With a continued support from The SOL Foundation, Laureus Sport for Good will be able to continue the support for Tackle who seeks to focus on their existing work with the goal to keep adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in school through education on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and access to necessary products and resource in Hoima, western Uganda, and in turn affect positively their education outcomes and later livelihoods.
Tackle [with Laureus Sport for Good Foundation] (2024)
Uganda
2024-2026
In brief
Tackle’s project will ensure – using football – the next generation of adolescent girls and young women in Hoima are equipped with the knowledge, the confidence, the safe space, and the menstrual cups to complete their education with dignity and become more productive and happier in their working lives.
Problem to be tackled
Tackle methodology works particularly well for knowledge attainment with adolescents because during sessions the health message unfolds through play in a way young participants enjoy, remember, and understand. Tackle’s approach is evidence-based, context-driven, youth-focused and grounded in the Positive Youth Development Approach, integrating health messaging at the heart of football games. The Hoima network of trained, local football coaches, drawn from host schools, are respected as role models and learn to facilitate discussions that are often considered taboo at home. Learning to break down these taboos through sport is an essential element of the training programme and at the heart of the model. Trained on the Tackle 5 step methodology, these coaches will use football as a tool for social change with young people, reframing the dialogue around menstruation and challenging harmful norms.
Local partner
Tackle is an award-winning NGO, with expertise in delivering impactful Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education using football. Tackle has been operating for more than five years in Hoima, Uganda, where the Tackle model is proven to increase knowledge among participants. Comprehensive knowledge of HIV (using the UN-approved indicator of correctly identifying modes of HIV transmission whilst also rejecting common myths) increased from just 19% of cohort with comprehensive knowledge at baseline to 96% passing after one year of sessions (n=278).
Beneficiaries
Participants in the Tackle programme will be adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) between 12 and 18, who are currently in school and as such, at risk of losing school days due to period inequality and menstrual issues. Tackle defines participants as those specifically selected to attend football sessions with their Tackle coach and who complete the programme (target of 50% attendance). In addition to the AGYW defined above, Tackle also will directly impact female teachers who will serve as the coaches in this programme and receive coach training and training on sanitary pad making.
SOL’s contribution
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
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.
