In brief

Moving the Goalposts, an internationally recognised leader in sport for development and the winner of the 2016 Laureus Sport for Good Award, believes that football has a unique power to unlock the potential of disadvantaged girls and young women. Moving the Goalposts is a sport for development organisation that harnesses the power of sport to overcome social obstacles girls and young women face in coastal Kenya; they create a safe space for girls and young women to understand their rights and claim them —  take up leadership roles and have a voice in the society – or as they say “Tunaweza” (We can!).

Problem to be tackled

Moving the Goalposts is a movement for girls and young women to fight for their rights and push the boundaries on creating a more equitable society using football to teach lessons around sexual and reproductive health rights, child safeguarding and leadership.

Local partner

Moving the Goalposts operates in coastal Kenya, specifically in the counties Kilifi County, Mombasa County and Kwale County.

Since 2002, Moving the Goalposts has worked with over 30’000 adolescent girls and young women from rural and informal settlements in the coastal region of Kenya. In these counties, over 50% of adolescent girls are not in education, employment and training and live in absolute poverty. For these girls, early marriage is perceived to ensure financial security as girls lack the formal qualifications to enter education or employment. Once married, these girls are at increased risk of contracting HIV/STIs and early pregnancy due to a lack of sexual reproductive health education and their inability to negotiate contraception use. As girls become pregnant, financial dependence on husbands increases, resulting in girls fearing destitution and silently enduring gender-based violence and other harmful practices, such as widow inheritance and wife battering, which are prevalent in the region.

Beneficiaries

Moving the Goalposts works directly with thousands of girls and young women aged seven to 25 in rural Kenya, having identified these target groups because there is a massive gap in services being provided to child and teenage mothers, a disproportionate amount of women and girls dropping out of school, and a strikingly high rate of gender based crime against young women and girls.

Moving the Goalposts works with a variety of partners to help identify and engage participants as well as provide resources to support the health, sporting, and communications components of the work – these partners range from the Kilifi Gender Stakeholders Forum, the Ministry of Health and the Kenyan Football Federation.

SOL’s contribution

With the continued support from The SOL Foundation, Laureus Sport for Good will be able to further assist Moving the Goalposts in increasing reach and impact of the programme, the support will provide girls and young women from disenfranchised and rural communities in coastal Kenya with equal access to safe spaces, play and education on their rights including sexual reproductive health and rights services and information.

Project partner

Laureus Sport for Good uses the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and disadvantage for children and young people all around the world. It supports currently more than 200 programmes in over 40 countries with funding and capacity building, helping to change the lives of over 200’000 marginalised and disadvantaged children and young people – from increasing access to education, to tackling gang violence, to supporting the mental health of youth in post-trauma situations.

Laureus Sport for Good was founded under the Patronage of Nelson Mandela, in line with his belief that “sport has the power to change the world” after seeing it play a crucial role in rebuilding post-apartheid South African society.