Personal development Archives

Open Fun Football Schools – Playing for Water

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location South Sudan

Start date 12/01/2018

End date 12/31/2019

Cost of the project €229,583

Foundation funding €162,000

Project identifier AFR-2018487

Partners Cross Culture Project Association, South Sudan Football Association, NIRAS, NIRAS in South Sudan

Context

South Sudan is witnessing the fifth sad anniversary of a vicious civil war. The conflict raging in the country has resulted in the deaths of nearly 400,000 people and the flight of millions of others. Since 2014, South Sudan has experienced one of the largest refugee crises in the world. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1.9 million people have been forced from their homes due to the country’s fragile security situation. The country is also facing considerable humanitarian challenges. As a result, many adults and children are forced to survive on their own, without any protection of their human rights.

Project content

The Cross Cultures Project Association is collaborating with the South Sudan Football Association to provide access to fun football activities for children affected by decades of war and conflict, and to contribute to peace and reconciliation across ethnic divides. The project will focus in particular on the integration of school dropouts and the large number of internally displaced children returning to their home areas after many years. The activities will be run by a cohort of youth leaders, youth volunteer coaches and coach assistants who will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful activities that foster the social improvement of their communities.

The project also plans to improve youth employment opportunities by partnering with NIRAS, a private company which holds a contract for a large water programme in South Sudan. The idea is to give youth volunteers the chance to develop income-generating activities or small businesses, and to take on a responsible role in vital water management committees established by NIRAS for the benefit of their communities.

Objectives

The project aims to use football, business management skills, leadership and communication/mobilisation skills to actively engage people in activities that contribute to peaceful inter-ethnic relations, improve livelihoods, health and the protection of the environment and natural resources of the local communities in Juba and Torit in South Sudan.

Project activities

A train-the-trainers seminar will be held for people wanting to become instructors in the Open Fun Football Schools approach (how to use grassroots football as a vehicle for integration, peaceful inter-ethnic relations and social change).
A three-day capacity-building seminar for voluntary coaches will be conducted by the youth football ambassadors and relevant international CCPA staff.
A one-day seminar for assistant coaches will be organised, consisting of a mix of practical physical exercises and interactive workshops.
A five-day Open Fun Football Schools course will be offered to vulnerable, socially challenged and isolated children.
Training and coaching will be provided to the football ambassadors, coaches, assistant coaches, parents and older children from the Open Fun Football Schools on how to plan and implement environmental awareness campaigns focusing on the protection of water resources and the safe disposal of liquid and solid waste.
The youth football ambassadors will hold health and hygiene training on water-borne diseases and other related illnesses, which, after poor nutrition, are the leading causes of human suffering and death in South Sudan.
Traditional classroom training and coaching sessions on business management will be held in order to ensure people have the necessary skill set to plan and run a sustainable business in a conflict environment.

Expected results

16 young people trained to become instructors and football ambassadors.
Recruitment of 96 voluntary coaches and 96 voluntary assistant coaches through the work of the 16 football ambassadors.
1,600 children aged between 6 and 12, with a minimum of 50% girls participating, will be recruited to participate in the five-day Open Fun Football Schools courses (eight festivals, each comprising 200 children).
The Open Fun Football Schools process is formalised and operational providing a sustainable support structure for the volunteer-led sports activities.
16 young football ambassadors will be trained in water point management.
The young football ambassadors will be trained in health and hygiene in a train-the-trainers event.
194 voluntary coaches and assistant coaches will be trained by the instructors in health and hygiene.
16 young instructors and football ambassadors will be given the opportunity to be trained and coached in business management, vocational and livelihood skills, including the facilitation of potential funding opportunities.

Partners

Giving youth and peace a sporting chance on and off the field

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Kenya

Start date 01/01/2019

End date 12/31/2019

Cost of the project €134,400

Foundation funding €114,000

Project identifier AFR - 2018289

Partners Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), streetfootballworld, East Africa Cup, Laureus Sports for Good Foundation, Noracta

Context

The Mathare area is one of the largest and poorest slums in Africa and home to around half a million adults and children. Over 70% are hardworking single mothers and their children, whose fathers have died or have abandoned their family. One of the problems in providing help to Mathare and other slums is that there are so few studies and facts available. When the United Nations collects statistics they use only two categories, urban and rural. The slums with their urban poor are hidden inside the urban statistics; just as the slums are a hidden part of the city, so few visitors ever see them. Yet in Nairobi and many other big cities in Africa, more than half the population lives in slums. The highest levels of unemployment, crime and illiteracy can be found in the slums.

Health Status

The Mathare and neighbouring slums are densely populated and all around there is uncollected rubbish, human waste and blocked drainage systems. As a result, chronic diseases such as malaria, cholera, tuberculosis and dysentery are easily spread, and outbreaks wreak havoc among the population living in the slums.

Sickness and death is the greatest concern for those working to support Mathare. People cannot afford proper health treatment due to limitations in the health services available. Water is also a big problem in the Mathare slums and neighbouring areas. Clean water is sold in 10-20 litre containers and some people struggle to afford these. The use of dirty water causes infections and diseases.

Vulnerable populations

In Mathare and the surrounding areas young people and children under 18 years old are the most likely group to contract HIV/AIDS or get caught up in crime, drugs or alcohol. The factors behind this include a lack of education, a lack of income-generating opportunities, and cultural norms and practices that limit their opportunities to benefit from social and economic development. Alcohol abuse has also contributed significantly to the increase in numbers of young people having unprotected sex, which in turn has increased the number of sexually transmitted infections.

Project content

The Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is a community development organisation that uses sports to engender broad socio-economic development, while also effecting positive social change. Founded in 1987 as a self-help youth sport and community development organisation, MYSA has, to date, grown to be the largest youth sport and community development organisation in Africa. Over 1,500 football teams are registered, playing over 15,000 league matches a year in over 16 communities (zones) covering 11 sub-counties in Nairobi County. This means there are over 25,000 young people signed up as members. MYSA is recognised as an example of excellence within the sport and development world, especially in addressing social issues.

