Community Impact Program

Background

According to UNICEF, India has the largest adolescent population in the world, 253 million, and every fifth person is between 10 to 19 years. India stands to benefit socially, politically, and economically if this large number of adolescents are safe, healthy, educated, and equipped with information and life skills to support the country’s continued development.

India is one of the rapidly urbanizing nations but still, the majority of the Indian population (61% according to the 2011 Indian census) living in rural areas, rural development is very important for the effective development of the country, they also contribute to 46% of the national income.   

Children from rural areas, slums and urban poor families suffer from multiple deprivations related to malnutrition, access to quality health services, poor school attendance, low learning outcomes, lack of sanitation facilities, hygiene, and access to improved water etc.

  • Approximately 42 percent of adolescent population aged 15-19 years is undernourished (BMI <18.5 kg/m2)
  • Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in India’s health facilities, contributes to the high neonatal mortality rate, which is currently 24 deaths per 1000 live births.
  • At least 332 million children, or one in seven, have their mental health and well being at risk because of the pandemic-induced lockdowns, UNICEF has warned.
  • Out of 100 students, 29 percent of girls and boys drop out of school before completing the full cycle of elementary education, and often they are the most marginalized children.
  • Extreme poverty (US$1.90 a day) has reduced to 21 per cent in India. Yet 58 per cent of the population is still poor, living on US$3.10 a day
  • Some 11.9 percent girls in the 15-19 age group were married before 18
  • 71% adolescent girls in India remain unaware of menstruation till menarche.
  • “Girls belong at home, not on the sports field. Girls should cook, look after the home and raise children – that’s their role in life is the conviction of society.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to implement a project that would safeguard physical and mental wellbeing of children and give them a healthier start in life.

 

Our Approach

Critical game changers in leveraging the potential of adolescents in India include postponing marriage, improving the health and nutritional status of adolescent girls, generating better education, skill development, work and citizenship opportunities for adolescent girls and boys.  And these can be achieved through education and creating awareness about various social issues among the communities.

The Community Impact Program project aims to provide the desired solutions by drawing upon conclusive research that suggests that sports, learning pursuits and connecting with outdoors contribute significantly to improvement in physical fitness and feel-good factor and result in reduction of stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression.

The project has been designed to address SDG 3 ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and SDG 5 'Gender Equality' of 700 girls and boys  aged between 10 and 18 years from underprivileged communities rendered highly vulnerable in post-Lockdown environment in from 4 different cities such as Nagpur, Wardha and Yavatmal.

The project consists of a well proportioned mix of constructive outdoor physical activities,  football based games and workshops to educate and equip them with skills, knowledge and mindset to overcome issues related to menstruation, physical and mental health, gender equality, and sanitation and hygiene. All of these would be done through 64 football based sessions over a period of 8 months. Additionally, the project also offers 2 fair play football tournaments and workshops on various social issues, which would make the participants sensitized to these, thereby enabling them to impact their communities.

The project aims to achieve the following objectives by the end of 2022 starting from February 2022:

  1. To improve the physical and mental well being of 700 participating girls and boys through fotball activities and workshops.
  2. To increase awareness of 350 girls about menstrual health management and inculcate best practices to be adopted during this period through football activities and workshops.
  3. To increase awareness of 700 participating girls and boys about sanitation and hygiene and equip them with best practices and hygiene behaviors through football activities and workshops.
  4. To promote gender equality among 700 participating girls and boys by educating them about equal rights and providing safe spaces through 2 Fair play tournaments promoted by the street football world.   

Additionally, the project aims to select 10 youth participants from 4 cities with potential and willingness to engage and educate children from the communities and become role models after undergoing 2 youth leadership training programs during the project implementation.