SSF chairman addressed FFH kick-off meet one.
Youth leaders from the west coast of Saint Lucia gathered recently for the launch and kick-off meeting of a new “football for development” programme supported by FIFA’s Football for Hope initiative.
The launch of the Beyond Us child safeguarding and protection programme will focus around the communities of Rouseau Valley/Anse La Raye, Canaries and Soufriere.
The programme, run by the Sacred Sports Foundation (SSF), with support from Football For Hope, will see youth leaders in the community mentoring adolescents in the innovative new programme.
SSF is one of the first NGO’s in the English-speaking Caribbean to become a part of the Football for Hope family and the support follows a call for proposals in April 2014.
“Poor understanding of child rights was highlighted in a recent UN Road to Geneva Youth Survey on the Rights of the Child” said Delroy Alexander, SSF chairman. “This programme is designed to tackle some of the challenges faced by adolescents in the west of the island, an area often neglected by development programmes.”
Launched by FIFA in 2005, Football for Hope is an initiative contributing to social development around the world. Support is provided to selected programmes run by non-governmental organisations that use football as a tool in their daily work to engage children and young people.
Federico Addiechi, Head of the FIFA Corporate Social Responsibility Department, has hailed the work done by SSF in Saint Lucia. The Saint Lucia programme will focus on children’s rights and values through football participation and community development, specifically helping tackle physical violence and sexual abuse in relation to children.
The programme will run in collaboration with local agencies such as the Saint Lucia Football Association and the Ministry of Youth Development & Sport.
All youth mentors in the programme will undertake the UNICEF SafeStamp scheme, providing child protection certification as mentors and will use the Beyond Us development manual, designed with a specific Caribbean focus, targeting at-risk youth aged 6 to 16 in Anse La Raye, Canaries and Soufriere.