Active and clean cities
Context
The main community development challenges in Ghana today can be associated with the environment and with repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental problems have worsened to become a challenge for public authorities, including plastic wastes that make up 14 % of the waste stream. Besides, Ghana’s Minister of Health says that non transmissible diseases (NTDs) have got worse with the COVID-19 pandemic and several COVID-19 have shown underlying NTD symptoms.
Play Soccer Ghana is therefore the continuation of the actions introduced by the government to meet those challenges.
Objectives
- Keeping the communities clean, reducing inactivity and encouraging the participation of women, youngsters and the groups of people living with a handicap in six Ghanaian provinces to help achieve SDGs 3, 5, 6 and 10
- Improving physical activity and daily life skills with children and vulnerable youths
- Enhancing positive attitudes towards protection of the environment and respect for the rights of children
- Making sure that women, youngsters and groups of people living with a handicap are involved in the decision-making process of 11 local communities
Activities
- Organising “three-a-side football” tournaments that lay the emphasis on inclusion, the sporting spirit, resilience and other football values played in two half-times and breaks for discussion and outreach sessions
- Extending the FIFA Foundation-, and the FIFA Legacy Trust 2010-backed Play For Fun, Learn for Life programme and using a manual centred on football activities to teach children and youngsters such daily life skills as positive attitudes, hygiene, a healthy lifestyle, etc.
- Collecting and setting up various strategies for recycling plastic bags and other similar wastes.
- Sensitisation workshops on non transmissible diseases and on social distancing and other barrier measures stopping pandemics (COVID-19, Ebola, etc.) from spreading.
- Organising quarterly seminars for Cape Coast parents on the theme of protecting children’s rights, in partnership with Manchester City’s CityzensGiving, the Ghanaian educational service in Cape Coast
Impacts
- 800 children and youths aged 5 to 24, 320 of whom being girls and young women
- 4,000 people over 25 impacted by the activities and outreach programmes
- Converting 90 kg of foul water bags in 6 communities into 140 football nets in 18 months