Construction of an artificial football pitch

Location and general information

Closed
Location Madagascar
Start date 02/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €406,043
Foundation funding €120,000
Project identifier 2024000804
Partners AKAMASOA
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

Madagascar is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Since 1989, Father Pedro Opeka and his humanitarian organisation, AKAMASOA, have been fighting the extreme poverty that plagues the country on a daily basis by providing emergency aid to those in greatest need, building houses, educating children, providing healthcare, helping people find employment and providing vocational training for young people.

In 1989, AKAMASOA helped 140 families from the capital, Antananarivo, settle 60km away in Antolojanahary, where the organisation built houses, a dispensary, schools and sports facilities. The village now has a population of 6’000.

Project goals

  • Build an artificial football pitch on the existing dirt pitch for the village’s 2,190 schoolchildren as well as other youngsters from the village and surrounding areas, giving every child the chance to play football, have fun, escape their difficult living conditions and the difficulties their country endures, and develop a sense of community
  • Enable children to play football not only in their school sports lessons but also, under supervision, during their free time and at weekends
  • Stage matches between local teams of children and young adults, bringing together residents of surrounding villages and developing a sense of community

Project content

  • Construction of an artificial football pitch for use by:
    • one nursery, one primary school, one secondary school and one college;
    • 2,190 children from primary to high school age (figures from the 2024/25 academic year).
  • Daily sports activities and competitions, including matches every weekend.
  • The pitch will be monitored at all times to ensure the facilities are being properly looked after.

Partners

Open activities

Location and general information

Closed
Location Sweden
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €64,942
Foundation funding €13,916
Project identifier 2024000664
Partners En Frisk Generation
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

In Sweden, children living in under-resourced urban areas of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö face challenges such as social isolation, physical inactivity and limited access to sport. These issues contribute to health disparities, social exclusion and a lack of community cohesion.

Project goals

En Frisk Generation provides free, inclusive outdoor activities in order to:

  • promote physical health and well-being
  • foster social inclusion and community engagement
  • enhance children’s personal development and teamwork
  • ensure that all children have access to equitable and inclusive sports opportunities
  • build stronger, more connected communities through sport

Project content

Sessions aimed at children aged 4 to 12 years old are offered on a regular basis in local parks and sports facilities. The sessions include activities such as football and other ball sports, with an emphasis on teamwork and physical fitness, as well as education about healthy lifestyles and nutrition. En Frisk Generation works with numerous local clubs and hopes to engage the community by holding the sessions in public places to encourage spontaneous participation.

Partners

Junior Camp

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Romania
Start date 04/01/2025
End date 10/31/2026
Cost of the project €164,900
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 2024000421
Partners European Amputee Football Federation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle

Context

Children with amputations and limb differences are often confronted by a range of physical, emotional and social challenges, and research shows that disabled children experience more bullying and discrimination than their peers. Adaptive sports are crucial for their development but access remains limited or non-existent. Providing children with amputations and limb differences with opportunities to participate in football improves their well-being and enables them to integrate and develop.

Project goals

  • Create more opportunities for young people to play amputee football
  • Establish new national programmes and increase the number of players, girls especially
  • Use the cultural power of football to enhance disabled children’s sense of self-worth, build confidence and independence
  • Foster physical, emotional and psychological well-being
  • Enhance social integration and peer support, promote cultural exchanges between participants
  • Encourage lifelong engagement in sport and active lifestyles
  • Raise awareness and advocate for inclusion

Project content

Junior Camp is an annual amputee football camp that offers children from Europe and further afield an inclusive, supportive and empowering environment. It creates opportunities for children to play football, connect through the universal language of sport and develop their skills. The camp is also a platform for coaches to share knowledge and experience and for parents to bond with their children.

Junior Camp is more than just a single event; it is a tool to promote and develop national programmes and motivate children to train all year round. The 2025 camp is being held in Eforie Nord, Romania.

Activities

  • Amputee football training and games: professional coaches and players run specialised training sessions focusing on skills development and teamwork (drills, practice matches and technical exercises tailored to each player's abilities)
  • Safeguarding workshops for new and experienced coaches
  • Cultural experiences: opportunities to absorb the culture and history of the camp's host venue
  • Activities that bring parents and coaches together

Partners

Getting Opportunities and Learning in Social Studies (GOAL-S)

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Nepal
Start date 03/01/2025
End date 02/28/2026
Cost of the project €25,250
Foundation funding €25,000
Project identifier 2024000997
Partners Childreach Nepal
Categories Access to Sport - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

The Chepang are among Nepal’s most disadvantaged indigenous groups, classified as 'highly marginalised' based on various socio-economic indicators including population size, literacy rate, housing conditions, land ownership, occupation and access to higher education. Nearly 90% of the Chepang population lives below the poverty line.

