We Want Equality! Fighting for Girls' and Women's Football in Kenya
We are creating a network to lobby the Kenyan Football Federation to change its practices so girls and women can compete in the World Cup.
About You
Contact Information
Title
Miss
First name
Cocky
Last name
van Dam
Your job title
CBO, trust
Name of your organization
Moving the Goalposts Kilifi
Organization type
NGO
Annual budget/currency
This field has not been completed
Location
Project Street Address
PO Box 605
Project City
Project Province/State
Kilifi
Project Postal/Zip Code
80108
Project Country
Kenya
Your idea
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Soccer/Football
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What approach does your initiative incorporate?
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Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2001
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Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
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Insight
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Name Your Project
We Want Equality! Fighting for Girls' and Women's Football in Kenya
Describe Your Idea
We are creating a network to lobby the Kenyan Football Federation to change its practices so girls and women can compete in the World Cup.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
We are creating a network to lobby the Kenyan Football Federation to change its practices so girls and women can compete in the World Cup.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
It will affect thousands of girls and women in Kenya who will be able to compete at a national level. In Kilfili district alone there are 3000 girls and young women participating through Moving the Goalposts. Recognition of women at a national level will make them more motivated to become players, coaches, referees, peer educators, and leaders. This will be an inspiring example to women in other areas of life, and will thus affect all women in Kenya and perhaps in neighboring countries.
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
Football teams in the Coast Province, Carolina for Kibera, Old is Gold SlumYouth, Makolanders
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
The Kenyan Football Federation (KFF) does not organize activities for girls and women and there are no women's national teams to compete in preliminaries for the World Cup because of the conservative attitudes of the KFF toward women. We will create a network that will lobby to convince the KFF, the government, the public and the schools that neglecting the talents of girls and women means that half of the Kenyan people is not able to fulfill their potential. We want them to create structures for women's football that are equal to those for men. We will organize a national conference with stakeholders, professionals and wide media coverage, resulting in recommendations to the government and the KFF. We will lobby for those recommendations. We're in the process of setting up a network through the Internet and visits in Kenya and other countries in East Africa. We've held interviews with various stakeholders in Kenya. We started talks with the KFF and key figures in Kenyan football.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
There will be strong national structures for women football players in Kenya and at least 2 players and 2 coaches at the World Cup for Women in 2019.
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
1) The KFF will have a development plan for girls' and women's football in Kenya. 2) The KFF will have a budget to carry out that plan. 3) The KFF's conservative attitudes about women will gradually change. 4) Our network will spread to other East African countries. 5) There will be national teams for women. 6) Women will participate in the World Cup. This plan is innovative because it has never been done before, because it aims to change basic societal values about women, because it is organized by "ordinary people" and not a government, because it aims to change a national organizational structure, and because it will bring together people who might not otherwise collaborate.
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
We want to see the KFF change its policies and practices with regard to women, and set up national structures for women.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
Our lobbying efforts will expand into neighboring countries, through their women's football organizations.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Individual football organizations and teams will contribute from their own budgets.
Financing source
Annual budget
Although this is part of Moving the Goalposts, the project has no budget at this time, and no staff.
Annual revenue generated
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Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
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What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
If there are any teams or organizations that cannot contribute, which is unlikely, we can try to get funding from Women Win, Nike, Sport for Social Change Network,
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
This field has not been completed. (500 characters or less)
The Story
What stage is your project?
Ongoing project .
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
There was no real defining moment, but our motivation comes from seeing the huge disparity between men and women in the world of football in Kenya, and in the society in general. We want to see girls and young women fulfill their potential as players and also learn such things as leadership, coaching, refereeing, first aid and management—these are not things women generally learn in Kenya. We realized that girls' motivation in football was limited when they saw that there was no way their efforts could lead to having a women's national team or being in the World Cup. Our motivation also comes from a sense of urgency: if we are to be ready for the next world cup we must start immediately because the KFF power structures are deeply entrenched. Our motivation is so strong that we are not stopping at football. We use our programme to involve players in such things as peer-led health education programmes about reproductive health, children rights, HIV & AIDS.
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
In Holland I was working as a psychomotor therapist in a mental health clinic. I came to Kenya as a volunteer football development worker in 2005 with Voluntary Service Overseas, intending to stay in Kenya for only two years. I set up a training program for coaches, encouraging girls to take leadership roles. I like the organization and what they are doing-- everything is always growing and changing. This project simply applies my interests in sport as a tool, health, and women's rights,
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 | 172 weeks agoCocky van Dam said: Hello Monica, Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m happy and we feel privileged that you’ve read about our project. We know that ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 172 weeks agoMonica Gonzalez said: congrats, your project is wonderful. there are so many issues that can be addressed but i think that narrowing it down to a few (sex ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 173 weeks agoCocky van Dam said: Cocky van Dam Hello Stephani, I’m not sure if this is larger than a KFF issue. Football for women is quit new in Kenya, but parents, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 173 weeks agoCocky van Dam said: Cocky van Dam Hello Lombe, I want to thank you for your comment. It’s good to read that you’re encouraging us to continue working on ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 173 weeks agoCocky van Dam said: Cocky van Dam Hello Heather, Thank for your comment. Yeah, we hope to see you again in Kilifi. The girls liked the boxing class ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 173 weeks agoCocky van Dam said: Cocky van Dam Dear Mr. Niccolls, Thank you very much for your feedback and suggestions. Sorry for taking time to respond. I agree ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 176 weeks agoStephani Kobayashi Stevenson said: Hi Cocky, This is so awesome and very much needed. I'm sure you're aware that the IOC just cut women's softball from the next ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 176 weeks agoLombe Mwambwa said: Hi Cocky, Great idea you have and i like it as it has a strong objective for policy change. One of the strengths of advocacy is ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 177 weeks agoHeather Cameron said: Dear Cocky! Great to hear from you guys again and great to see that you want to help the KFF get more girls in the game! Looking ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 177 weeks agoWilliam B. (Nick) Niccolls said: William B. (Nick) Niccolls Seattle ___________________________ I am very supportive of your wider mission which I understand to be: ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
