December 3, 2021
With just under a year to go until the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Beyond Sport Global Award shortlisters, Generation Amazing has announced that it is making steady progress to advance human and social legacies through a range of initiatives.
This includes extensive programming for Afghan refugees in Qatar, the GA-Qatar Foundation (QF) Ability Friendly Programme and a new partnership with the Ministry of Sports and Youth aimed at enhancing gender equality.
Generation Amazing, a programme coordinated by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, is aimed at contributing to the lasting legacy of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and fulfilling Qatar’s promise to use the hosting of the event as a catalyst to empower people across the region and beyond. They use a football for development approach – a type of football training on and off the pitch – that teaches gender equality and inclusivity, and life skills like communication, organisation, teamwork and leadership to youth.
“By working closely with our partners at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar Foundation and the Ministry of Sports and Youth, we have expanded our programme reach even further over the past months to serve disadvantaged communities, thereby making sure that we leave a tangible legacy for the world beyond 2022,” said H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC).
The human and social legacy programme of the SC is also making good progress to reaching its target of positively impacting one million lives by 2022, with the current total of 725,000 beneficiaries set to further increase with the new partnerships and programmes.
Since the arrival of refugees from Afghanistan to Qatar, Generation Amazing has worked to create a safe space for them to thrive. They partnered with Maktaba Children’s Library to deliver educational activities, including music, arts and crafts, yoga and dance sessions, while a football pitch inside the compound has been used to deliver football for development activities and tournaments. Generation Amazing also successfully delivered a coaching certification in football for development to three groups of youth, including members of the Afghan women’s football and basketball teams, which will allow them to train others going forward.
Working in close collaboration with QF, the organization has also continued to enhance an inclusive football programme for young people with disabilities in Qatar. This programme offers the chance for sporting and social integration opportunities to become more accessible to children with special needs, including those with physical, mental and visual impairments, deafness and Autism, as well as other learning challenges.
“Qatar Foundation believes in the inclusion of all people with different abilities, which is reflected in our support for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the legacy of the tournament,” said Machaille Hassan Al Naimi, QF’s President of Community Development. “The power of sport comes from its universality and its capacity to remove barriers and boundaries, and the Ability Friendly Programme exemplifies how, as well as bringing enjoyment, sport has an intrinsic role in shaping a society where all needs are recognised, respected and provided for.”
To mark the one-year countdown to Qatar 2022, they have partnered with the Ministry of Sports and Youth aims to enhance gender equality. With the participation of 20 female members of Simaisma and Al-Daayen Youth Centres aged between 16 and 29, the eight-week joint programme kicked off on 20 November. The programme provides an approach that enables girls to exercise in a safe environment and develop life skills such as leadership, communication and teamwork through sport and football.
This month, the Generation Amazing Festival 2021 will welcome youth from all over the Arab world from December 14-18. The festival will showcase football for development workshops that will empower 16 to 17-year-old footballers with the necessary skills to become role models who can inspire others in their countries and become future leaders, following a recent programme organised in collaboration with Aurora for Training and Development and the Qatar Football Association called One Goal Arabia.
Source: Qatar2022