Girls and Women in Kilifi County are some of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged people, with low retention rates in school, early and unintended pregnancies, and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS that trap them in a cycle of intense poverty. That is why, on the occasion of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, UNESCO and its partners prioritized an initiative maximizing the power of sports to address these challenges, through a scalable low-threshold and resource-effective platform for mobilization and engagement to address girls’ lack of equal opportunities and implement effective strategies to empower girls and enable communities to support girls’ development, and eventually a more inclusive and equal development in society in general.
It is in this context that UNESCO in collaboration with Futebol dá força, Moving the Goalpost –Kilifi, Kenya Academy of Sports and the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO organized a three-day capacity development training for 20 young women aged between 18-25 years, which took place between 3 – 6 April 2023 at the Moving the Goalpost training hall in Kilifi. Organized as part of the commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, the training comprised of young football coaches, referees, life skill coaches, peer educators and change makers drawn from different communities in Kilifi County.,
On the first and the second day of the training, the young participants were taken through topics on personal values and value-based leadership that helped them understand their values and strengthen their self-esteem and self-confidence to effectively use them as young female leaders. On the third day of the training, they were trained on sexual reproductive health and rights, which was structured towards facilitating conversations around players’ development and sexual reproductive health and rights to further improve their health and make informed decisions about their sexual reproductive health. On the last day of the training, they were taken through gender-based violence concepts as well as means for prevention and response to gender-based violence, with a focus of their responsibilities as young leaders in promoting sexual reproductive health rights and the prevention of gender-based violence, especially in their sport engagement and communities at large.
Building the capacity of girls and young women is one of the best approaches to empowering them and fighting against gender inequality. Am so happy to be part of this amazing team as a facilitator. I believe we will continue to work together to empower more young people in the Coastal region and beyond.
The training equipped the young women with skills and techniques that will help them develop and enhance their leadership and life skills as well as their knowledge of sexual reproductive health and rights. The training also assisted the young ladies to better understand their values and strengthen their self-esteem and self-confidence to effectively use them as young female leaders as well as facilitate conversations around players’ development, promote positive mental health and well-being, and prevent violence and sexual abuse in sports.
Guided by its “Fit for Life” initiative, UNESCO remains keen on supporting people and society centered initiatives where grassroots sports organizations work to increase participation in sport and to enhance quality physical education as well as contribution of grassroots sports to development and peace.
From this successful collaboration with Futebol dá força and Moving the Goalpost in the region and as a follow up to this training, UNESCO plans to escalate the scope to reach out to other future girls’ grassroots coaches in the Eastern Africa region, notably in South Sudan and Madagascar, leveraging on the power of sport for development and peace.