Introducing: the Gender Equality Collective Impact Award Winners

November 13, 2020

Backed by Comic Relief - a Beyond Sport Foundation partner since 2014 - and the BT Supporters Club, Beyond Sport is proud to be investing in a group of organizations that are using sport to progress Global Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls and, in turn, advance society as a whole.

Supported by the grant funding and a comprehensive business support package, four organizations were selected to work together over one year, benefiting from each other’s individual expertise, sharing best practice and working through issues in real-time to drive real, sustainable impact through sport. 

The initiative marks the second year of the Collective Impact Awards, established to bring together the best and most innovative organizations from around the world that are using sport to address specific UN Sustainable Development Goals.




As COVID-19 exacerbates gender inequality and marginalization, and with just under 10 years to achieve the 2030 Global Goal deadline, sport is well-positioned to be at the heart of much-needed solutions to promote and protect women and girls.

"Comic Relief believes women and girls should have equal power and agency in decision-making at all levels, and we’re working to achieve this, and the elimination of violence and discrimination based on gender," stated BT Supporters Club and Comic Relief Partnership Manager, Pete Beeley.

MEET THE WINNERS: 

Girls Money Savvy Project Through Sport, Sport-Aid Development Trust - Zambia

The organization uses football and adaptable sports to mobilise girls to learn about financial literacy through participatory learning. We incorporate the money savvy in the life skills drills for the trained peer leaders to educate and inspire their peers enabling them to assimilate the gained knowledge for their personal development. The training of Peer leaders as communication change agents who later form Leadership Action Groups in their respective schools, creates sustainable structures for project coordination. The peer to peer education communicates financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills in a friendlier manner that resonate with girls’ experiences necessitates a lifelong impact on the girls. In addition, the Peer leaders become the mentors to the girls being educated. The initial financial resources given to the girls as a revolving fund help the girls start their financial independence journey that is sustained by continued mentorship by the peer leaders who are also running businesses. sportaidtrust.wixsite.com

Watch the interview with Paul Zulu, Founder & Executive Director of Sport-Aid Development Trust here. 

Soccer Without Borders Uganda - Uganda

Soccer Without Borders Uganda is a leader within the country and the East Africa region when it comes to advancing gender equality on the pitch, on the sidelines, and in organizations. Our core programming in Kampala serves over 400 refugee youth weekly through 15-20 hours per week of direct service football, literacy, and life-skills classes, 46% of whom are girls. Through our Women Take the Lead and Global Goal 5 Accelerator programs, we support 13 local NGOs from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia to advance gender equity in their organizations, including providing training for nearly 50 local female coaches annually. soccerwithoutborders.org

Watch the interview with Catherine "Mina" Kabanyana, Soccer Without Borders Uganda Senior Program Coordinator here. 

Pamoja Initiative - Kenya

This initiative seeks to use swimming as a tool to address women’s safety as there are growing concerns as women and children make up over 80% of the drowning case in Lamu. Whenever this is a boat that capsizes on Lamu, it is almost a 100% guarantee that there will be no child or women survivors. A predominantly Muslim community, as the boys and men go out into the waters either to swim or to fish, the women remain in the households. Given that this is the only guaranteed mode of transport, water safety has been severely undervalued. Additionally, swimming is used as a tool for empowerment of young girls in decision making around sexual and reproductive health. Lamu County in one of the 15 counties that contributes to over 60% of maternal mortality, highest numbers of early childhood marriage and female genital mutilation. Pamoja seeks to use swimming as a tool to address women’s safety and empowerment around decision-making when it comes to reproductive health. pamoja.co

Watch the interview with Pamoja Initiative Co-Founder, Umra Omar here. 

Moving the Goalposts- Kenya

Moving the Goalposts (MTG) is a sport for a development organization founded in 2002 in Kilifi, in the rural Coast Province of Kenya. MTG engages girls in football (soccer) and uses the sport to help disadvantaged girls and young women to become leaders and create better futures for themselves. Since its founding, MTG has worked with over 30,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 9 – 25 years from rural and informal settlements in the coastal region of Kenya. TheThe girls receive training & leadership opportunities to organize and run football activities, peer education programs on sexual and reproductive health, women’s rights and economic empowerment. MTG provides pathways and resources for girls to continue in education, vocational training and find income-generating activities or employment, including opportunities within the organization. mtgk.org

Watch the interview with Dorcas Amakobe, Executive Director of Moving the Goalposts here. 

Learn more about the rest of this year’s Shortlisters and Collective Impact Award winners and follow their journeys at beyondsport.org/journey.