Some 4.8 million children drop out from school every year in the Philippines. The main reason is poverty: children are forced to abandon school in order to work. The poverty rate in the Leyte region is almost 48% – the highest in the country after Mindanao. The COVID-19 pandemic had a catastrophic impact as schools were closed for over 700 consecutive days and disadvantaged children were not afforded online education opportunities. In December 2021, Typhoon Rai further aggravated access to education. The return to full teaching provision was only completed in autumn 2022.

The Girls Community League (GCL) is an add-on to our flagship projects currently being run in Tacloban (FFLA) and Cebu (FDA, with support from the UEFA Foundation for children). GCL is designed to alleviate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Typhoon Rai on access to education. It is a girl-focused protection and education programme based on experiential play and learning to help children return to school after  the 700-day break due to COVID-19 and to reduce subsequent dropouts such that girls finish their education.

Project goals

Our organisation's mission is to give every child equal opportunities in football and life. GCL’s objectives are to:

  1. provide children who were forced out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or Typhoon Rai with access to safe play and learning spaces within their communities;
  2. provide these children with educational support during their back-to-school journey through our Play-Believe-Achieve methodology;
  3. increase girls' engagement and decision-making abilities through an approach that puts girls front and centre.

Project content

FundLife will make full use of its strong partnership with local government to promote the project’s objectives. It will also involve the Department of Education to ensure that girls from all schools within the project area will be given the opportunity to participate.

The organisation will sign agreements with all its partners to strengthen community ownership of the project. Project orientations will be conducted with the recipients, their parents, schools and other stakeholders. Policies will also be disseminated, especially FundLife’s child protection policy.

Once these activities have been completed, FundLife will start the play learning, mentoring and study support sessions for girls. GCL plans to involve eight teams, making sure that each team can play at least 25 games. Festivals will be held for all GCL participants and their peers, with competitive matches and fun learning activities.

Capacity-building exercises will also be conducted with teachers and sports coaches to allow them to better assist children in their back-to-school journeys.

Partners

Education and sports for vulnerable children in Afghanistan

Location and general information

Closed
Location Afghanistan
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €293,915
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20220474
Partners Action for Development
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Recent drought, flooding, earthquakes, COVID-19 and regime change have had a devastating impact on the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan, including children who work on the streets and girls in particular.

Large numbers of Afghans have moved to the major cities in search of a means of survival and many children end up working on the streets in dangerous jobs to support their families. They are vulnerable to being abused, sexually exploited, subjected to forced labour, exposed to drugs and recruited by terrorist groups.

Engaging these children in education reduces these risks and helps them to reintegrate into society. Sadly, children in Afghanistan face multiple barriers to education and girls have been barred from school and university entirely.

Project goals

Action for Development's overall goal is to provide high-quality schooling to girls and disadvantaged children in Afghanistan. The aim is to improve their well-being in the short term and reduce poverty and child labour in the long term.

Project content

Education for street-working children

AfD’s schools offer 320 children two hours of high-quality schooling per day, close to where they work, in line with SDGs 1 (no poverty) and 4 (quality education). AfD is working on setting up new learning centres, as well as recruiting and training more teachers in the special needs of street children. AfD develops innovative tailormade teaching materials and is currently establishing a Montessori curriculum and harmonising the existing materials with the formal school curriculum. It is increasing synergies with local schools and continuing to organise awareness sessions promoting education and sports for girls. We also try to integrate as many children as possible into public schools to increase their chances of getting good jobs and break the cycle of poverty.

Health and well-being

All children enrolled in AfD’s education programme receive one healthy meal each day, which for many is the only meal they eat that day (SDG 2: zero hunger). Our Comprehensive Health Centre performs regular health checks, growth monitoring, vaccinations and psychological support in line with SDG 3 (good health and well-being). AfD also offers football coaching in order to entertain and educate the children and let them enjoy their childhoods in a safe environment.

Education for girls above 13 years old

AfD has recently set up a home-based education programme for secondary school aged girls who have been banned from formal government education (SDG 5: gender equality). Currently, 180 girls are enrolled and AfD is working to hire and train more female teachers, find partners to certify exams, improve the programme and identify digital platforms to give more girls access to education.

