INTRODUCTION

Iraq is living through the aftermath of violent ethnic and religious conflict as well as the decades of brutal dictatorship that preceded this. Many of its young population, 60% of Iraqis are under 25, lack positive opportunities. Yet research and experience shows that to prevent future violence and extremism, young minds need to be nurtured towards a positive role in civil society.

One of the few activities capable of unifying the whole population is football. This was shown when the Iraqi national team made up of dedicated professionals from all parts of Iraq won the AFC Asian Championship in the summer of 2007. Yet, the conflict has seen the complete destruction of grass-roots sports facilities and a widespread lack of youth football opportunities.

FC Unity’s Hope Tour and Team Iraq programmes were launched in July 2008 and have begun to turn this situation around. It uses the power of football to bring together young people from all ethnic, religious and social backgrounds. It has hosted a series of events in various parts of Baghdad, Najaf and Mada’in and it will host further events in several other provinces including; Anbar, Basra, Kirkuk, Al Muthana, Mosul, Salah Al Din and Karbala over the coming years.

The emphasis is on creating young community leaders through programmes and workshops which include coaches, mentors, citizenship, and leadership training. It will establish leagues for teenagers in major cities in the provinces and set in place sustainable programmes, which can then be replicated across Iraq.

The programme uses football-related activities to help create understanding, harmony and unity through social interaction to encourage communities to work together for the future of the country. It will train local young people to become community coaches and mentors, referees and administrators. As a not-for-profit organisation, it brings together all relevant stakeholders including government, the international donor community and the football world to generate the partnerships and resources, which are needed to make the programme sustainable.

EVENTS FROM THIS PROGRAMME

Coaching and Leadership Clinics and Community Football Tournament - March 2010 Coaching and Leadership Clinics and Community Football Tournament for Women - April 2010 Coaching and Leadership Clinics and Community Football Tournament 2nd Annual UNITY Festival Iraq - May 2010 Coaches as Mentors Programme Coaching, Leadership Clinic and Tournament, Mada’in, Iraq

NEXT STEPS

After consultation with community leaders, football coaches, players, central government ministers, and provincial officials the following actions were proposed.

• To strengthen the capacity of the strong culture of community teams, with over 12,600 teams (Ministry of Youth and Sport figures) all over Iraq. This would mean outreaching projects to an estimated 250,000-400,000 young people in organised football activity.

• To set up a premier style community league that sits between the existing community leagues and the professional/semi-professional leagues, run by the FA. All coaches, referees, and admin would be trained by FC Unity and partners and all teams would be supported by FC Unity. This league would be a feeder league and would have 12-16 teams in each province with over 300 players in each league, all between the ages of 16-30.

• To develop citizenship training - these leagues would have an educational supplement of at least 2 hours per week, where the youngsters would receive basic life-skills training, leadership training, and citizenship advice.

• To develop a dynamic between the Iraqi military and Multinational Forces through a series of football-related events and create a joint military-civilian relationship and get all sides working together to create a viable and peaceful state.

GALLERIES FROM THIS PROGRAMME

Baghdad, Iraq Dec 2009 Madain, Iraq Oct 2009 Baghdad, Iraq Sept 2009 Najaf, Iraq Sept 2009 Baghdad, Iraq May 2009 Baghdad, Iraq May 2009 View all galleries