MYSA has continued to use sports activities, particularly football, as innovative and effective ways to get young people involved in helping themselves and their communities. In addition, over the years the organisation has expanded its activities to include other sports, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, health education, photography, youth rights, youth employability, leadership awards, a leadership academy programme and community libraries. The organisation has also replicated the MYSA model in Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya, as well as in Botswana, Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda. In total, the organisation has directly impacted over 200,000 young people over a period of 30 years.

One of MYSA’s most distinctive qualities is the fact that it is owned and managed by the young people themselves and that it is genuinely a community-driven organisation, with the average age of the MYSA officials, volunteer leaders and coaches being just 15-16 years old. But despite their age, these young leaders have benefited from MYSA programmes and have amazing enthusiasm, dedication and drive to continue the work of the organisation.

Objectives

Encourage peace-building by increasing the participation of young people in sports.
Produce effective and efficient sports administrators and leaders through training courses.
Create partnerships with local and international schools, colleges and other institutions.
Create learning opportunities for players through local and international youth exchange programmes and raise awareness about disability issues within the community.
Ensure that the community members living in Mathare and neighbouring slums are aware of the importance of environmental conservation and contribute toward fighting climate change.
Improve the quality of local playing fields in order to reduce injuries during MYSA activities.
Document all MYSA activities, design and publish MYSA brochures, newsletters and an annual report.

Project activities

Registration of teams and members, where mutual understanding and friendship is cultivated.
Election via a democratic process of 144 leaders who can coordinate the leagues in the 16 zones.
Engagement of young people in football leagues and building their environmental awareness while providing safe spaces for them to discuss and enhance peace in their communities.
Equip young leaders from the leagues with both football and life skills, as well as building their capacities in different areas, including photography, coaching and refereeing, among others.
Bringing the top achievers from the 16 zones together to share their best practices, enabling them to bond and learn from each other.
Both teams and players will earn points for actively and successfully completing a scheduled community service activity (which could be, among other things, opening up the closed sewerage system, levelling the playing fields, cutting grass or planting trees).

Expected results

Registration of 1,850 teams and over 26,900 members.
Over 10,000 matches played and all statistical reports provided.
Election of leaders in league committees, sports, community service and executive councils.
72 sports, community service and executive council meetings.
Annual MYSA championship and film festival.
Engage 22 personnel in the implementation of the project activities.
32 clean-up activities, building a tree nursery and more than 600 trees planted.
Develop and repair two playing fields a month.
Transport clean up equipment for all 32 scheduled community service activities.
Increase environmental awareness in all 16 MYSA zones.
Treat all injuries arising from activities related to the sports leagues.
Establish four new partners to support the activities.
Offer 24 activities, two a month for children with disabilities.
Two local and one international educational tour for children with disabilities.
Purchase stationery, sports and communication equipment and materials.
Train 72 members and young leaders on environmental issues, film and photography.
Four media briefings and a press conference.
Two local and one international tournament and exchange programme.
Report to the UEFA foundation after six months (interim report) and at the end of the year (final report).

Partner

Supporting education in Afghanistan

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Afghanistan

Start date 01/01/2019

End date 03/31/2020

Cost of the project €120,000

Foundation funding €51,746

Project identifier ASI - 2018502

Partners AFRANE (Franco-Afghan friendship)

Context

Founded in 1980 to provide assistance to the people of Afghanistan, AFRANE (Franco-Afghan friendship) began to specialise in education in 1996. Its current activities are mainly focused on teacher training, school construction and the provision of educational equipment.

AFRANE believes that children’s access to education is essential for the sustainable reconstruction of the country. Its motto is ‘Education, the best way to peace’. It is in this context that the UEFA Foundation for Children is supporting a project that aims to improve secondary education in Kabul and Parwan provinces, and to build a sports pitch.

Project content

The project aims to support Afghan schools and enhance secondary education in Parwan and Kabul provinces by raising the standard of science and IT teaching, providing equipment to 16 schools and training 460 teachers on the one hand, and by creating a healthy and stimulating learning environment through participation in sport on the other.

Objectives

To expand the existing accommodation programme.
The project has three pillars:
1. Improving science teaching in Kabul and Parwan provinces
2. Improving access to IT for secondary school pupils in the cities of Kabul and Charikar
3. Raising awareness of the benefits of participating in sport

Project activities

Improving science teaching

Laboratories play a key role in promoting active, experiment-based learning and put the pupil at the centre of the learning process. It is difficult to develop a scientific mind if you have never been able to conduct experiments yourself. This is why a science teacher training programme (covering chemistry, physics and biology) is being organised in collaboration with the national science centre (part of the Afghan ministry of education).

Improving access to IT

Currently, most university students and school-leavers have no computer skills whatsoever. AFRANE, which has been increasing its IT-related activities over the last few years, will continue to train teachers and provide schools with IT equipment in 2019 and 2020.

Raising awareness of the benefits of participating in sport

AFRANE would like to create a healthy, stimulating learning environment in the schools within its network. With this in mind, two sports pitches have been built in the city of Charikar.

A new 260m² sports pitch will soon be built at a girls’ school at the request of its head teacher. Relatively few Afghan girls participate in sport. In order to ensure that their involvement is accepted and perceived positively by all pupils, AFRANE will organise a training session for teachers from several schools, who will be able to share their opinions on participation in sport and its positive effects on education in general, and non-violence awareness in particular.

Expected results

The ultimate beneficiaries of AFRANE’s activities are the pupils, who receive a better standard of teaching.

55,200 schoolchildren (54% of whom are girls) benefit from higher-quality science teaching and improved access to IT education.
A new IT suite is opened in Kabul or Charikar.
A 260m² sports pitch is built (football and volleyball).
1,200 girls benefit from a sports pitch at their school.
375 teachers receive training (240 in science, 120 in IT and 15 in raising non-violence awareness through sport).
The 375 teachers who receive training are observed in the classroom in order to check that they are using the teaching methods taught during the AFRANE training courses. Group remedial classes are organised for the teachers.
100 teachers from dangerous enclaves in Parwan province are trained in mathematics and science.
The needs of 16 laboratories are analysed and funding provided to equip at least four of them.
A computer is provided for the libraries of 12 of the 16 supported schools.