Vocational trainings

AfD has established a vocational training programme for 20 male students aged 14–16 (SDG 8: decent work and economic growth). AfD is working with local partners to further improve the learning modules it provides in in-demand skills, such as mechanics, carpentry and gem cutting. We are also working to raise awareness of the importance of providing digital learning to children in emergency situations and conflict zones.

Partners

LEARN & PLAY – Equal opportunities for education and sport for all children!

Location and general information

Closed
Location Montenegro
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 05/30/2023
Cost of the project €60,810
Foundation funding €47,810
Project identifier 20221116
Partners NGO Parents
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Alarmingly, 33.7% of children in Montenegro experience poverty. The UNICEF report Multidimensional Child Poverty in Montenegro (2021) states that the situation is expected to get worse, compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NGO Roditelji supports children living in extreme poverty – often in informal housing, without electricity and regular meals, and socially isolated owing to discrimination. They struggle at school and often drop out at an early age. None of them have access to any sport. Without education and social inclusion, they have no chance of a better life.

Project goals

Support education and social inclusion of 1,120 children who live in extreme poverty.

Specific objectives:

  • Provide access to sport – free football training for 800 children who live in extreme poverty
  • Provide free lessons to enable 320 children to acquire basic reading and writing skills
  • Boost the children’s self-esteem, motivation and social skills
  • Promote equal opportunities for all children among the main stakeholders

Project content

Equal opportunities for education and sport for all children! The project aims to improve opportunities for children aged 6–10 who live in extreme poverty in suburban and rural areas of Nikšić municipality, by supporting their education and social inclusion through sport. The project will consist of regular football training, mentorship (teaching them grammar, reading and writing) and ending with a sports tournament. LEARN & PLAY will help them to finish school, be included in social life, and spin the wheel of change!

Sport is life-changing for underprivileged children. Sport provides them with both formal and informal education. We have shown the potential of football in Podgorica and now in Nikšić.

Activities

  1. Football training in 8 primary schools
  • Selecting schools and coordinating the approach
  • Developing a training programme for PE teachers or licensed coaches
  • Providing sports equipment for children
  • Coordinating football training twice a week for 800 children per school
  • Organising visits by famous Montenegrin football players
  1. Organising free classes according to the school curriculum
  • Recruiting volunteers who will help the children learn
  • Training for volunteers
  1. Organising a football tournament for 16 school teams (2 per school)

Partners

Football: A universal language

Location and general information

Closed
Location Lithuania
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €50,000
Foundation funding €37,000
Project identifier 20220179
Partners Vilnius social club
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Lithuanian society has faced various challenges over the last few years:

  • Deterioration in the population’s psychological health following the pandemic;
  • Large number of refugees arriving from Africa and the Middle east in 2021 after the border with Belarus opened;
  • Tensions with Russian community and migration from Ukraine as a result of the war in Ukraine;
  • Economic hardship, inflation and increased poverty.

In Lithuania, football is not accessible to vulnerable children and young adults because of the high fees and too much focus on results.

Project goals

Vilnius Social Club has run the football programme since 2013. The main goal is not sporting results, but a qualitative change in the life of each participant:

  • To help develop children and young people to develop skills and qualities that will help them to overcome various life challenges, such as independence, communication skills and the ability to work as a team, take responsibility, solve conflicts, find compromises and come to agreement.
  • To improve the participants’ social and sporting skills, thereby expanding the options available to teenagers in the future.

Principles of the project:

  1. Football is just a tool: we want participants in the football programme to grow as individuals, and we aim to create a space in which children and young people can take part in regular and long-term activities at their own pace. Playing football helps them to learn to be on time and stay until the end, to work as a team, to manage their emotions, to deal constructively with stressful and challenging situations, to win and lose, to interact with peers and adults, and to reflect on their experiences.
  1. Equal opportunities for all: we encourage diversity among the children who attend our football sessions, who include girls and boys, quieter and louder children, those of different nationalities, and weaker and stronger individuals.
  1. Empowering performance: we constantly reflect on our work and try to be clear about the limits of our responsibilities. Instead of playing the role of saviour, we choose to collaborate with our partners, provide them with feedback and work together to make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.

Project content

Participants of the football activities are divided into different age groups, with each having a two-hour session once a week. The sessions are structured as follows:

  1. Informal activities (free play): 20 minutes
  2. Opening circle: 10 minutes
  3. Football exercises: 30 minutes
  4. Football match: 30 minutes
  5. Discussion (circle): 30 minutes

Around 120 people aged from 7 to 20, with different experiences and facing different challenges, participate in the football programme each year. They all find a space where they are accepted regardless of their behaviour, financial situation or physical ability.

