Rwandan Minister of Sports Aurore Mimosa Barahira on Tuesday met FIFA President Gianni Infantino who arrived in Kigali earlier this week to attend the 4th International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award.
During their meeting, the discussion between the two leaders focused on latest progress with the launch in May this year of the new Football for Schools Programme in partnership with the world governing body FIFA.
FIFA’s new Football for Schools Programme aims to make football more accessible to both boys and girls around the world by incorporating football activities into physical education curriculum (or as an extracurricular pursuit), thereby contributing to the education, development and empowerment of children.
As part of FIFA’s strategic road map FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future, the design and implementation of the programme contribute to the development of the game at the national level while placing it at the service of local communities.
It will provide support through tangible actions and tools, such as the provision of education and instructional materials (including apps and an online platform) for teachers.
As part of this partnership, 11 million footballs will be distributed to schools in territories of FIFA’s 211 member associations, reaching more than 700 million children, and an online platform will be created to inform teachers on how to incorporate football into education.
In particular, the programme will benefit from FIFA’s extensive track record in technical football development, UNESCO’s long-standing experience in education and sport, and the success of the WFP’s school feeding programme, which runs in more than 100 countries.
By 2022, a budget of USD 100 million has been allocated by FIFA to Implementation of the Football for Schools Programme with the roll-out of pilot projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America on the basis of interest expressed by national associations and the specific local sporting and football conditions in the countries involved.
CU/abj/APA