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Media Statement
Girls Kick Violence with Grassroot Soccer
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka visits a Primary School in
Khayelitsha to see the impact of a sports-based programme which fosters girls’
empowerment and addresses violence against women.
Since its creation in 1996, the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UNTF), a
global, multilateral, grant-making mechanism which is administered by UN Women on behalf of the
UN System, has awarded USD 103 million to 393 initiatives in 136 countries and territories. The Fund
currently supports 86 programmes in 71 countries with a value of USD 55.1 million.
Grassroot Soccer, in South Africa, a civil society organization founded in 2002 by male professional
soccer players, is one of them. Using the power of soccer to educate, inspire and empower young
people to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, Grassroot Soccer has developed an innovative soccerthemed curriculum to address the intersection between violence against women and girls and
HIV/AIDS, which is having significant impact in communities across sub-Saharan Africa.
The Executive Director of UN Women and former Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, visited Grassroot Soccer’s programme based in Khayelitsha on 1 June 2015. The
visit encompassed both a tour of Grassroot Soccer’s Football for Hope Centre and a visit to nearby
Yomelela Primary School to observe the programme’s all-girls intervention, SKILLZ Street, in action.
“The work being undertaken here is having a significant impact in this community; I am very
impressed. There is much to learn here about the use of sports to boost girls’ empowerment. I am
particularly delighted to see so many of the young women who have benefitted from the programme
remain engaged and go on to become peer coaches and role models for their younger sisters,” said
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka.
SKILLZ Street is tailored to adolescent girls, and includes fair-play soccer and mentoring by peer
coaches on HIV and violence prevention. In 2014 and 2015, almost 3,000 adolescent girls ages 10-14
graduated from the SKILLZ Street programme in Soweto, Alexandra and Khayelitsha. With support
from UNTF, Grassroot Soccer plans to reach an additional 5,600 adolescent girls in five South African
sub-districts by the end of 2016.
“For us, sport … means we can build relationships with children in a safe space that they are proud of
participating in,” says Grassroot Soccer Managing Director James Donald. “It also provides a plethora
of ready images, metaphors and analogies that children can relate to. Soccer, in particular, is a
powerful way to challenge norms and stereotypes around gender.”
Yamkela Nqweniso, 14, was born and raised in Khayelitsha, where day-to-day life is challenging
against a backdrop of systemic poverty, high prevalence of HIV and AIDS and limited social
infrastructure. After graduating from the SKILLZ Street programme last year, she began volunteering
and is now a dedicated member of the Grassroot Soccer team. “Before I was a member of SKILLZ
Street I didn’t know where I was headed,” admits 14-year-old Ms. Nqweniso. “But now I know where
I’m from, where I’m headed, and where I want to be in the future. It’s built so much confidence in me. I
feel proud of myself that I am part of the positive side, the safe side.”
Media Contact:
Jenn Warren, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Africa, for Grassroot Soccer
[email protected], +27 (0) 72 833 8977