A recent study by the District Public Health Office revealed that 45 to 86% of Chepang girls in Makwanpur marry between the ages of 12 and 15 – despite child marriage being outlawed in Nepal since 1963. Poverty, lack of education and awareness, and limited availability of food and opportunities to generate income are considered major contributing factors.

Project goals

Main objectives

  • Empower children to recognise and assert their right to protection from abuse
  • Establish strong collaboration and a unified approach to safeguarding children among parents, schools and communities in Makwanpur District
  • Develop and implement innovative, play-based teaching methods that foster active, immersive learning

Additional objectives

  • Incorporate sport and play in education and ensure that all children have access to structured recreational activities in school to support learning and engagement
  • Design and implement a sports-based curriculum that addresses critical social issues such as child protection, equality and harmful traditions
  • Encourage children to challenge stereotypes and advocate for their rights, fostering a culture of openness and empowerment
  • Raise awareness among parents and communities about child protection using engaging, sports-driven outreach programmes
  • Provide training for teachers and community youth leaders to integrate immersive, play-based techniques into their teaching practices

The GOAL-S project has already achieved positive outcomes, including increased participation, especially among girls, and heightened community awareness of child protection issues.

Project content

  • Weekly sports sessions led by trained youth leaders for approximately 300 children aged 11 to 14
  • Social studies curriculum that delivers key messages on child protection, educates children about their rights and encourages them to discuss what they learn with their parents, caregivers and other family members
  • Tailored games and activities that promote behavioural change to help children assert and claim their rights
  • Active consultation and engagement of teachers to incorporate their expertise and understanding of their students' needs, including a process of co-creation and delivery through which teachers acquire new skills in play-based pedagogy that they can apply in various contexts
  • Capacity development workshops and mentorship for teachers and youth leaders
  • Child protection training for parents and community members, with a view to co-creating a child protection mechanism
  • An annual football festival involving children, parents and community members to raise awareness of children’s rights and abuse prevention

Partners

Kick for Hope

Location and general information

Closed
Location Jordan
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €400,000
Foundation funding €175,000
Project identifier 2024000682
Partners Association Football Development Programme (AFDP) Global
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Relative to population size, Jordan hosts the second highest number of refugees in the world, including 706,100 registered Syrian refugees (approximately 7% of the population). Unregistered numbers are much higher, estimated at more than 1.5 million or 20% of the population. Over half (51%) are children, and over 80% are surviving below the poverty line.

The Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps have been hosting Syrian refugees since 2011 who have never returned to their homeland. Overcrowding and a shortage of resources in the camps limit the recreational activities and safe spaces available for children to play and socialise. The absence of structured activities can result in boredom, frustration and behavioural issues, which further hinder children and young adults’ emotional and psychological well-being and development.

Project goals

  • Build the capacity of Syrian coaches and create opportunities for employment
  • Provide children with access to safe spaces to enjoy football and other sports activities
  • Promote life skills through sport
  • Create professional development and competitive opportunities for young refugees
  • Create football clubs in the camps
  • Enter Syrian refugee teams in the local U13 boys’ and U14 girls’ grassroots football leagues and the Jordan Judo League

Project content

  • Selection of Syrian youth coaches and administrators
  • In-person training for coaches, coordinators and admin teams
  • Ongoing football and other sports activities for children and young adults
  • Football leagues for all age groups
  • Judo and table tennis activities, and Zumba classes for girls

Partners

Football for All

Location and general information

Closed
Location Lebanon
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €95,000
Foundation funding €63,000
Project identifier 2024000427
Partners Tawazon
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

The Football for All project helps Lebanese children by providing them with access to football training centres. Lebanese children have been adversely affected by a succession of economic, health, social and political crises that have impacted the country since October 2019. Their precarious situation was exacerbated by the huge explosion at a Beirut port in August 2020. This summer, they experienced the horrors of war.

Project goals

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

Project content

Football: getting started, progressing or perfecting their technique, depending on the participant's level.

Partners

Génération Sportive

Location and general information

Closed
Location Morocco, Tunisia and Libya
Start date 01/02/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €260,247
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 2024000931
Partners Tibu Morocco
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

For children in Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, access to physical education is limited, the school dropout rate is high and the economic situation is far from easy. Moreover, in Libya and Tunisia, their lives are made even harder by war and instability.

