September 18 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s Social Responsibility Committee has approved seven new programmes following its first meeting for the 2023 to 2027 term.
Chaired by Myanmar’s Zaw Zaw, the committee endorsed initiatives from six Member Associations (MAs) and one Regional Association (RA): Football Australia, the Bangladesh Football Federation, the Bhutan Football Federation, the Guam Football Association (GFA), the Kyrgyz Football Union (KFU), the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) as well as the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
The programmes will now be presented to the AFC Dream Asia Foundation Board of Trustees for further funding approvals.
The projects going forward are:
Bhutan – The second instalment of the Bhutan FF’s #bridgingthegap programme will enable 140 disadvantaged young people from five remote schools to strengthen their football and communications skills in a safe and fun environment tailormade for those with special needs.
Guam – Following the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Mawar – one of the strongest Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones, recorded – in May 2023, the Committee agreed to provide support rebuilding efforts of the badly-affected GFA Headquarters and National Training Center.
Australia – Agreement to support Football Australia’s hosting of the 2023 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) Men’s and Women’s Asian Championships in Melbourne from October 31 to November 12 this year.
Bangladesh – Bangladesh FF’s Empowering Hill Women to Pursue Football Careers programme is a five-day programme which aims to provide 75 underprivileged women from the tribal and ethnic group districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari with opportunities to improve their quality of life by pursuing a career in football.
Nepal – All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Football Clinic for Underprivileged Children, which is anchored on the principles of inclusivity, holistic learning and gender equality, is poised to benefit approximately 1,440 children across 18 schools in the provinces of Karnali and Madesh was approved.
Kyrgyz Republic – Approval of the second edition of the KFU’s ‘Football at School’ capacity-building programme, which is designed to empower and enrich physical education teachers and orphanages on the best practices of the AFC’s three social responsibility pillars – Child Safeguarding, Education and Social Inclusion.
SAFF – The regional association’s Kick Off Cartoon series, a five-episode animation feature aimed at raising the awareness of Child Safeguarding among young footballers, was approved. The series will be developed in consultation with child protection and safeguarding experts, and will tackle specific child safeguarding concerns, emphasising the importance of teamwork, communication, and fair play.
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