Additional activities include collaborating with families, one-to-one communication, work with individuals, activities during school holidays, and a summer camp.

Partner

Life’s A Ball

Location and general information

Closed
Location South Africa
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €48,550
Foundation funding €48,550
Project identifier 20220332
Partners Altus Sport
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

In parts of Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg, children live in poor socio-economic conditions with inadequate educational opportunities due to a lack of teachers, resources and classroom space. With no access to online learning, these children missed out on nearly two years of schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical education is practically absent from the school system. Sports facilities are non-existent or run-down and there are few physical education teachers and coaches.

Girls find it difficult to stand up for their rights and myths about health and reproduction hold them back from reaching their full potential. The unemployment rate is very high. Many young people lack the self-confidence and skills to find employment, and positive role models are scarce.

Project goals

  • Empower unemployed young people by educating them in personal development and leadership, basic employability skills, and fitness and sports
  • Promote physical and mental activity by introducing children to various sports and brain-fitness activities
  • Increase positive behaviour and reduce violence, physical abuse, crime and substance abuse
  • Instil positive values and good citizenship through Olympism and Olympic education
  • Motivate people with disabilities to be active
  • Support educational skills such as reading and writing
  • Empower girls by educating them about hygiene and reproductive health, leadership and basic financial management
  • Promote entrepreneurship through vegetable gardens that will teach children responsibility, financial management and leadership

Project content

The goal of the project is to utilise sport to empower children to make positive changes to their lives. The project involves training young people to run sports and life skills sessions for children. At these sessions, the children will play football, cricket, touch rugby, netball and hockey and learn about positivity, resilience, hygiene, puberty and menstruation, avoiding pregnancy, healthy relationships, bullying and peer pressure, gender-based violence and financial management.

Partners

Visiting sick children in hospitals

Location and general information

Closed
Location Hungary
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 07/31/2024
Cost of the project €134,000
Foundation funding €20,000
Project identifier 20220462
Partners Amigos for Children Foundation
Categories Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Children may face a range of problems when they are admitted to hospital for long periods of time. They may fail to keep up with their studies and lose most of their social interactions. Frustration and a lack of motivation can adversely affect a child's fight against chronic illness.

Project goals

The Amigos for Children Foundation is working on a variety of approaches to introduce sports themes to the project’s hospital visits. With the assistance of the UEFA Foundation for Children we will add sports-related knowledge to the sessions, producing sports-themed exercise booklets. All volunteers are university students and recruitment will start in March 2023.

Project content

The project involves university student volunteers who visit long-term child patients at least twice a week to help them with their studies, assist with arts and crafts and improve social contact. The focus is on learning through play to the enjoyment of patients and volunteers alike.

The project will continue hospital visits to build on its eight successful years of experience. In 2022 the project welcomed a volunteer who had previously experienced the benefits of the programme as a patient. Bringing friendship, play and study to children's hospital bedsides, regardless of the patient’s gender, age or ethnicity, also has positive effects on recovery times.

Partners

Football Friends – Together is OK!

Location and general information

Closed
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina
Start date 03/01/2023
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €58,000
Foundation funding €43,720
Project identifier 20220196
Partners Football Friends
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of Europe's poorest countries that is still facing unresolved post-conflict tensions and the negative consequences of the ruthless war of the 1990s that affect young people and ethnic groups in Bosnia.

Project goals

  • Prevent conflict and promote long-lasting peace
  • Improve relationships between different national groups
  • Challenge stereotypes and social roles
  • Promote more active female participation in all football-related activities

Project content

The Football Friends – Together is OK! 2.0.23 project will extend the age range from players aged up to 14 to those aged up to 18. It will also incorporate the towns of Čajniče and Ustikolina from the same region as the existing project towns of Foča and Goražde.

The project will continue to adopt a football3 approach with teams of mixed genders and ethnicities from the four municipalities. Teams will be assembled using the Viber messaging app.

