Context

There are many talented Tanzanian girls who could become great football players, coaches, referees, and sports administrators. However, only a few of them get a chance to participate in football due to a lack of organisation and infrastructure to encourage them, along with cultural barriers and taboos that hold them back. Tanzanian society suffers from large gender disparities that restrict the accessibility of basic services for girls and women. In most cases, girls who play football are seen differently, and parents prevent their children from taking part.

The country has one of the highest rates of child marriage and has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates (MoEST, 2008; BEST, 2010). The Mpira Fursa programme provides a chance for girls to be trained and engaged in football, and ultimately keeping them in school.

Project Content

Football has the potential to empower girls and provides opportunities for them to lead a healthier lifestyle. This programme promotes and develops women’s and girls’ football for gender equality and socio-economic empowerment, increases girls’ self-esteem and self-confidence, and creates quality, skilled female footballers from the grassroots level. Mpira Fursa contributes to our goal for all girls to finish school without dropping out, defying the misconception that they are weak or incapable.

Through women’s football, KTO leverages partnerships and engagement with a variety of audiences to teach everyone that gender-based violence and sextortion have no place on or off the field or indeed anywhere in our lives.

The Mpira Fursa programme has introduced football classes at 43 FDCs, comprising technical development, coach and referee training, sports management and life skills. As an extracurricular activity, it provides young women with the opportunity to continue with their studies while taking part in the football programme. A total of 43 women coaches have qualified with the African Football Confederation (CAF) D certificate, while 35 of them also trained as match commissioners. This makes a group of trainers and football coaches readily available for the primary school girls’ programme. The programme will be coordinated by the trained staff employed at the 43 FDCs in collaboration with the physical education teachers. The selected primary schools and teams will also be used as field experience for the FDCs’ female participants.

The programme will increase the proportion of girls playing football at various levels and provide a structure to encourage primary school girls to take part in football activities.

Objectives

1. Develop and empower girls to become skilled, confident football players with a good knowledge of football and economic opportunities.

2. Promote gender awareness and girls’ engagement.

3. Strengthen girls’ self-esteem, self-confidence and knowledge of their rights

4. Reduce school dropouts in primary schools.