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Soccer Without Borders: How Soccer Is Fighting Poverty

Soccer Without BordersSoccer (football) is regarded as the world’s most popular sport, with massive viewing numbers globally. However, beyond the superstar players’ money and fame, soccer is a powerful tool to combat poverty and create opportunities for marginalized communities. Indeed, around the globe, grassroots soccer programs address critical social issues, from access to education and health care to social inclusion and employment. Here are five global soccer initiatives that have made measurable impacts in reducing poverty and improving lives:

Street Child United

Street Child United (SCU) utilizes soccer as a platform to raise awareness about the struggles of homeless and working children, giving them a voice and helping to secure their rights. SCU’s flagship event, the Street Child World Cup, gathers thousands of vulnerable youths from countries including Brazil, India and Kenya to compete in soccer tournaments alongside workshops on legal rights and advocacy.

Beyond the competition, SCU advocates for vital identity documentation like birth certificates, essential for accessing education and health care. In recent years, SCU has helped secure hundreds of identity documents, impacting children’s ability to attend school and receive medical care. Since its creation, SCU has reached more than 1.4 million in more than 30 countries.

Common Goal

Established by Spanish midfielder Juan Mata in 2017, Common Goal encourages soccer professionals to pledge 1% of their earnings to a collective fund supporting worldwide soccer-based social initiatives. More than 200 players and managers from 48 different nationalities and 60 leagues have joined the movement, contributing to causes such as gender equality, education and social inclusion.

One of the beneficiaries of Common Goal’s funding is Soccer Without Borders in Uganda. More than 1,600 refugee and local youth are served annually by Soccer Without Borders Uganda through soccer, education and community-building programs. In 2023, one of the Soccer Without Borders initiatives, the Kampala Girls League, reached more than 1,000 girls, promoting gender equity and inclusion through soccer.

Kick4Life

Kick4Life is a charity based in Lesotho, a country facing one of the world’s highest HIV rates in the world alongside widespread youth unemployment. The program uses soccer for health education, life skills training and academic support, helping young people improve their chances of escaping poverty. Operating a soccer academy, school and social enterprise hotel, Kick4Life has directly reached more than 200,000 young people with health education programs and HIV testing services.

Additionally, more than 25,000 children have undergone voluntary HIV testing, with more than 1,000 testing positive and receiving ongoing treatment and counseling through referral networks.

Football for Peace

Football for Peace works in fragile and conflict-affected communities worldwide. It uses soccer to bridge ethnic, religious and social divides. Furthermore, Football for Peace runs “peace matches,” educational workshops and leadership camps targeting marginalized youth.

In Colombia, in partnership with the Ankle Foundation and funded by the UEFA Foundation for Children, it implemented a project to promote reconciliation between ex-Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) combatants and local communities. The initiative involved 615 children of ex-combatants, providing them with soccer training and psychosocial support to facilitate social integration and prevent the resurgence of violence.

Aspire Academy

Aspire Academy, based in Qatar but with a significant scouting and outreach presence in West Africa, identifies promising soccer talent from countries. The Academy provides full scholarships, world-class training facilities, education and nutrition to talented boys from low-income backgrounds. Aspire’s Football Dreams program has scouted more than 3.5 million boys since its inception, with 18 to 20 elite scholarships being handed out annually after a rigorous selection process.

Beyond soccer, the Academy emphasizes academic education and life skills that can help propel young people into a working environment and reduce unemployment. Indeed, many who have successfully reached the Academy have secured professional contracts in Europe and Asia and actively contribute to development in their home communities.

These initiatives help bring change and fight poverty in marginalized and vulnerable regions. As one of the largest sports globally, the reach is limitless, leaving an opportunity for progression. These initiatives are just five examples.