Partners

Genesis Football for Peace Community League

Location and general information

Closed
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2024
Cost of the project €417,825
Foundation funding €80,000
Project identifier 20220524
Partners Genesis Project
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

This project contributes to overcoming ethnic segregation among ten ethnically divided communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country is characterised by its divided schools, symbolised in particular by the phenomenon of two schools, segregated by ethnicity, under one roof. This unique form of apartheid emerges from distrust and fear fuelled by irresponsible nationalist politicians.

Project goals

This project aims to empower young people to act as role models and young leaders in their communities. It will contribute to reducing the risk of recurring conflict and violence by promoting peaceful coexistence, trust, respect for diversity and cross-cultural dialogue amongst project beneficiaries. They will learn how to:

  1. Make decisions based on the cross-cultural context
  2. Use conflict mediation skills
  3. Compromise and find solutions
  4. Respect gender equality
  5. Enjoy healthy competition on the pitch

Project content

 

We work in ethnically divided communities and primary schools to promote gender equality, personal development and communication among young people from different ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Football has the power to unite youth from different ethnic groups and is a common language understood by all children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and here it will be used as a peacebuilding and youth empowerment tool.

Project activities:

  1. Sign MoUs with primary schools in ten communities
  2. Donate sports equipment to primary schools
  3. Transfer knowledge among peers using the football3 methodology
  4. Form football3 teams
  5. Establish the Genesis Football for Peace Community League (GFPCL)
  6. Organise football3 matches within the GFPCL
  7. Organise GFPCL camps within various communities

Partners

Pelota de trapo – Rag ball

Location and general information

Closed
Location Uruguay
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €20,000
Foundation funding €10,000
Project identifier 20220820
Partners Gurises Unidos
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Uruguay has an overall population of 3,485,152. Children are the most affected by situations of poverty and violence: in 2020, 20% of children (a total of 176,375) were living below the poverty line. Moreover, reports showed an increase of 42% in violence against children in 2021. Most violent situations are chronic and 9 out of 10 of the aggressors are close family members of the victims.

Project goals

- Provide a cohort of children with the tools to strengthen their inter- and intrapersonal skills, their emotional intelligence and their family’s ability to care for them

- Create safe and inclusive sports activities

- Promote the meaningful participation of children in their communities, their positive and sustained integration into formal educational and their right to health through self-care

Project content

This project provides sports areas where social skills are developed in favour of gender equity, teamwork and peaceful conflict resolution, as well as themed workshops and individual interviews with a view to making life plans. In addition, the project monitors families and promotes access to resources and social policies that respect children’s rights. It also organises open community awareness activities where children become key members of the community.

Partners

Aktive Jen Yo – Activating Youth

Location and general information

Closed
Location Haiti
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €340,000
Foundation funding €48,000
Project identifier 20220147
Partners GOALS Haiti (Global Outreach And Love of Soccer)
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

In rural Haiti, families live on the edge, trying to survive in the face of extreme poverty. GOALS focuses on rural areas where no other non-profit, private or government services are available. Unemployment rates are as high as 80% and parents cannot afford to send their children to school. Disease is an ever-present risk and gender bias is high. In terms of health and education, Haiti is one of the most difficult places in the world to grow up.

Project goals

GOALS was created to use the power of sport to engage youth with education and leadership opportunities. The Aktive Jen Yo project embraces football, education and community service. We focus on teaching life skills such as literacy, healthy living and conflict resolution. The holistic approach aims to create long-lasting change. An astounding 98% of participants had no access to sport before GOALS. Our programmes provide vital support for the development of Haiti’s youth in a safe, empowering space.

The objectives of our programme are to improve the physical and mental health of individuals within healthier, more stable rural communities where every child can realise their potential. Our projects engage citizens who learn in a dynamic, culturally appropriate way. Sport is a foundation of education and young people acquire life skills (communication, problem solving, leadership, inclusion, self-confidence) in a safe environment that allows them to truly flourish.

Project content

  • Football – daily practice using purposeful play games, friendly matches and rural outreach to teach inclusion, conflict resolution and gender equality
  • Health education – disease prevention, sex education, gender-based violence training, good hygiene
  • Climate action – tree planting, recycling and community gardens
  • Leadership training – youth leaders identify community issues and solutions
  • Education – literacy programme and high school scholarships
  • Community service – volunteering for projects
  • 350 young people receive daily meals and take part in football/purposeful play activities
  • 350 young people receive hygiene training and disease prevention education (AIDS, cholera, COVID-19)

Partner