LOC15:12
12:12 GMT
GENEVA, July 10 (KUNA) -- The International Federation of Football
Associations (FIFA) approved Tuesday a further 27 programmes in 24 countries,
at a total cost of USD one million, as part of its "Football for Hope"
movement.
Of those organisations with mostly long-running programmes that are set to
receive support from FIFA, 12 are in Africa with a further nine in North,
Central and South America, four in Europe and two in Asia.
These additional programs, whose inclusion has been ratified by the
sub-committee of the Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility, will
take Football for Hope to a whole new dimension.
The movement already uses the power of football to support more than 60
programmes in 40 different countries via concrete, sustainable projects.
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter expressed his delight by the expansion of
the movement and said that FIFA takes its social responsibility very seriously
as part of its aim to build a better future.
"That is why we have declared Football for Hope to be a movement and an
activity of strategic importance and we are proud that we are now in a
position to support more organisations in their work," he added in a statement
released by FIFA Tuesday.
The Football for Hope movement is the key element of a strategic alliance
led by FIFA and "street football world," the driving force behind a global
network of non-governmental organisations that develops projects in which
football is the common denominator.
By drawing on its huge potential, football will be in a position to help
the United Nations reach its Millennium Goals by 2015.
Following the example set by the industrialised nations in 2002 with their
agreement to earmark 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product for
international development aid, FIFA has also decided to invest at least the
same percentage of its overall income in worldwide social developments through
football.
The Football for Hope movement, as of July 1, includes organizations in
Cameroon, Mali , Sierra Leone, Zambia, Cape Verde Islands , Liberia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Cambodia , India, Norway, England, Serbia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina, USA , Colombia, Argentina , Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru,
and Paraguay. (end)
hn.ema
KUNA 101512 Jul 07NNNN