Source: http://www.unv.org/
In August 2010, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) gave the prestigious 2010 Monaco Charity Award to the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP). Each year, this award is given to a deserving organization working to bring positive changes in the world and society by mobilizing the power of sport
The UNOSDP has now decided to utilize the funds received from the award to support five UN or UN-supported sports for development and peace projects in different regions. In this regard, UNOSDP has selected a proposal for a Young Football Volunteers project in Ukraine. The proposal came from the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) group. The project will be launched later this year. UNV will partner with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and local NGOs for implementing this project.
The project has been developed with the support of the State social project ‘Let’s Do It Together’, planned and led by the Ministry for Education, Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine. The project will be implemented by state institutions, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies to maintain the momentum generated by the European Football Championship that will take place in Ukraine in 2012.
Football and football-related training exercises will be used by the YFV project as a way to reach young people aged 12 to 20 years living in rural areas of Ukraine. The aim is to contribute to Millennium Development Goal (MDG) achievements by using sports to promote social cohesion, strengthen civil society and improve physical and social health amongst youth.
This project will empower youth, teaching them personal responsibility with regard to their health and social development, and inspiring them to become agents of change for their communities.
Over the next 48 months, there will be one full-time international UN Volunteer with a background in managing community development, youth engagement and outreach projects and three national UN Volunteers with youth-related work backgrounds, good training skills, and relevant experience in community mobilization projects.
The project will be assisted by a pool of online volunteers who will be selected through the UNV Online Volunteering service to help administer the project’s website, as well as design communication and visibility materials and other similar services.
The Young Football Volunteers project will create an enabling environment for volunteer action to grow, by providing training on volunteer and project management to coaches and actively involving local institutions. Young people who were initially mobilized on the football pitch will increase their civic participation and become volunteers fostering social inclusion and providing services to the most vulnerable people.
