In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the pan-African funding platform Sport in Common, which will be officially launched on 21 September, is launching a call for "Sport and Health" projects. The initiative is funded by AFD and FIFA within the framework of their partnership agreement signed in June 2019.

This specific call for projects is dedicated to funding “Sport and Health” initiatives to make sport a response to the health and social crisis in Africa. It is managed by the Sport en Commun platform and the Sport & Development programme funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and supported by the NGO La Guilde européenne du Raid.

Funding initiatives between 20 000 and 40 000 euros, the call for projects is aimed at French or African associations and foundations as well as local authorities, companies, sports clubs, federations, MSE/ICGs, National Olympic Committees, cooperatives, state structures, public structures and other declared groupings.

Any project leader who wishes to apply must first register on the Sport en Commun platform and fill in the eligibility application form no later than Thursday 10 September at midnight, Paris time.

Applications will be examined by the Sport en Commun, AFD, FIFA and La Guilde européenne du Raid teams as well as by a panel of experts in the field. 

The final list of selected projects will be communicated by the end of November and each project will be the subject of a detailed presentation on the Sport en Commun platform.

Fostering development through sport

Based in Dakar, the mission of the pan-African platform Sport en Commun is to promote funding and support for projects combining sport and development in Africa. All of its actions are driven by the conviction that sport is a strong lever for development and that it contributes to the achievement of sustainable development objectives (SDOs).

The Sport en Commun platform will list the following as soon as it is launched:

  • A varied funding offer, adapted to all project sizes and coming from several types of funding structures: public and development funding institutions, local and regional banks, private sector companies, investment funds, foundations, etc.
  • Support solutions for project leaders covering the entire life cycle of a project: incubation and structuring, deployment and implementation, change of scale, skills development and training, monitoring and impact measurement, etc.

Sport en Commun also offers several digital networking solutions (directory, messaging, exchange forum) for faster, more relevant and better targeted interactions and partnerships.

This call for projects is an effective way to make the Sport and Development theme more visible and to invite our partners in the development world to make greater use of sport in their actions. And, conversely, to encourage sports actors to further integrate sustainable development into their actions.