Lack of access to sport and physical education is detrimental to children’s physical and mental health, and it limits their personal development. This can lead to young people taking risks, including illegal migration.

Project goals

  • Improve children’s physical and mental health by integrating sport and physical exercise into the school syllabus of 20 primary schools, encouraging 12,000 children to exercise regularly
  • Create jobs for young adults to foster their social and economic inclusion
  • Promote gender equality
  • Reduce the school dropout rate by creating a more stimulating and inclusive school environment
  • Offer an alternative to illegal migration by creating jobs for local people and opportunities for economic inclusion

Project content

  • Supervised sports sessions in primary schools featuring activities designed to improve children’s motor skills, coordination and self-esteem
  • Health and well-being workshops teaching young people about nutrition, hygiene and healthy lifestyles
  • Promoting gender equality through the equal participation of boys and girls
  • Training and employing 20 young adults as sports activity leaders
  • Annual national tours delivering sports and educational activities in schools across each country, including in rural areas, with the participation of 9,200 children as well as their parents and teachers
  • Engaging parents, teachers and the local community to ensure the programme’s sustainability

Partners

T.E.A.M Project

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Scotland
Start date 04/01/2025
End date 03/31/2026
Cost of the project €148,000
Foundation funding €78,144
Project identifier 2024001326
Partners Big Hearts Community Trust
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

In Scotland, vulnerable children affected by trauma, poverty, cultural differences, language barriers, disabilities or mental health issues are at risk of struggling with the transition from primary to secondary school. Support for these children has been found to be particularly insufficient in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Paisley, Motherwell and Greenock.

Project goals

The T.E.A.M project uses football as a tool to improve the resilience and social connectedness of vulnerable children. It aims to:

  • Encourage new friendships and social connections
  • Help to forge connections between participants and their community
  • Improve physical health
  • Boost confidence and well-being

Project content

The project delivers weekly football sessions alongside confidence and resilience-building activities for 250 marginalised children aged 10 to 12, and they are also given a healthy snack during each session.

More than 80% of the children experience an improvement in their confidence and well-being. Parents feel more confident in supporting their children and children feel better connected in their personal relationships.

A model and learning plan are being developed with a view to rolling the programme out to more Scottish communities in the medium to long term.

Partners

Prishtina Girls’ Football Team

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kosovo
Start date 02/01/2025
End date 07/31/2026
Cost of the project €161,650
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 2024001492
Partners KFV Prishtina
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Cultural norms and structural barriers limit girls' participation in sport in Kosovo. A lack of institutional support and inadequate infrastructure are particular obstacles.

Thanks to the UEFA foundation, a big step forward has been made, however, with the creation of the first football field in Kosovo managed by a women’s team, KFV Prishtina, through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Municipality of Prishtina.

Project goals

  • Create a safe, empowering and inclusive environment where girls from all communities and of all abilities can thrive in football, breaking down societal barriers and encouraging equal, active participation
  • Advocate for girls’ rights, raise awareness of gender-based violence and promote gender equality, social inclusion and empowerment within and beyond football
  • Promote leadership, peacebuilding, diversity, teamwork, respect and negotiation skills for personal and professional growth

Project content

  • Strategic partnerships: Establishing of long-term MoUs with other stakeholders to ensure sustained access to schools and sports facilities, creating a robust ecosystem for women’s football in Kosovo
  • Media awareness: A joint press conference with the Football Federation of Kosovo to launch the project and a dedicated Women in Football channel supported by leading news portals, raising awareness of gender equality in sport
  • Infrastructure development: Improving and adapting sports facilities to ensure equal access for girls, essential football equipment and coaching resources, and dedicated spaces for female athletes
  • Mixed participation: Promoting the integration of girls into U9 and U11 boys' leagues to normalise mixed participation and address the challenge of limited girls-only leagues
  • FC Barcelona collaboration: Partnership with FC Barcelona to include girls in all Barça Academy activities in Kosovo, providing equal opportunities and promoting inclusivity in football from a young age
  • Gender-based violence prevention: Educational workshops for girls and coaches to teach about preventing and reporting gender-based violence in line with the UEFA guidelines on child and youth protection
  • Free coaching and role models: Free, structured football training sessions in schools, using national team players as role models to inspire and encourage young female athletes
  • Parent and community engagement: Establishing a parents' council for all U9-U15 teams, promoting increased parental involvement in girls' as well as boys’ football
  • Inclusivity for disabled girls: Ongoing free football training for girls with Down’s syndrome (MoU with Down Syndrome Kosova), promoting inclusivity and participation in sport
  • Women’s leadership in sport: Supporting and encouraging women’s participation in refereeing and coaching, increasing female representation in decision-making roles within football
  • Mental health and well-being: Advocating for the mental health benefits of sport, fostering resilience, confidence and well-being among young female athletes
  • Environmental sustainability: Empowering girls to take leadership roles in environmental sustainability initiatives, integrating sustainable practices into football training and events
  • Alignment with SDGs: Ensuring the project contributes to global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to gender equality, education, health and climate action through sport