– James Harwood

James is based in England, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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Lily’s Leaves in Nepal Transforming the Lives of Deaf Women

Lily's LeavesIn 2019, 17.4% of Nepalis were multidimensionally poor. These people lack access to cooking fuel, adequate education, nutritional food and housing materials. Nepal Pipal Tree is a charity that supports vulnerable people in Nepal, attempting to fight poverty by teaching people valuable skills. While Pipal Tree has many projects on environmental restoration, one focuses on aiding Nepal’s children and women. The Lily’s Leaves project of 2024-2027 is a social enterprise that teaches children and deaf women in Nepal basic education, tailoring skills and jewelry-making.

Tailoring and Business

Lily’s Leaves was set up to empower women by educating them on how to set up tailoring businesses and providing them with transferable skills and basic-to-advanced knowledge. Lily’s Leaves offers basic training to women, many of whom are deaf and starting up. However, it also provides more in-depth advanced tailoring and jewelry-making training. When women complete their training, they are aided in setting up and running their businesses. The project has also opened outlets, grants and loans for these women, creating many new opportunities for marginalized communities like deaf women in Nepal, as it offers new employment and business skills that can generate an income and lift their families out of poverty.

Anju Majhi is a woman who has been attending tailor training at Lily’s Leaves for five months. Majhi mentions how her family background is financially weak and has always suffered from poverty as they struggled to make ends meet. Before the training, Majhi was unemployed and had no source of income. She then expresses, “But now, … I am earning a good income that has significantly improved my family’s financial situation. I am proud … to become self-sufficient. This training has … given me the confidence to pursue my dreams.”

Education for Children

Lily’s Leaves offers basic education classes for young girls from impoverished backgrounds, providing them with the resources and skills needed to break barriers and build a future of economic stability and confidence. Pramila Oli, a 21-year-old deaf woman from the Dang District in Nepal, recently joined Lily’s Leaves social enterprise. In a region where opportunities for disabled young women are scarce, Oli’s father struggled to support their family of nine. Thanks to a monthly allowance from Lily’s Leaves, Oli was able to pass her Class 12 school exams, equivalent to A Levels in the U.K. Lily’s Leaves continues to break barriers for young, disabled individuals by supporting their education and offering additional skills, such as tailoring.

Lily’s Leaves has also worked closely with several community schools, offering material support to children from extremely impoverished backgrounds. It distributes free school rucksacks and reusable sanitary pads to students who cannot afford these basic items. By prioritizing children’s health and ensuring access to essential school supplies, Lily’s Leaves helps improve their quality of life while promoting well-being. Lily, the founder, often visits these schools to lead discussions on menstrual hygiene for both girls and boys, breaking down taboos and raising awareness—a vital step toward changing perceptions and fostering inclusion, especially for vulnerable groups.

Jewelry-Making

The Kathmandu Training Center provides care and education for young women, training them to an advanced, professional standard in silver jewelry-making. Lily’s Leaves facilitates international sales through its website, making generating income from overseas customers easy. The center focuses on training many disabled and deaf women in Nepal, offering them employment opportunities while fostering confidence and teamwork with their non-disabled peers.

Shirishti Sharma, a woman who cannot speak or hear, has been working with Lily’s Leaves for 1.5 years as a tailor and jewelry artist. Reflecting on her journey, she says, “Despite the conservative and discriminatory attitudes in our society, I am now able to stand on my own two feet and even provide some financial support for my family.” Through Lily’s Leaves, Sharma has gained the ability to support her family, embrace newfound confidence and reintegrate into society with valuable skills and knowledge that have transformed her life.

Transforming Women’s Lives

Lily’s Leaves is a successful initiative that has transformed the lives of many deaf women in Nepal, including children. By providing materials to schools and teaching vulnerable populations income-generating and interpersonal skills, it fosters economic stability, personal confidence and a healthy, collaborative community. The project benefits not only deaf women through employment opportunities but also positively impacts younger generations, both female and male, across Nepal.

– Chelsey Saya McLeod

Chelsey is based in Southampton, Hampshire, UK and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr