Youth Empowerment and Development Initiative (YEDI)

More about Youth Empowerment and Development Initiative (YEDI)

Football’s uniqueness lies in its power to transcend geographic, ethnic and religious boundaries. Football engages people, fosters teamwork, releases endorphins and teaches young people important life lessons about hard work, health-related matters and equips participants with life coping skills. We are proposing this project because football has proven to be a necessary tool in building capacity and educating young people on topics ranging from HIV/AIDS to gender equality. For the past six years, YEDI has deployed the SKILLZ-based curricula, an approach that is guided by Grassroot Soccer’s sport-based behaviour change methodology, whereby community-based mentors (known as Coaches) are trained to deliver interactive curricula. This has increased knowledge and positive social connections, built youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and life skills assets; facilitated access to health and social services, and supported adherence to medical treatment and positive protective behaviors, this has benefitted over 137,000 young people till date. This project will be an opportunity to expand the SKILLZ activities by incorporating football3 into the existing curricula to enable YEDI to