Grassroot Soccer

Grassroot Soccer is delighted that the General Assembly of the United Nations has recently declared April 6th the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Founded in 2002, Grassroot Soccer uses sport to prevent HIV infections in youth. Among other things, we have provided sport-based behavior change education programs for more than 700,000 young people in 28 countries across the world. Over the past 12 years, Grassroot Soccer has seen tremendous development in the understanding and evidence base for sport-based development initiatives.  At the same time, we believe that the field is still in its infancy with great potential to grow. International recognition on April 6th of the value of sport as a tool for social development will go a long way toward advancing the mission of our organization and tackling many of the world’s most pressing social challenges. Alignment of this special day with the modern Olympic Movement is a novel and fitting idea. The Olympic values match well with the collective goals of those working in sport for development.

Grassroot Soccer will celebrate and recognize April 6th in all of our programs and sites. We will communicate internally to recognize and give thanks to the thousands of staff and volunteers working globally to implement Grassroot Soccer programs. This recognition will be an important motivator and send a strong message to the Grassroot Soccer family that the work they are doing is valued and supported. Additionally, we will use the day as a platform to communicate with our network of supporters and advocate for the work that Grassroot Soccer and others are doing to maximize the value of sport in the world. We will send out messages via social media to share success stories and encourage our supporters to spread the word about the power of sport for social change. Grassroot Soccer’s global athlete ambassadors will also communicate with their networks to promote messages of peace, solidarity, tolerance, understanding, social inclusion and health.

Grassroot Soccer would like to thank the United Nations for creating this important method of recognition, advocacy, and support for the work that we do. Support from the United Nations goes a long way toward fortifying and unifying this powerful global movement.

Contact

Kirk Friedrich | k.friedrichgrassrootsoccer.org

www.grassrootsoccer.org