Partners

Mbo Mpenza Challenge

Location and general information

Closed
Location Belgium
Start date 09/01/2024
End date 09/01/2026
Cost of the project €141,748
Foundation funding €85,000
Project identifier 2024000539
Partners Impala Performance ASBL
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Young people have been benefiting from the Mbo Mpenza Challenge’s football tournaments for seven years. For the last year, all schools in the French-speaking Community of Belgium have had free access to the project’s pedagogical resources through their e-learning platforms. Moving forward, the project wants to reach more children and develop its work within schools.

Project goals

  • Introduce the Mbo Mpenza method in schools as part of general civics and PE lessons
  • Promote inclusion and diversity through football
  • Educate young people on tackling discrimination
  • Raise responsible, respectful and tolerant citizens
  • Evaluate the project’s impact on young people
  • Broaden access to sport for all children, regardless of their socio-economic background

Project content

The Mbo Mpenza method fights all forms of discrimination through its work on three pillars: awareness-raising, training and action. By working with schools, the project hopes to broaden its reach and engage with children from all backgrounds who have not always had access to sport. With the awareness-raising and training aspects of the project already under way, focus now turns to the action pillar.

A number of activities and programmes are planned, including:

  • Organising the Mbo Mpenza Challenge, a national and international football tournament
  • Developing an application to assess results and ensure continued support for participants
  • Sponsoring children from disadvantaged areas to give them access to sport
  • Running educational workshops on topics such as fighting discrimination, first aid and nutrition
  • Educating young people through civics and French lessons and educational and sporting activities

Partners

Values on the Field: Football for social development and equity

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Argentina
Start date 01/02/2025
End date 06/30/2026
Cost of the project €280,055
Foundation funding €106,408
Project identifier 2024000047
Partners River Plate Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Context

The socioeconomic situation in Argentina is critical, with 54.3% of children living in poverty (INDEC, 2022), only 50% of young people completing high school education and basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics steadily declining (UNICEF, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these inequalities. However, thanks to football’s popularity, educational sports projects are helping to reintegrate excluded children in marginalised areas of Argentina, ensuring long-term sustainability.

In Argentina, around 20,000 community clubs are playing a crucial role by providing vital social and recreational activities, giving many children a first opportunity to participate in sport and offering a space for community participation regardless of economic circumstances. They serve as safe havens that keep children off the streets, engage them in health-promoting activities and instil values essential for their adult lives.

Project goals

Overall goal

Improve the quality of life of children and their families by providing them with tools and skills to meet future challenges and integrate into society.

Specific objectives

  • Encourage and strengthen the holistic development of vulnerable children through educational projects
  • Train social leaders in the River Plate Foundation’s specific methodology
  • Use football as a tool for social engagement and value formation to empower children and their families to become agents of change in their communities
  • Generate opportunities for personal development and social integration

Project content

Values on the Field is a comprehensive programme designed to foster social development and equality through sport, specifically targeting children and young people between the ages of 6 and 14. The programme operates in seven Football and Values Schools, using a special methodology to provide a structured environment in which participants can engage in football and other sports activities that promote social and personal values. Inter-school meetings give the participants the chance to meet other children and put their skills into practice, and the foundation has also built five multi-sport courts. The programme emphasises the importance of integrating women and indigenous communities, ensuring inclusivity and diversity in all activities.

Partners

Empowering Zambian adolescents to conserve nature through sport

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Basanga community, Musungwa chiefdom, Itezhi-Tezhi district, Southern Province, Zambia
Start date 03/31/2027
End date 03/31/2027
Cost of the project €125,250
Foundation funding €54,750
Project identifier 2024000945
Partners Game Rangers International
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Over two-thirds of the estimated 12,000 people living in the remote Basanga community are under the age of 19. These children and adolescents face many challenges, including a lack of education, food insecurity and inadequate healthcare.