Partner

Inter Campus Venezuela

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Venezuela

Start date 03/01/2019

End date 03/31/2020

Cost of the project €74,705

Foundation funding €29,340

Project identifier AME - 2018622

Partners Inter Futura S.r.l., Fundación Magallanes

Context

Since 2014 Venezuela has been experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis. Caritas estimates that there are approximately 380,000 malnourished children in the country and one in three children is suffering irreversible physical and mental damage.

Average pensions are around just $6 a month and people have virtually no purchasing power. Most of the time, however, it is not a question of how much things cost, because the supermarkets are empty. Owing to the scarcity of necessities, many citizens are forced to consume pet food. At the same time, there is a lack of basic medicines and sanitary conditions are disastrous.

This economic and social crisis is linked to the acute political crisis that the country has been facing since March 2017, which has given rise to insecurity, violence and corruption.

Project content

Inter Futura S.r.l. was set up in 1997 to manage Inter Campus, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme of FC Internazionale Milano. Inter Campus offers support to needy and often forgotten causes with the aim of making a difference through sport and other long-term projects. It promotes local initiatives, coaching children together with local trainers and encourages the involvement of families.

Inter Campus Venezuela was established in 2010 in collaboration with the Fundación Magallanes as a way of supporting sports and educational activities for children living in deprived areas who are at risk of criminal involvement. The project also provides sports and educational training for three local instructors, two men and one woman. The project focuses on the suburbs of Caracas within the Sucre municipality, one of the largest and poorest in the whole of South America. Petare, a huge favela which, sadly, is well known for being a dangerous and extremely challenging place to live, hosts Inter Campus in the San Isidro neighbourhood. One hundred children train here at least twice a week, which keeps them away from negative influences.

Inter Campus promotes children’s rights and supports the Right to Play initiative. It contributes to the development of local communities, supporting educational, social and sanitary protection programmes carried out by local partners. Moreover, Inter Campus promotes social integration among different ethnic groups and cultures.

Objectives

The project’s objective is to help socially deprived children combat the problems they encounter in their everyday lives. This may be violence, poor sanitary conditions or nutritional deficiencies affecting physical development. Working on and off the pitch, with a good partnership network and strong support from the local partner, Inter Campus hopes to alleviate these terrible conditions and create a virtuous circle from which future generations can benefit.

Inter Campus Venezuela also pledges to respect the ten fundamental values and principles set out in the UN Global Compact and to promote sustainable solutions while carrying out the project.

The project aims to:

promote children’s right to play by organising regular training sessions and participating alongside other social institutions in tournaments organised by third parties;
support education through leisure and sports activities;
support social and sanitary programmes;
ensure gender equality by encouraging the participation of girls in the project.

The project offers support for:

125 participants, aged between 6 and 16;
children suffering malnutrition, those from violent backgrounds, pregnant teenagers and children abandoned by their families;
girls (35% of participants).

Project activities

Two football training sessions a week for every child
Regular participation in football tournaments
Warm meal provided after each training session – 250 meals supplied every week
Nerazzurri (black and blue) equipment provided once a year to create a sense of belonging for the participants
Creation of girls’ teams
Awareness-raising campaign for girls aged between 12 and 15 on early pregnancies. Sport is used to build their self-confidence and to encourage them to stay at school.

Expected results

Access to healthy and good quality food (i.e. protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals) is ensured, reducing hunger in the Caracas suburbs.
A culture of education, curiosity and integration is created, based on sporting values (respect, solidarity, conflict resolution, responsibility, etc.).
Gender equality is promoted and a new awareness exists of the role girls play within society (i.e. reduction in early pregnancies, prevention of gender-based violence).
A community is built through the involvement of key people (trainers, cooks, families and partners).
Institutions are more aware of sport’s relevance and their mutual collaboration is secured.
SENA research figures on children’s attitudes and disorder prevention are improved (from an affective, emotional, cognitive and social perspective).

Partner

From Sport to Work in the heart of disadvantaged neighbourhoods

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location France

Start date 11/30/2018

End date 11/30/2019

Cost of the project €2,479,020

Foundation funding €200,000

Project identifier EUR 2018087

Partners Sport dans la Ville

Context

Sport dans la Ville works with 6,500 young people aged between 7 and 22 who live in disadvantaged areas of Lyon, Grenoble, Chambéry, Saint-Etienne, Lille and Paris.

The young participants live in areas targeted for urban regeneration, where access to training and employment is very limited. The rate of unemployment for 16- to 25-year-olds in the areas in which Sport dans la Ville operates is 45%.

Sport dans la Ville created the From Sport to Work programme to help every young person find employment. The programme aims to help 1,300 young people aged 15 and above to find training and employment opportunities by preparing them and enabling them to acquire skills and long-term employment through practical activities and individual supervision. Young participants in the sports programmes run by Sport dans la Ville also join the From Sport to Work programme.

The UEFA Foundation for Children is supporting this employment programme for the second year in a row.

Project content

At its centres, Sport dans la Ville provides continuous support for children from the age of six by offering academic, social and professional integration activities (generally lasting between 10 and 12 years).

Long-term support

Sport dans la Ville uses sport to pass on values and life skills such as confidence and personal development to young people living in the neighbourhoods in which it operates.
Sport dans la Ville supports the success and access to employment of young people from areas targeted for urban regeneration by offering them cultural opportunities and numerous pathways into employment.
By working alongside young people, their families and local stakeholders, Sport dans la Ville promotes the transformation of disadvantaged areas and fosters equal opportunities.

