September 18 – European governing body UEFA has joined forces with the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA)and the Ugandan government to launch a scheme for homeless children in the country.
The initiative aims to give homeless children the opportunity to play football and teach them important life skills and has been launched through UEFA Assist, an assistance programme that responds to the needs of national associations and confederations across the globe.
In August, the programme helped train 22 Ugandan football coaches, who will instruct up to 600 children between the ages of 8 and 15 every week in the Ugandan capital Kampala. In Uganda, there has been an increase in homeless children in recent years. The initiative is to run for ten weeks and will encourage vulnerable children to come in off the streets.
“We are delighted to have supported FUFA and believe this Football in the Community programme is an excellent initiative, delivering some very clear benefits for the Ugandan Government,” said UEFA’s head of international relations Eva Pasquier. “It shows what’s possible when the various stakeholders in football work together.”
“We are very grateful to both FUFA and UEFA ASSIST for their support with this programme,” said the Ugandan government minister for youth and children’s affairs Florence Nakiwala. “Using the power of football we are aiming to take vulnerable, homeless children off the streets and keep them safe.”
UEFA Assist was founded in 2017 with the aim to provide support for the other confederations and their member associations in four specific areas – capacity building (football and operations), development of youth football, infrastructure projects and helping UEFA’s member associations to create cooperation programmes with associations from outside of Europe.
“UEFA aims to work as much as possible in the development of football, and I feel it is our duty to assist other confederations and their member associations by sharing our experience, expertise and knowledge so they can reach their goals,” said UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. “We are looking forward to helping them grow football in their continents and also to participating in the development of the game outside Europe.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1735283302labto1735283302ofdlr1735283302owedi1735283302sni@o1735283302fni1735283302