Basanga lies on the edge of Zambia’s largest and oldest protected area, Kafue National Park, a rich ecosystem home to 30% of the country’s total elephant population and countless large carnivore species. Desperate community members living in poverty are drawn to poaching as they face scare employment opportunities and may not see the value of natural resources. At the same time, the absence of law enforcement lowers their risk perception. Single unemployed women in Zambia are particularly vulnerable to being exploited by the illegal wildlife trade. Women are considerably less likely than men to report wildlife crime and are drawn to exchange information, sex and secure accommodation on the borders of the park for bushmeat or money. This dangerous cycle of transactional sex perpetuates the spread of HIV, gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancies.

Project goals

  • Reduce wildlife crime in and around Kafue National Park by raising awareness of conservation efforts and empowering young people through vocational training
  • Improve young people’s health, well-being, problem-solving, leadership and resilience
  • Prevent unplanned pregnancies, child marriage and sexual and spousal violence in Basanga by championing sexual health education and empowering girls

Project content

Game Rangers International (GRI) is building a multi-purpose community youth sports centre for the Basanga community. Over the next two years, with critical support from the UEFA Foundation for Children, GRI will engage, educate and empower children and adolescents at the centre, helping them to develop their skills and surrounding them with positive role models.

To this end, GRI will:

  • Recruit and train a groundsman responsible for security and maintenance
  • Recruit and train a community outreach ranger to schedule activities, develop content, coordinate partnerships and facilitate sessions
  • Furnish and equip the centre so it can serve as a classroom, exhibition space, sports centre and outreach office
  • Decorate the centre with conservation awareness posters and information
  • Encourage children and adolescents to visit through radio broadcasts, posters and school visits
  • Offer structured weekly football training and fitness sessions for children and adolescents
  • Establish a vocational skills station and invite local professionals to offer short vocational courses for young people
  • Offer children and adolescents training on environmental conservation, girls’ empowerment and life skills

Partners

UniDeportes: Football for rural youth empowerment

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Honduras, Trinidad, Santa Bàrbara
Start date 03/31/2025
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €96,381
Foundation funding €56,381
Project identifier 2024001385
Partners educate.
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Honduras has the highest rate of economic inequality in Latin America and over 60% of the population lives in poverty. The NGO educate. is based in the rural department of Santa Bárbara, where barely half of young people continue their studies after primary school. For those who do stay in school, there are few opportunities that encourage personal development, a sense of belonging and meaningful community engagement. Sport plays both an educational and a social role and can help young people to develop values, skills and confidence they can use on and off the pitch.

Project goals

  • Help young people to develop a sense of unity and community belonging through sport
  • Support young people to develop core values and soft skills, such as leadership, teamwork and communication through sport, community events and monthly workshops
  • Train young people to lead local sports activities, helping them to gain leadership skills, confidence and practical experience
  • Encourage young people to get involved in their communities by organising and leading community sports events
  • Create spaces for children and teenagers in local rural communities to participate in sport and community events
  • Actively promote gender equality by ensuring at least 50% of programme participants are girls

Project content

Using educate.’s youth centre in the rural town of Trinidad, Santa Bárbara, which has access to a community football pitch, the following four elements combine to provide a holistic sports programme for rural youngsters that fosters positive values, soft skills and gender equity.

1) UniDeportes sports programme for youth leaders

Activities will be run every Saturday following the training of three youth leaders. These activities will focus on football but also explore other sports, encouraging participants to lead active, healthy lifestyles. In addition, these sessions will focus on building soft skills, particularly leadership skills, through sport, as well as giving young people a sense of community and helping them to work as a team. These young leaders will also receive monthly workshops on a range of personal development topics, ensuring they are supported in their own development.

2) Monthly rural community sports events

Project participants, led by youth leaders, will organise and lead monthly sports events, such as community and village sports days. The NGO educate. works in a number of remote, rural and marginalised communities, whose children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to losing out on educational and extracurricular opportunities such as sport.

3) Football teams for children and teenagers

The project will set up six mixed gender football teams in Trinidad, each with weekly training sessions. The teams will cover a range of age categories from 6 to 18.

4) The first youth football league in Trinidad, Santa Bárbara

The project will organise and run the first youth football league in Trinidad. This will be a significant opportunity for children and teenagers from rural areas to participate in an organised football league, the first of its kind in this part of the country.