Five practical measures to help each young person acquire new skills and long-term employment:

Individual support from a professional development coach (a permanent employee of Sport dans la Ville).
Preparation for the world of work thanks to visits to companies and explanation of the rules of the workplace and recruitment procedures.
Mentoring by company employees, who share their experience of work and support the young people with their professional integration.
Discovery of new cultural horizons in France and abroad, enabling young people to gain initial work experience (internships, work-study contracts, fixed-term contracts, permanent contracts) and taking them out of their everyday environment in order to foster in them a desire to succeed.
Sport dans la Ville programmes are designed to promote gender equality and cultural and social openness with a view to fighting the stigmatisation of young people from areas targeted for urban regeneration.

Objectives

To increase the number of participants in the From Sport to Work programme by opening ten new sports centres in three regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Île-de-France and Nord-Pas-de-Calais Picardie. These new centres will be able to accommodate more young people (1,300 in 2018/19).
To increase the involvement of young people at the existing Sport dans la Ville sports centres.
To help more young people find long-term employment.
To make employment more accessible for the young participants in the From Sport to Work programme.
To promote equal job opportunities for all, regardless of social background.

Expected results

In 2018 and 2019, the structuring and development of the From Sport to Work programme are continuing at national level and partnerships are being strengthened in order to ensure the financial sustainability of the programme and enable the planned improvements to be made.
Positive impact on the development of young participants in the From Sport to Work programme.
Improved social integration of young participants in the programme.
Positive effects on academic success.

Positive effects on professional integration.

Partner

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Foundation – SV GIO

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Netherlands

Start date 08/12/2019

End date -

Cost of the project €620,264

Foundation funding €50,000

Project identifier EUR-2019718

Partners Giovanni van Bronckhorst Foundation

Context

Inspired by a strong desire to give back to the community Giovanni van Bronckhorst (former captain of the Dutch national football team with 106 caps) and his wife Marieke established the Giovanni van Bronckhorst Foundation (GvB Foundation) in 2008. After supporting third-party projects for several years, the idea came about to alter the goals of the foundation and for it to start focusing on the development of its own projects.

What seemed to be lacking were projects aimed at closing gaps in learning and promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle to children, especially in the deprived parts of South Rotterdam, which is home to football club Feyenoord and the area where Giovanni grew up.

Giovanni and Marieke felt that the challenges of this area were something they could tackle, after all sport offered Giovanni many opportunities to grow and improve his life chances. Marieke's passion for teaching was born when she started studying for her primary school teaching qualifications. This was back when the pair were living in Glasgow and Giovanni was playing for Glasgow Rangers (1998–2001).

The GvB Foundation believes that every child deserves to become the best version of themselves. In football you have to learn quickly to create opportunities on the spot to improve the game. At S.V. GIO children are shown strategies and skills to recreate these opportunities in their day-to-day lives.

The Foundation also aims to provide children with a boost in their last two years at primary school in order to prepare them for a more successful educational path. At S.V. GIO children work hard and play hard, both individually and as a team, to overcome any academic obstacles and to re-establish a genuine sense of self-esteem.

Project content

S.V. GIO’s flagship project: best in class sports education

This sports education programme offers guidance to children in the last two years of Dutch primary school, coaching them like world-class athletes and helping them get off to a good start at secondary school. As part of an intensive 20-week programme, children meet up once a week to participate in sports and to work on the subjects they are struggling with at school. S.V. GIO also provides a programme for refugee children which helps them to settle into their new environment.

Sharing knowledge across Europe

The content of the project has been continually revised and developed over the last six years and the GvB Foundation is now sharing its expertise with other players, player foundations, clubs, club foundations, youth centres and educators across Europe.

Objectives

Help disadvantaged children in large cities to develop their core life skills, therefore overcoming personal and social barriers and improving their educational and career prospects, by engaging with them at a crucial developmental stage, i.e. the transition from primary to secondary school.
Promote sports participation, thereby improving the health of undernourished children.
Through Gio’s network of former clubs (such as Glasgow Rangers and FC Barcelona) and with the help of other organisations, encourage and embolden other clubs, players and managers to use this proven model to help many other children in cities and towns around the world.
Create an opportunity for underprivileged children who are unable to go on a summer holiday and give them an unforgettable educational and sports-focused summer with their favourite football club.
Broaden children’s horizons by giving them the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals.
Further develop and improve the content of S.V. GIO by exchanging coaches and knowledge internationally.

Project activities

Alongside the 20-week programme, two separate summer school events are being organised for summer 2019, one in London and one in Glasgow. Each course will last two days. There will be eight coaches training the 40 children attending, supervised by one head coach. The coaches are being trained by Paul van Zwam and Mano Radema, both from the Netherlands, who together with Giovanni developed the S.V. GIO learning method. The coaches are trained in line with this method and therefore the principles of the Feyenoord youth training and education programme also apply.

Expected results

Within the project there are several building blocks related to resiliency. These include, among many others, goal setting, problem solving, cooperation and taking responsibility. As such, the expectation is to see an enormous increase in resiliency. Children’s awareness of healthy eating and sporting activities should also be increased and it is hoped that they will have fun in the process!

Partner

Inclusive sport for development in Bangladesh

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Bangladesh

Start date 10/01/2018

End date 09/30/2020

Cost of the project €117,450

Foundation funding €117,450

Project identifier ASI - 2018001

Partners Handicap International, Mymensingh Disabled People’s Organisation (Protibondhi Community Centre) and Tangail Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO)

Context

In 2007, the government of Bangladesh ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which promotes the rights to play and education of children with disabilities. However, a majority of children with disabilities remain out of primary education – more than 90%, according to a UNICEF study. This leads to children with disabilities being denied their basic rights, including access to education, as well as to sport and leisure activities. The situation is worse for girls, both with and without disabilities, in this patriarchal society where they are expected to conform to gender roles set out by the family and society in general.

Additionally, the poor capacity of local schools and clubs to respond to the needs of children with disabilities contributes to delayed physical and psychosocial development, low confidence, as well as social exclusion. Moreover, girls are often subject to physical and sexual abuse, and exploitation, which further lowers their self-esteem.

