Sport4Change

Our Mission Statement

To help address the needs identified by the National Government, Right To Play has developed a Regional, multi-year programme called Basic Education through Sport and Play for Children in West and Francophone Africa: Play to Learn, specifically in Benin, Ghana, Mali and Rwanda.

The national priorities of these four countries align with a commitment to basic education as enshrined by the Dakar Framework, the Millennium Development Goals, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The results are policies that emphasize universal basic education, gender equality, enhanced life skills training, and HIV and AIDS preventative education.

However, it is unlikely that these countries will reach the targets incorporated in these policies without international support. The program directly addresses these challenges through recognition of sport and play as an innovative and participatory learning tool in both formal and non-formal education systems, which readily captivate a variety of stakeholders, most notably children and youth themselves.

In addition to the provision of physical benefits, sport and play programs actively engage children and youth in their own development as the primary agents of change for future generations.

Executive Summary

Through Play to Learn, Right To Play will seek to address a number of key educational challenges in Mali, including school retention (in particular girls); quality of learning resources, gender equality and inclusion, and effective HIV and AIDS preventative education.

In collaboration with partners and stakeholders at community, national and regional levels, Right To Play will strengthen basic education through integration of sport and play into physical education and life skills programs. Right To Play will focus on capacity-building of teachers and educators through collaboration with partners and stakeholders at the community level.

Concurrently, at the national and regional level, Right To Play will monitor, document and share results of successful program implementation in order to influence national youth, HIV and AIDS and education policies, and support governments in the implementation of these policies.