Partners

Football for All

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Vietnam: Cao Bang, Can Tho, Ha Giang and Quang Tri provinces, and an additional two provinces in the Mekong Delta (provinces tbc based on feasibility studies)
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €159,951
Foundation funding €101,733
Project identifier 2024001059
Partners Football Association of Norway (Football for All in Vietnam project)
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

In many ethnic minorities in Vietnam, boys enjoy more social and cultural opportunities than girls, who are expected to grow up to be wives and mothers. Girls therefore tend to be less educated, forced into early marriage and denied the chance to develop in other areas of life.

Project goals

  • Raise awareness of gender equality among ethnic minorities by fostering equal participation of women and girls in football and life skills education
  • Empower and equip girls and women in an additional two provinces by offering leadership training based on the Football for All in Vietnam model that has been funded by the UEFA Foundation for Children in Ha Giang province since 2022

Project content

The 138 football clubs in Ha Giang, Quang Tri, Cao Bang and Can Tho provinces that were funded by the UEFA Foundation for Children between 2022 and 2024 will be given additional football equipment and continued support, and new clubs created, with:

  • football coaching courses at 41 new football clubs in Quang Tri and Cao Bang provinces;
  • training courses for female life skills instructors at each new club;
  • climate change education at the clubs in Cao Bang and Ha Giang provinces in the far north of the country;
  • regular football and life skill activities at all 138 existing clubs; and
  • 118 ‘Fun Football Festivals’ at the existing clubs.

The project will also be extended to another two provinces, with:

  • a feasibility study in each province;
  • the creation of 30 new football clubs, with football coaching and life skills training courses at each club;
  • 30 ‘Fun Football Festivals’ (one per club);and
  • two provincial ‘Fun Football Festivals’ (one per province).

Partners

READY TO USE FFAV OFFICIAL Logo

Score! Kick away drugs and smoking among youth using the power of football

Location and general information

Closed
Location Indonesia, Jakarta
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €60,000
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 2024000137
Partners ASA Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Drug use and smoking are becoming increasingly widespread among young people in Jakarta, Indonesia. The UEFA Foundation for Children supports the ASA Foundation's Score! programme, which leverages football to promote healthy lifestyles, healthy habits and values in a collaborative environment.

Project goals

  • Educate young people on the dangers of drugs and smoking
  • Promote healthy lifestyles through football
  • Train 60 teachers to deliver health and sports education
  • Engage over 6,000 students in weekly health-oriented football activities
  • Foster gender equality by ensuring equal participation
  • Enhance teamwork skills, leadership and self-esteem among participants
  • Strengthen the community’s involvement in promoting healthy behaviour

Project content

  • Teacher training workshops enabling 60 middle school teachers to deliver health and sports education effectively
  • Weekly training sessions consisting of football drills paired with health education for over 6,000 male and female students
  • Life skills development, with a focus on gender equality, teamwork, and leadership
  • Workshops and campaigns involving parents to amplify the programme's message

Partners

StationSoccer – HE Holmes

Location and general information

to be started
Location USA; Atlanta
Start date 04/15/2025
End date 12/15/2025
Cost of the project €95,496
Foundation funding €27,232
Project identifier 2024000858
Partners Soccer in the streets
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Atlanta has the highest income inequality of any city in the United States. This, combined with the ‘pay-to-play’ model that dominates football activities in the US, means children in underserved communities are locked out of participation. These children need affordable programmes in safe, accessible locations. Soccer in the Streets provides just that with StationSoccer.

StationSoccer – HE Holmes is located at the subway station of that name in the Collier Heights neighbourhood of Atlanta. With a per capita income of $33,759 (€33,068) and a poverty rate of 25%, it is one of the most underinvested communities in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. The project will provide Soccer in the Streets’ unique combination of football training and social and emotional capacity building to 150 six to twelve-year-olds. It is estimated that 80% of participants will be African American, 40% of the participants are girls and the vast majority will be playing football for the first time.

Project goals

  • Provide access
    • Eliminate transport obstacles and cost barriers
  • Improve well-being
    • Integrate social and emotional learning into the football curriculum
    • Train coaches to follow the curriculum and recognise adverse childhood experiences

Project content

Football and social and emotional learning sessions

  • Two 2-hour training sessions a week, with matches on Saturdays
  • Total of 26 weeks of training over the year (spring season from 15 February to 15 May, and autumn season from 15 August to 15 November)
  • Incorporation of social and emotional learning in training sessions, with a focus on resilience, self-management, social awareness, decision-making and relationships

Coach training

  • Coach training session in July to help coaches follow the curriculum and recognise adverse childhood experiences

Partners