Project content

This project aims to contribute to the educational and social inclusion of children with and without disabilities.

School-based and child-led inclusive sports and leisure activities will be a great opportunity for boys and girls with and without disabilities to explore their potential, interact with each other in a safe environment and challenge social norms.

Parents, caregivers and teachers will help to create a better environment through sports clubs for children with disabilities, in particular girls, to promote their physical and psychosocial well-being.

A strong link will be established between the DPOs and the government sports department. The involvement of the school management committees and parental participation will contribute to the sustainability of the activities.

Objectives

Improve the participation and education of boys and girls with disabilities in inclusive sports in Bangladesh;
Give children with disabilities increased functional autonomy and access to inclusive sports and leisure activities, and to enable them to play a role in their own protection;
Better equip DPOs, schools and children’s clubs to promote inclusive sports and leisure activities, and to promote inclusion in education;
Reduce stigmatisation and discrimination against children with disabilities, thereby encouraging increased social participation in a protective community.

The project aims to increase access to safe accommodation and social care in Ioannina and Thessaloníki by expanding its existing arrangements to make 400 beds available in northern Greece. The beneficiaries in Ioannina will have access to a large community centre, which will be the venue for cooking events, language classes, Greek film nights, discussion groups, arts and craft events and child-friendly spaces.

In this way, Terre des Hommes will be supporting vulnerable children with caregivers by providing them with accommodation, and giving older unaccompanied minors (males aged 16–17) somewhere where they can live independently.

Furthermore, the project will focus on psychological support for refugee children, young people and their parents by using games, structured creative work, informal learning, theatre, sport, music, reading and any other activities that will improve self-esteem, trust, cooperation, well-being, safety and life skills.

Expected results

800 children, including 400 with disabilities (200 girls), participating in inclusive sports and leisure activities, and education
400 caregivers trained in appropriate caregiving for children with disabilities
30 mainstream schoolteachers trained to support schoolchildren with disabilities
20 sports coaches trained to adapt and facilitate inclusive sport
2 DPOs trained to promote inclusion though inclusive sport

Partner

Football for Inclusion – Everyone invited to the pitch!

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Moreno, Argentina

Start date 08/10/2018

End date -

Cost of the project €155,476

Foundation funding €104,400

Project identifier SAM – 01xx

Partners Asociación Civil Andar

Context

People with disabilities have fewer opportunities to take part in football and integrate into mainstream society because they face various social or cultural barriers and discriminatory attitudes. This violates their human rights. In addition, they find it difficult to access public facilities, education, healthcare, employment and cultural and sports activities.

More than 1 billion people around the world live with some type of disability; at least 2 million of them live in Buenos Aires, the focus of Andar’s social intervention work.

Project content

Through a combination of work experience, sport, art, cultural and health-related activities, Andar promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities. Its Inclusive Football League uses the power of football to promote and foster the active participation of people with disabilities in society, while also addressing stigmatisation and prejudice.

With the foundation’s support, Andar will build the local community’s first inclusive and accessible sports facility for children with and without disabilities to aid their integration. In an effort to bring the best out of every individual and foster equal participation, it takes account of the physical, communicational and methodological aspects of accessibility.

Objectives

Andar’s programme aims to:

promote social change through football;
generate job opportunities;
promote autonomy and develop skills and abilities, empowering the people and communities involved; and
reveal the potential of people with disabilities.

Project activities

A total of 3,633 people currently participate in Andar programmes:

Therapeutic space: 59 people with disabilities
Inclusive social businesses: 86 people with disabilities employed per month
Inclusive Football League (LFI): 2,488 participants per year
Liga Buenos Aires: 920 participants per year
National League: 1,296 participants at national level
Inclusive Football School: 172 participants all year round, and their families
LatAm Festival: 100 participants from 10 countries across the region
Training and educational visits: 1,000 participants per year

Expected results

Opportunities to develop the potential of people with disabilities
Creation of facilities in which diversity is accepted and valued as part of the human condition
Information, tools and new training approaches that promote human rights
Access to sport for social change

Partner

Field in a Box – Rio Doce, Brazil

Location and general information

CONTEXT

Following the successful establishment of Field in a Box pitches in Madrid, Mragowo (in north-eastern Poland) and Cape Town, the UEFA Foundation for Children and FedEx are working together on the construction of a new pitch in Rio Doce, on the outskirts of Recife. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld has helped to identify a suitable location for the pitch and chosen local charity love.fútbol to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use.

PROJECT CONTENT

The UEFA Foundation for Children has been running its Field in a Box project since 2016 with the aim of providing enclosed, fully functional artificial football pitches to impoverished communities. These pitches are environmentally sustainable and quick to install.

OBJECTIVES

love.fútbol is a global initiative dedicated to giving people access to football where communities lack safe and inclusive spaces for sport. Since its inception in 2006, the organisation has encouraged and taught communities to design, plan, build, manage and ultimately redefine football pitches as community assets and platforms for sustainable social change. In a participatory process, love.fútbol empowers communities to build a football pitch, providing guidance, finance and raw materials and mobilising local resources, while placing ownership of the entire process in the hands of the community in order to ensure the sustainability of the project.
The construction of this pitch in Rio Doce – where almost 60% of the population live below the poverty line, with incomes averaging less than US$100 a month – will give local children and young people a safe place to play and access to various development opportunities. love.fútbol’s local partner, Pazear, will use the pitch as a platform for its football activities, using sport to foster peace-building, gender equality and social transformation.

RESULTS TO DATE AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Training sessions will take place using the football3 method.
Concepts and studies will be developed with a view to promoting the continued use of football as a vehicle for peace-building, gender equality and social integration.
Over the next year, hundreds of participants are expected to take part in football-related programmes implemented on the new pitch.
In addition to weekly football sessions, the pitch will also provide a platform for weekly educational and monthly cultural activities.

