Theory of Change
Futebol dá força's Theory of Change describes the current situation in the world where girls are not given equal opportunity to exercise their rights or develop their full potential, and how we are striving towards addressing this through our work by applying strategies that change harmful structures and norms in local communities and enable girls to develop agency to make strategic life choices in the interest of their well being and what they value in life.
Theory of Change
Problem
Girls all over the world lack equal opportunities to exercise their rights and choice in strategic life choices, limiting their agency and opportunities to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being and live a life they value.
Read more about the problem.
Read more about the problem.
Overarching strategy
Providing girls with equal opportunities to exercise their rights and choice in strategic life choices, requires working both directly with girls as well as with the structures and social norms that influence girls' opportunities.
Working within football provides a scalable low-threshold and resource-effective platform for mobilisation and engagement to address girls' lack of equal opportunities and implement effective strategies to empower girls and enable communities to support girls' development, and eventually a more inclusive and equal development in society in general.
Read more about our strategy.
Working within football provides a scalable low-threshold and resource-effective platform for mobilisation and engagement to address girls' lack of equal opportunities and implement effective strategies to empower girls and enable communities to support girls' development, and eventually a more inclusive and equal development in society in general.
Read more about our strategy.
Key strategies and enablers
Our key strategies and enablers highlight our prioritised areas of action that enable the change of attitudes and conditions, i.e. outcomes, that can lead to a change of behaviour, i.e. results, and enable us to achieve long term impact and realise our vision.
We work with two key strategies to address girls' lack of equal rights and opportunities and reach our vision:
1. Empowering girls
2. Changing social norms in local communities
To empower girls with self-esteem, agency and knowledge to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being, girls need to be able to exercise their rights, agency and choice in practice. Therefore action aiming at empowering girls, requires that conditions allowing for girls to access their rights, agency and choice in practice are provided. Since girls' lack of equal rights and opportunities is largely due to prevailing structures and social norms in society, this implies that the social norms that today place barriers on girls' development need to be changed in order for action towards empowering girls will be fully effective and long term.
Empowering girls and changing social norms in their local communities are therefore interlinked strategies that are mutually reinforcing and require a combination of actions taking place in parallel, that are implemented with adaptations to each specific local community context to maximise their impact.
In order to implement these strategies effectively in local communities around the world, we work with two key enablers:
1. Enabling facilitators
2. Enabling leaders
We engage and enable facilitators that in turn engage and enable leaders, who then implement a combination of actions related to our key strategies to empower girls and change social norms in their local communities; the FDF process.
We work with two key strategies to address girls' lack of equal rights and opportunities and reach our vision:
1. Empowering girls
2. Changing social norms in local communities
To empower girls with self-esteem, agency and knowledge to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being, girls need to be able to exercise their rights, agency and choice in practice. Therefore action aiming at empowering girls, requires that conditions allowing for girls to access their rights, agency and choice in practice are provided. Since girls' lack of equal rights and opportunities is largely due to prevailing structures and social norms in society, this implies that the social norms that today place barriers on girls' development need to be changed in order for action towards empowering girls will be fully effective and long term.
Empowering girls and changing social norms in their local communities are therefore interlinked strategies that are mutually reinforcing and require a combination of actions taking place in parallel, that are implemented with adaptations to each specific local community context to maximise their impact.
In order to implement these strategies effectively in local communities around the world, we work with two key enablers:
1. Enabling facilitators
2. Enabling leaders
We engage and enable facilitators that in turn engage and enable leaders, who then implement a combination of actions related to our key strategies to empower girls and change social norms in their local communities; the FDF process.
The FDF process
Futebol dá força engages and enables facilitators that in turn engage and enable leaders, who implement a combination of actions to empower girls and change social norms in their local communities, resulting in change of attitudes and conditions that allow for change of behaviours to take place.
Read more about the FDF process.
Read more about the FDF process.
Results
Through our work we want to achieve long term results providing safe spaces for girls within local structures, strengthening girls' self-esteem, agency and knowledge to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being, with support from their family members and others in their local community. The results we want to achieve:
- Girls, irrespective of age, background or household income,have access to safe spaces and increased opportunities to play and physical activity within the organised school and/or football structure.
- Girls' family members and others in their local community support girls' participation in football and other activities in their community.
- Girls have self-esteem, agency and knowledge to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being.
- Girls, irrespective of age, background or household income,have access to safe spaces and increased opportunities to play and physical activity within the organised school and/or football structure.
- Girls' family members and others in their local community support girls' participation in football and other activities in their community.
- Girls have self-esteem, agency and knowledge to make informed decisions in the interest of their well-being.
Impact
Through our work we want to achieve long term impact providing girls with the opportunity to make informed decisions and shape their future, enabling girls to live healthy lives. The long term impact we want to achieve:
- Girls have the opportunity to make informed decisions and shape their future.
- Girls live healthy lives*.
*The World Health Organization defines health as "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution
- Girls have the opportunity to make informed decisions and shape their future.
- Girls live healthy lives*.
*The World Health Organization defines health as "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution
Vision
A world where all girls are empowered, and have the opportunity, to make informed decisions and live a life they value.
