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The time in between semesters at Soccer Without Borders Uganda is an opportunity for our coaches and teachers to focus on their own professional development and planning, to bring new strategies and ideas to the next semester. Last month, with support of our new partners AFDP Global, SWB Uganda coaches and coordinators participated in a trauma-informed coaching exchange. The Exchange brought program coordinators from Soccer Without Borders USA sites to Kampala for over a week of on and off field trainings and exchanges designed to support social inclusion of refugee youth.
AFDP Global is "a social enterprise that funds, supports, and partners with organizations to unite and transform communities through football." Launched in 2018, AFDP Global is an expansion of the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) established by His Royal Highness Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan in 2012. According to Prince Ali, "Football plays an important role in strengthening relationships between nations and people of different cultures and backgrounds."
We were fortunate to be joined by AFDP Global's CEO JF Cecillion and CFO Marion Vayson de Pradenne during the training to support and get to know the SWB Coaches, many of whom are refugees themselves. Immediately following their visit, JF and Marion headed to Lyon, France where AFDP Global announced the #FearlessFootball Campaign, which calls for immediate action to prevent the abuse of women and girls in football. AFDP Global has been at the forefront of supporting the members of the Afghanistan Women's National Team who have detailed systematic abuse by Afghanistan Federation leaders which led to the lifetime ban of Federation President Keramuddin Karim from football. The #FearlessFootball campaign includes a Change.org petition with specific calls to action.
We look forward to building on this partnership in the future and are excited to kick off a new semester at SWB Uganda. Follow our progress on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/SWBUganda/