PARTNERS

Field in a Box – Pirapora do Bom Jesus, Brazil

Situation géographique et informations générales

Context

Konami Holdings Corporation – a Japanese digital entertainment company and a UEFA Champions League sponsor – was willing to work with the UEFA Foundation for Children and take the Field in a Box concept to Brazil. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld helped Konami to identify a suitable location for its pitch – in Pirapora do Bom Jesus, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo – and chose local charity Fundação EPROCAD to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use.

Project content

Objectives

This project aims to improve the lives of young people and breathe new life into disadvantaged communities. By providing opportunities to play football, the foundation seeks to improve children’s health and support their personal development, while teaching them football’s core values (respect, team spirit, etc.).
Fundação EPROCAD is based in Santana de Parnaiba – a suburb of Sao Paulo – and uses sport, education and culture to help children, adolescents and their families to integrate into society. Its work is aimed primarily at children and young people from poor families, providing activities that contribute to social development. Through its projects, the charity gives participants access to sporting, educational and cultural activities that can help to improve their quality of life. It also offers targeted support in specific instances, as well as guidance and referrals for specialist care where necessary.
Pirapora do Bom Jesus is one of the poorest areas of the country, with 27.8% of the population living on incomes totalling less than half of the minimum wage. Heads of households have an average age of 44, with 17.4% under the age of 30. With no access to basic services such as health and education, life there is a struggle.

Results to date and expected outcomes

This newly constructed pitch is the only place in the area where football can really be played.
Fundação EPROCAD will use the pitch to implement football-based programmes, as well as encouraging local people to make use of these new facilities.
Located next to a local day care centre, the pitch is ideal for physical education classes and recreational activities.
It is expected that about 2,000 children and young people from the local community will benefit from this initiative.

Partners

Football Film Festival

Situation géographique et informations générales

Context

The Foundation of Polish Soccer is founded Polish Football Association. The foundation’s aim is to promote and develop football in Poland, to take action to develop and raise the level amateur football, and to support the activities of the Polish Football Association.

In 2017, Foundation of Polish Soccer initiated the first edition of Football Film Festival in Cracow in connection with UEFA EURO Under-21. This festival had the aim to promote football culture by seemingly football and film. This innovative concept was very successful and an innovative way to communicate with younger generations who had free access to the event.

The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) showed clearly that kids from the poorest social group in Poland are in need of support to help them out of poverty giving them options and perspectives for personal development.

The Foundation of Polish Soccer wants to use the social and educational dimension of the Festival Film Festival by allocating a special free ticket pool for children and orphanages.

Project content

The football film festival was held in Warsaw from 25 to 26 May 2018.

The purpose is to promote sport and film culture especially among children and young people.

This year, the festival screened the most important documentaries of recent months, reflecting on the modern football world – its issues, absurdities and challenges, along with film portraits of football legends.

The festival had three sections:

the main section included full-length documentaries produced after 1 January 2017
the Krótka Piłka short-film section included both professional and amateur works
the retro section looked back on important, yet forgotten films with a football theme, and we screened the best documentary along with feature films about football produced before 2016

The young participants had the opportunity to meet filmmakers, athletes and journalists.

On the sports side, a period was reserved exclusively for children to participate in practical activities on the playing field to promote physical and mental development.

Activities included:

film screenings dedicated exclusively to children – free entry;
zone of football activity at the cinema – trainings with trainers, football players from youth clubs
meetings with footballers and coaches,
distribution of football equipment
meetings with filmmakers, actors, publishers
exhibition of football posters

The novelty of the second edition of the Festival was to give the opportunity to youngsters to submit their own film to the festival organiser.

Objectives

With the support of the ministry of national education, the objective is to involve pupils from 459 primary schools, high schools and technical schools.
Support local communities and children from orphanages
Give access to football and culture to children in the poorest social groups and give them a new perspective of personal development and empowerment

Expected results

Attendance of 2,800 children aged 7-16 from schools and orphanages for free film screenings and football classes
Promote and develop football among children in need so that they practise sport for their physical and mental well-being, to gain self-confidence and new perspectives and believe in a better future
Promote and develop grassroots football in Poland

Partner

Football for Development after-school programme

Location and general information

Context

Cambodia has a population of just over 15.2 million, more than one-third of whom are below the age of 18 (UNICEF; 2012 data), and 17.7% live below the poverty line (World Bank; 2012 data). In the city of Battambang, where average earnings are less than $0.50 a day, the situation is even worse. This results in large numbers of children leaving school early in order to try to earn a living. The Cambodian school system does not provide for any kind of physical education, so many of those children living in poverty are also deprived of the benefits of sport.

Project content

The SALT Academy’s Football for Development project seeks to use football to effect social change – both in Battambang and beyond. The project’s organisers run workshops teaching sport and key life skills to pupils at state primary schools in the city and the surrounding area, seeking to turn those children into active citizens and leaders within their respective communities. The football3* methodology forms an integral part of this project, being used to promote values such as respect, integration and solidarity.

* Football3 methodology is used by the streetfootballworld network. It harnesses the educational potential of street football by ensuring that dialogue and fair play are integral to the game. Its overall objective is to promote life skills and empower young people to become leaders. The emphasis is on resolving conflict through dialogue.

Expected results

The project’s organisers will run educational programmes teaching key life skills, which will cover 12 different subjects, and a total of 60 activities will be organised in parallel. Football activities and the football3 methodology, which lie at the very heart of this project, will be used to promote its values. The training of coaches will allow the project’s objectives to be achieved in other schools in due course.

Partners

Empowering refugee and marginalised children in Lebanon and Jordan

Location and general information

Context

The number of Syrian refugees in Jordan is estimated to be about 1.4 million: 20% live in five camps, 80% in urban areas in northern provinces and around Amman. Two-thirds of all registered refugees in Jordan are children or teenagers.

Lebanon has the highest refugee-to-host population ratio in the world: over 1.1 million registered refugees for 6.2 million inhabitants. One-third of the total refugee population is 5–18 years old, making this largely a regional crisis affecting underage youngsters.

