April is all about good health, well-being, and reaching new milestones! It’s a month packed with global commemorations, like STD Awareness Month, Sport for Development and Peace on April 6th, and World Health Day on April 7th.
This year’s World Health Day theme is “Health for All,” and we’re thrilled to celebrate our team’s contribution to making that happen. We never get tired of saying how powerful football is as a tool for advocacy and youth engagement. Through football, we’ve already reached over 25,000 young people and community members through our programming in the past year alone, and we’re eager to see what 2023 has in store! For starters, this year we’ve started off on a high note by piloting our new disability inclusion methodology that focuses on young persons living with hearing impairment, so we can reach even more young people from different backgrounds.
Our 2022 stats are in let’s see how we scored last year as we worked to #TackleSRHR:
So, why is sexual health so important in achieving “Health for All”?
Well, good sexual health has a big impact on our overall well-being, both physically and mentally. It helps us maintain a healthy mindset and a more productive workforce, and it promotes fairness and equality for everyone to reach their full potential. Healthy relationships based on communication and consent also strengthen families, communities, and social cohesion, which are crucial for national development, including social stability, cohesion, and inclusivity.
In the past five years, we’ve reached an impressive 100,000 young people and community members across three regions in Africa through our tournaments, community outreach, and other engagements. We’ve also administered 30,000 Voluntary Counselling and Testing and HIV Testing Services through our football-related outreach. Our coaches work hard to create a safe space for open and honest dialogue, making testing less intimidating for everyone. And the scores our powerful coaches and teams of volunteers have achieved, thanks to our partners, speak for themselves!
We are incredibly proud of our achievements and the amazing people that come out and take claim of these services because they realise how important they are. We owe it all to our amazing team of talented, ambitious, and dedicated young men and women. It’s a privilege to work with such an incredible team!