Futebol dá força
Zambia
Zambia
What we do
We engage, train and support leaders within local football clubs in their communities giving girls opportunities to play on equal terms in a safe space with female role models that support them far beyond the football field.
Empowering leaders
We recruit leaders in local communities with the potential to lead change. We believe that anyone can be a leader with the right knowledge, methods and support. We offer research-based leadership training equipping leaders with the knowledge and tools to create safe meeting places, improve girls' cognitive and social skills, self-esteem and knowledge about their rights. All leaders receive personal coaching and support, and a national community and support network of leaders with a shared purpose and mission, enabling them to develop their full potential and apply methods with high impact in their local context.
Safe spaces for girls
Leaders create safe meeting places for girls both on and off the football field, where they get improved self-esteem, knowledge about their rights and tools to improve their own future prospects. By playing football with supportive leaders that also create room for vital conversations, girls' physical and psychological health improves and allows them to make informed decisions about their future. Leaders work together with local stakeholders to change attitudes and structures that today prevent girls from reaching their full potential.
Provincial Girls' Football Leagues
We run the first and only girls' football leagues in Eastern, Southern and Western Province in Zambia. It's just like any other football league, but instead of the regular two halves, we play with three. The first half is always a workshop about girls' rights, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights. Then during the second and third half, during the actual football game, we have the same workshops with the audience around the football field. In this way we make everyone part of the change; both the girls who learn to stand up for their rights and the community that learns to acknowledge girls' rights. The league starts with district play-offs and ends with provincial finals.
Chinja Ziko
Chinja Ziko is Nyanja for 'change the world' - which is what our leaders do every day and what our football leagues are all about. To combine it with football and really create change, we run the Chinja Ziko program. It is an educational program for coaches and other volunteers that want to develop and become facilitators during our league games. We educate them in sexual and reproductive health and rights, human rights and in how to facilitate workshops and community engagement.
FDF Zambia
Why Zambia?
Futebol dá força came to Zambia in 2013, starting off with one team coached by Mike Ndebele and Jairos Kaoma inspired by Futebol dá força in Mozambique. Since then, Mike and Jairos have led the development and they now run Futebol dá força in Zambia with programs in several provinces. And that is exactly what Futebol dá força is all about: that every one of us can change the world – starting on the football field and then further in life. It's as simple as that, as Jairos puts it:
"It is all about confidence, and telling yourself that you can do it. And then you do it."
Zambia at a glance
Zambia, an independent country since 1964 when the British colonial rule ended, is largely dependent on its copper and mining industries and has taken a hard hit from falling world commodity prices. As the country relies on hydroelectric power to a great extent, severe drought has led to a power deficit resulting in daily power cuts. Zambia is also one of the countries in the world that has suffered the most from HIV/AIDS, with almost 14% of the population affected by the virus. Due to this, the population is very young.
Being a girl in Zambia
Traditional hierarchical structures restrict girls' rights and opportunities. Many girls get married before the age of 18 which often results in interrupted schooling or school drop outs. Sexual abuse and domestic violence is normalized and prostitution is widespread to finance school or to sustain the family. Every third Zambian girl between 15-19 years old is already a mother. With very strong Christian churches in the country, sexuality has long been considered taboo and contraceptives are rarely used which further reduces girls' opportunities to decide over their own future.
How we work
We are working to get rid of the taboos and to open up for conversations that are changing attitudes in Zambia and the world. All our programs are run in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth & Sports, as well as with the Football Association of Zambia. We have the honor to work with numerous young and engaged voluntary leaders who are determined to give girls the rights and opportunities that they are entitled too - and we can already see results of their hard work.
Futebol dá força came to Zambia in 2013, starting off with one team coached by Mike Ndebele and Jairos Kaoma inspired by Futebol dá força in Mozambique. Since then, Mike and Jairos have led the development and they now run Futebol dá força in Zambia with programs in several provinces. And that is exactly what Futebol dá força is all about: that every one of us can change the world – starting on the football field and then further in life. It's as simple as that, as Jairos puts it:
"It is all about confidence, and telling yourself that you can do it. And then you do it."
Zambia at a glance
Zambia, an independent country since 1964 when the British colonial rule ended, is largely dependent on its copper and mining industries and has taken a hard hit from falling world commodity prices. As the country relies on hydroelectric power to a great extent, severe drought has led to a power deficit resulting in daily power cuts. Zambia is also one of the countries in the world that has suffered the most from HIV/AIDS, with almost 14% of the population affected by the virus. Due to this, the population is very young.
Being a girl in Zambia
Traditional hierarchical structures restrict girls' rights and opportunities. Many girls get married before the age of 18 which often results in interrupted schooling or school drop outs. Sexual abuse and domestic violence is normalized and prostitution is widespread to finance school or to sustain the family. Every third Zambian girl between 15-19 years old is already a mother. With very strong Christian churches in the country, sexuality has long been considered taboo and contraceptives are rarely used which further reduces girls' opportunities to decide over their own future.
How we work
We are working to get rid of the taboos and to open up for conversations that are changing attitudes in Zambia and the world. All our programs are run in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth & Sports, as well as with the Football Association of Zambia. We have the honor to work with numerous young and engaged voluntary leaders who are determined to give girls the rights and opportunities that they are entitled too - and we can already see results of their hard work.
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