Challenges are numerous and complex both for refugees and for host communities.

Young refugees live in situations of high uncertainty and often suffer from past trauma.
Many refugee and displaced children have no access to school or even non-formal education programmes, due to their critical living situation, and they often lack the necessary skills to enter or remain in educational programmes. Those who do attend school often suffer from low motivation due to a lack of future prospects and psycho-social support from role models.
Despite the effort of governments to provide formal and non-formal learning opportunities, access to both remains scarce for young refugees, and especially for girls and young women.

streetfootballworld addresses these challenges using the innovative non-formal education methodology football3. Named after its ‘three halves’ – a pre-match discussion, football game, and post-match discussion – football3 incorporates key life lessons, such as dialogue, fair play and gender equality, into every match. As football3 is played without referees, players must learn how to resolve conflicts by means of dialogue and compromise.

The streetfootballworld methodology harnesses the universal potential of sport by ensuring dialogue, fair play and gender equality both on and off the pitch. football3 brings together young refugees with youngsters from Lebanese and Jordanian host communities and allows barriers such as language, religion and culture to be surmounted. Young refugees outside and on the margins of formal education structures acquire the skills (e.g. strengthened resilience, conflict-management skills) and life skills (leadership and communication skills, self-confidence, increased willingness to include others and respect for women and girls, a sense of responsibility and accountability) to cope with critical challenges, lead self-determined lives, integrate more easily into the host society, be physically and emotionally healthy, and create positive change in their communities. As a result, these youngsters are more likely to stay and enrol in school, or pursue formal and higher education.

Project content

In Jordan and Lebanon streetfootballworld and its project partners have successfully implemented a variety of targeted football programmes for refugees at local level with support from the German government and the UEFA Foundation for Children. Having created synergies with local grassroot structures, the next step is to extend good practice from the pilot projects to regional level to support and empower vulnerable children and teenagers whose lives are affected by war and the refugee crisis.

Now we intend to increase reach and impact by taking the proven approach to new underserved areas affected by the refugee crisis and in dire need of innovative programmes for children. Local grassroots sports organisations will be equipped with the necessary skills, social networks and safe spaces to work at regional level with improved organisational capacity to foster social cohesion in a fragmented society. The capacity-building elements sustainably increase access to sport, promoting dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and friendship between young refugees and host communities.

To ensure a sustainable impact, the project comprises the following five activities:

Capacity development: train volunteer youth leaders and coaches 18–22 years old to become role models in their community.
Trauma-relief training for multipliers: to improve the lives of youngsters in Jordan and Lebanon, local experts will be trained specifically in trauma relief.
Inclusive football3 sessions and festivals: with regular training sessions using football3 methodology tailored to each target group, boys and girls will develop life skills that include health, hygiene, personal development and awareness of their rights. During festivals, children, teenagers and their families are brought together, to involve the entire community and increase the reach of the project’s messages and engage more participants, in particular girls.
Regional dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices: bring together NGOs in other countries that are also using football to help children and teenagers with the intention of creating a community of practice to improve support and knowledge transfer.

Objectives

Improving the lives of Syrian, Jordanian and Lebanese children living in the project communities and taking part in the inclusive football3 and life-skill training programme
Amplified personal development and self-realisation for programme participants
Increased dialogue, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence between refugees and host communities
Civil society structures (institutionalised inclusive sports activities) have been set up so that multipliers can offer weekly football and life-skill training for marginalised children. Multipliers are able to identify trauma, know how to cope with traumatised children and are able to instruct others. They act as role models and are able to inspire others.
All local partner organisations are empowered to consolidate and increase their capacities in the respective regions by increased sharing of knowledge of peace building and international understanding among local players and strengthened networks involving local project partners, governments, football associations and civil society.

Expected results

39 local multiplier courses held – multi-day workshops in Lebanon and Jordan
790 local multipliers trained – volunteer youth leaders and coaches aged between 18 and 22
9,300 regular inclusive football3 and life-skill sessions and 20 football3 festivals held
21,000 children took part in the weekly football3 training ( 60% refugees and 40% host community; 60% boys and 40% girls; ages 6–17) as well as another 6,400 children in festivals
Three regional seminars, 30 regional football3 experts trained.

Affiliated partners

Partner

Football United Myanmar

Location and general information

Context

Kayin State is one of the most war-torn parts of Myanmar. Decades of conflict between government and ethnic Karen armed forces have deprived children and their families of essential services while compromising their security and well-being. Tens of thousands of parents have become migrant workers in Thailand, leaving their children behind and in greater danger of exploitation. This population lives with poor access to basic services, political and economic instability, high unemployment and low-income levels, leading to weak social networks and a relative lack of opportunity. Loss of trust, hope and confidence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and changes to social structures and livelihoods are the social challenges that currently need to be tackled.

Project content

Based on the evidence that engaging young people positively and giving them a stake in their societies during the transition from violent conflict is important for long-term peace and stability, the project for 2018–19 aims to maximise youth and community engagement. It also aims to strengthen existing local collaboration and partnership, maintain the project’s current momentum, transfer programme ownership to the local community and introduce social-enterprise approaches. The ultimate goal is to ensure the sustainability of the football-based social cohesion, grassroots peacebuilding and reconciliation project.

The Football United project is based on four key aspects:

Contact theory – If diverse groups engage equally, have a common goal and work together with the support of the authorities and without competition, relations will improve between the groups experiencing conflict, and prejudice towards other groups will be reduced.
Positive youth development approach – This refers to an intentional effort to provide opportunities for young people to enhance their interests, skills, and abilities, rather than trying to fix their problems weaknesses or shortcomings. The Football United project enables young people to test, explore and apply their development potential through football and related development work.
Conflict transformation framework and sport-for-peace ideology – Sport can help provide the framework for reconstruction and reconciliation after a conflict by promoting peaceful culture through sport’s social values, building community/youth networks, positive relationships between conflict-affected communities and strengthen their participation in grassroots sport.
Experiential learning methodology – Learning through reflection on doing. Football activities are specially prepared to be a source of reflection to learn more about peace, social cohesion and reconciliation.

