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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s commitment to leveraging the power of the beautiful game to champion social development was further reinforced today after the AFC Social Responsibility Committee for the 2023 to 2027 term approved seven new programmes at its first meeting held virtually.
Led by Chairperson Zaw Zaw, the Committee endorsed meaningful and transformative initiatives from six Member Associations (MAs) and one Regional Association (RA), namely 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).
Similar to the first edition, 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.
The five-day programme will be anchored on the key pillars of integration, education, development, creating meaningful experiences, enabling motivation and fun learning.
Further, in light of 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 towards the rebuilding efforts of the badly-affected GFA Headquarters and National Training Center, which serves as the focal point of all football-related activities in the Pacific Island.
Additionally, members of the Committee also agreed to support Football Australia, who are set to host 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.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh FF’s Empowering Hill Women to Pursue Football Careers programme was also approved by the Committee. The five-day programme 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.
Staying in the South region, the Committee also approved the SAFF’s Kick Off Cartoon series, which is a five-episode animation feature aimed at raising the awareness of Child Safeguarding among young footballers. 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.
At the same time, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Football Clinic for Underprivileged Children, which is anchored on the principles of inclusivity, holistic learning and gender equality, and is poised to benefit approximately 1,440 children across 18 schools in the provinces of Karnali and Madesh was also approved.
Finally, the Committee also approved 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.
All seven MA and RA programmes will now be presented to the AFC Dream Asia Foundation Board of Trustees for further funding approvals.
Members were also pleased to note the impressive progress of the breakthrough and newly introduced AFC Certificate in Child Safeguarding (ACCS) programme, which was launched in June this year under the landmark AFC Academic Centre of Excellence (ACE).
Likewise, the growing pool of MAs and RAs appointing dedicated Child Safeguarding Officers was also lauded, as were the 11 social responsibility programmes which have been completed or are currently ongoing across the Continent.
