Promoting Healthy Lifestyle & preventing risky behaviour ..

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SPORT AS A TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT IN GEORGIA

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?Facts Over 54 of the pop. lives below the
poverty line?Secessionist regions Abkhazia and
South Ossetia (Shida Kartli)?Rose Revolution
in Nov 2003 bringing a lot of hope but situation
remains volatile

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AT THE BEGINNING

• UNICEF Georgia started to actively use sport
  for development purposes in 2001

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FOOTBALL FOR ENHANCING HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

• 2001-2003
• launching partnership programme
• Children Youth Football Championship on the
  Presidents Cup in Georgia

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WHY FOOTBALL

• Most popular sport in Georgia
• Very useful tool to
• attract public interest
• mobilize partners
• build alliances

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FOOTBALL FOR ENHANCING HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

• Championship - annual event
• Engaging more children youth in sport
  activities and
• Promoting Healthy Lifestyle preventing risky
  behaviour (alcohol, drugs) among children youth

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FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

• School-based national wide tournaments
• gt 45 000 children from 2,000 schools, age 12-15
• Strong social mobilization tool for healthy
  lifestyle - involving different partners local
  governments, business leaders, children

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FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - 2003

• Involving girls for first time.
• Held under aegis of World AIDS Day Campaign
  UN Theme Group
• Raising awareness on HIV/AIDS among youth

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FOOTBALL FOR ENHANCING HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

• Special teams of HIV/AIDS advocates popular
  singers attending delivering IEC sessions on
  HIV for players fans
• WAD 2003 Theme Stigma Discrimination

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FOOTBALL FOR ENHANCING HEALTH LIFESTYLE

• 45 000 young people, including girls
  participated received knowledge on HIV
• Yet, lessons learned too ambitious - focusing
  project scope to specific regions make tangible
  changes in supply rehabilitation of sport
  playgrounds

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FOOTBALL TO REACH THE MOST DISADVANTAGED

• 2004 Football Championship organized jointly by
  UNICEF NGO SOCO headed by the First Lady
• Chiatura - one of the poorest regions of west
  Georgia No employment and no income (i.e. shoes)

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FOOTBALL TO REACH THE MOST DISADVANTAGED

• Aim - provide disadvantaged children opportunity
  to play football as a part of their right to
  play- an opportunity they wouldnt have had
  otherwise (providing equal opportunities).
• Link with MDGs Poverty.
• Extraordinary opportunity for advocacy
  communication on life-skills health promotion

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FOOTBALL TO REACH THE MOST DISADVANTAGED

• 500 children from 25 schools in Chiatura
  involved UNICEF provided football uniforms,
  shoes, balls other sports equipment for
  football
• Major sport playgrounds in Chiatura equipped
  with football nets, flags, etc.

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FOOTBALL TO REACH THE MOST DISADVANTAGED

• The First Lady invited the
• 2 winner teams to a weekend excursion to
  recreational place in Southern Georgia
• UNICEF awarded winner teams - school-in-a box
  football kits.
• Sport supplies - chess, badminton gifted to all
  25 participant schools

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SPORT AS A SCHOOL FOR LIFE

• Additional funds mobilized to expand initiative
  to five regions in 2005 - Dutch NatCom
• Creating child-friendly environment promoting
  healthy lifestyle in 50 schools of 5 regions of
  Georgia - rehabilitation of sport playgrounds,
  basic sport supplies, IEC for children youth

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WHAT IS NEXT (1)

• Incorporation of sport programming in our
  strategic planning mainstreaming of sports
  activities in country programmes.
• UNICEFs experience was instrumental in
  advocating for inclusion of Sports in the UNDAF

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WHAT IS NEXT (2)

• In-house capacity building in sports programming
• Enhancing partnerships
• Developing ME framework Indicators for
  evaluating sports programming

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From the horses mouth

• Before I knew little about AIDS, I have never
  been a winner. Through playing football I learned
  a lot about this disease and about myself.
• Now I know that I can really change things.
• I scored a goal and brought a victory to my team.
• I am so happy.
• 15-year-old George, participant of Georgia 2003
  football school tournament

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Is there a better outcome?
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THANK YOU