Objectives

Weekly football-based grassroots peace-promotion activities and football-for-peace gala days
Open community football coaching courses for local volunteers in conflict-affected area
Inter-community football-for-peace gala days run by the community
Regional football-for-peace festivals run by Hpa-an university student volunteers
Advanced coaching courses for university student coaches to become coach trainers
Provide funds to set up a football-for-peace centre in the state capital, Hpa-an
Facilitate the social-enterprise mentoring process in collaboration with the British Council Myanmar and other partners in the community
Set up a football for development and peace forum in Hpa-an, targeting universities, youth organisations and CBOs working in youth development and peace-building to promote football, peace, work and the dissemination of the Football United model in other regions of Myanmar
Set up a football for peace centre with a playing field and multipurpose hall for community events, workshops and training

Expected results

Football United will mobilise the local community, the government and charity organisations to help set up the football for peace centre, which will be used not only for project activities but also for income-generating purposes and social-enterprise schemes.

Partners

Football4Good

Location and general information

Context

Approximately 330,000 migrant children currently live in Thailand, many in construction-site camps. As their parents have come to Thailand to work, these children live in precarious temporary shelters with limited access to education, health and safety services. They are exposed to various forms of abuse, violence and neglect. None of them have the opportunity to escape from the slums and socialise with others, so they are forced to stay and play in unsafe surroundings with little stimulation or interaction with others. Their vulnerable situation means that they are at risk of being deprived of their basic rights. Moreover, the limited opportunities for socialisation and play mean that these children have no opportunity to ‘just be kids’.

Project content

The Baan Dek Foundation believes that football is a necessary component of childhood development, a fertile ground for learning essential skills such as teamwork, self-esteem, confidence, good sportsmanship and discipline. Football4Good encourages positive peer relationships among children from different ethnic backgrounds through coaching, physical activity, the provision of quality sports equipment and training the foundation’s staff in sports development. It supplements the foundation’s other programmes aimed at improving childhood development.

Currently, the Baan Dek Foundation operates in construction-site community camps and other urban slums around the Chiang Mai area, helping around 1,000 children a year to access basic services, including non-formal education sessions and after-school study, and providing individual tailored support for families and children in need.
Adding the football dimension to its existing programmes will reinforce the necessary component of holistic childhood development. In addition to integrating football sessions in the community and during children’s school holidays, the foundation aims to inspire children to pursue sport and create awareness of the benefits of sport for development, by inviting local professional footballers to come and present their career at a local public school.

Football is a crucial multipurpose tool for social workers, and can positively influence children in need of support at a very fundamental level. The Football4Good programme will help to connect with marginalised communities through regular football sessions, as well as providing adequate sports equipment for targeted vulnerable communities. Children and teenagers will develop motor skills, improve their exercise habits, have the chance to socialise with their peers and build new social relationships within communities where violence is a daily occurrence between various ethnic groups. Furthermore, football teaches these children to become team players, to integrate into a diverse group and socialise and to practice good sportsmanship. All of these benefits, in addition to providing a fun activity for the children, makes football and sports education in general a primary focus for the foundation’s community programmes.

Objectives

The Football4Good programme delivers sports education through community football sessions and during school holidays, to:

Empower children and enhance their psychological well-being
Increase self-esteem and resilience
Contribute to the benefits of physical exercise for children
Allow children to engage with their communities and others through teamwork and sportsmanship
Provide a necessary supplement to the Baan Dek Foundation’s programmes focusing on access to basic services.

Expected results

Number of football sessions held throughout Smile Holidays (stimulating activities organised by the Baan Dek Foundation for children during their school holidays) and in communities: 70 in one year
Number of children attending Smile Holidays and community Football4Good sessions: 250 in one year
Total attendance expected in Smile Holidays and community football sessions: 3,500+
Number of girls attending Smile Holidays and in community football sessions: 75 girls 7–15 years old
Number of communities using Football4Good materials and facilities: 5

Partners

UVS International Education Centre

Location and general information

Context

Talibé is the name given to children living on the streets of Senegal. They are on the streets for various reasons: many are orphans, from poor families or marginalised because of a disability. Left to take care of themselves, their main objectives are often simply to find enough to eat and a roof to sleep under. In this desperate situation, the children of Saint-Louis find refuge in violence or drugs, using substances such as glue in plastic bags.

Life is also tough for children living at home with their family. With financial resources scarce, one out of every two children do not attend school but carry out household chores or painstaking work in the fields from a very young age.

Project content

In 2008, Sport dans la Ville, in cooperation with UNESCO, opened its first school in Mali, which enabled more than 160 children from disadvantaged families to benefit from school education, sports activities, medical care and vocational training. Sport dans la Ville would like to open a similar school in Saint-Louis, where the French organisation has been running various education and sports-based projects since 2002.

The UVS International education centre will have:

dormitories for boarders
a dining hall and kitchen for the children’s meals
three classrooms
an administrative building
a barn for animals and a fenced plot of land
a toilet block
an indoor sports court (basketball, volleyball, handball)
a football pitch

The sports activities available at the UVS International centre will also be used to promote prevention campaigns relating to local health issues (malaria, typhus, etc.) and to raise public awareness concerning various topics such as children’s rights.

Objectives

The centre has a two-fold objective. In cooperation with the Saint-Louis social services, it will accommodate and take full responsibility for the street children of Saint-Louis by offering them:

board and lodging
a full school curriculum
medical care
vocation training from age 16
daily sports activities
micro-credit when they leave the centre in order to start their own business
access to suitable regular sports activities for children from neighbouring villages that do not have any sports facilities or equipment of their own

Expected results

Initially, to take in and look after 100 Saint-Louis street children
To offer sports activities to 5,000 pupils of schools within a 20km radius of the UVS centre. A school bus service will enable the children concerned to enjoy a variety of suitable sports activities run by experienced sports coaches.