About our vision
Our vision is based on our belief that all human beings are created equal and therefore that all people are equally worthy, and should have equal rights and an equal opportunity to live a good life. However, while we believe that all people are of equal value and should have equal rights and an equal opportunity to live a good life, we recognize that "a good life" or "a good quality of life" may mean very different things for different people, as the contexts within which people live their lives differ widely around the world. Therefore, it is our vision that all people should have the right, the capacity and the opportunity to live a life that theyvalue, a life that theyappreciate and feel is worthy. Today, this is not a reality for many people in the world - especially girls that are disproportionately disadvantaged and discriminated in communities across countries and cultures. Our vision therefore articulates our intention to contribute to building a world where all girls have the right, the capacity and the opportunity to live a life they value.
For this vision to become reality, we believe that girls must have agency - the ability to define their own goals and act upon them - and support to do so from of a role model and coach, as well as, a supportive peer group and community. When girls have agency, and support in that agency from people around them (i.e. they have opportunities to act upon what they value in life without barriers put up by people or norms in their community), girls will be able to make informed decisions in the interest of their own well-being and what they value in life enabling them to live a life they value.
For this vision to become reality, we believe that girls must have agency - the ability to define their own goals and act upon them - and support to do so from of a role model and coach, as well as, a supportive peer group and community. When girls have agency, and support in that agency from people around them (i.e. they have opportunities to act upon what they value in life without barriers put up by people or norms in their community), girls will be able to make informed decisions in the interest of their own well-being and what they value in life enabling them to live a life they value.
What do we mean by all girls?
We work with anyone that define themselves as a girl, including transgender girls, as well as with non-binary children and also to some extent, in particular during transition, with transgender boys. We target girls during childhood, with a child defined by the WHO as 'a person 19 years or younger'. With 'all girls' we literally mean all girls in the world.
What do we mean when we say a life girls value?
We recognise that there is no single right path that we envision for a girl's future, but that every individual girl should choose her path. We are thus working to even out the inequalities in girls' capacity to make choices, rather than trying to pursue them to make certain choices. Every girl should have the opportunity to do so, and be able to follow that chosen path in life. We are aware of that what can be valued or desired in life by one girl, may not be valued or desired by another girl. Therefore, when we say that all girls should be able to live a life they value, we mean that when girls have agency to make informed decisions for themselves, they are capable of also determining what they value and desire in life and should have the right and opportunity to shape their own future accordingly.
What do we mean when we say empowerment?
We do not view empowerment as a state or result to be achieved, but as an ongoing process. This is why we envision a world where girls are continuously empowered, where empowerment is established as an ongoing process in girls' development from early childhood and throughout her lifetime.
When girls are empowered to develop agency - a developed sense of who they are, what they can do, where they are going, combined with the ability to influence their communication, emotions and behaviour on the way to getting where they want to go - they are able to shape their future and live a life they value as independent individuals. However, apart from agency this process also requires that girls have resources enabling their agency in practice.
Therefore, it is essential to provide girls with knowledge in order for them to be able to make informed decisions and determine what path in life they want to strive towards. It is especially important to create an understanding of what girls' rights, and in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights, imply in practice since this knowledge to a great extent influences a girls' future.
Another vital resource for girls' well-being is the feeling of belonging to a community or social support network with shared values and mutual support. This can enhance her agency and ability to exercise choice as an independent individual, while providing her with people that care for her and that she cares for, enabling kinship, friendship and happiness that can greatly influence her well-being in a positive way. Thus, girls' independence in choice does not by our definition imply being socially independent and isolated, but rather the opposite, of being able to exercise choice within - and with support from - a social support network.
Therefore, it is also vital to engage the local community and change harmful structures and norms that today prevent girls from accessing all their rights and getting equal opportunities to develop and act upon what they value in life. Working together with local stakeholders and community members, engaging them to be part of enabling girls' empowerment, instead of consciously or unconsciously limiting girls' empowerment, is key for girls to have the opportunity to make informed decisions and live a life they value, and be supported in their local community in doing so.
When girls are empowered to develop agency - a developed sense of who they are, what they can do, where they are going, combined with the ability to influence their communication, emotions and behaviour on the way to getting where they want to go - they are able to shape their future and live a life they value as independent individuals. However, apart from agency this process also requires that girls have resources enabling their agency in practice.
Therefore, it is essential to provide girls with knowledge in order for them to be able to make informed decisions and determine what path in life they want to strive towards. It is especially important to create an understanding of what girls' rights, and in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights, imply in practice since this knowledge to a great extent influences a girls' future.
Another vital resource for girls' well-being is the feeling of belonging to a community or social support network with shared values and mutual support. This can enhance her agency and ability to exercise choice as an independent individual, while providing her with people that care for her and that she cares for, enabling kinship, friendship and happiness that can greatly influence her well-being in a positive way. Thus, girls' independence in choice does not by our definition imply being socially independent and isolated, but rather the opposite, of being able to exercise choice within - and with support from - a social support network.
Therefore, it is also vital to engage the local community and change harmful structures and norms that today prevent girls from accessing all their rights and getting equal opportunities to develop and act upon what they value in life. Working together with local stakeholders and community members, engaging them to be part of enabling girls' empowerment, instead of consciously or unconsciously limiting girls' empowerment, is key for girls to have the opportunity to make informed decisions and live a life they value, and be supported in their local community in doing so.
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