The streetfootballworld network is empowering women in communities across the globe. While the issues they address may vary, there are some common elements that make them all effective. These are just a few.

In many communities, girls and women are excluded from public spaces—whether in their social lives, their financial status or even their own basic human rights, they are often relegated to the background. Locating a programme in a visible place such as a community football pitch sends a strong signal not only to the girls but also to the rest of the community: girls are capable of stepping into the foreground.

Moving the Goalposts gets girls to negotiate the use of community football pitches with the men and boys who dominate them. This not only gives girls a sense of responsibility and ownership, it also helps prepare them for public life by encouraging them to challenge social barriers.

Find out more on Moving the Goalposts

The best way to show girls that they can be leaders is to prove it: show them women who are already in leadership roles. The Peres Center for Peace has female coaches and programme managers who not only have a better understanding of girls’ issues, they also offer inspiration to young women.

The Association Malienne pour la Promotion de la Jeune Fille et de la Femme (AMPJF) finds that peer educators are also much more effective at helping young women learn about issues such as sexual health; they give girls the sense of talking to a friend rather than to an authority figure.

And here’s the best part: young participants can grow into leadership roles themselves, helping the next generation.

Find out more about the importance of role models

Many streetfootballworld network members have experience in empowering girls and young women that they are happy to share. So send a streetfootballworld network members an e-mail or pick up the phone. That’s what the network is all about: sharing strengths and expertise to improve the lives of young people.

Find out more about how streetfootballworld network members are empowering young women

Community members are important stakeholders. A community’s support for a Development through Football programme makes it more likely to succeed. And beyond getting more girls involved, community engagement means that, slowly but surely, local society itself will start breaking down the obstacles faced by young women.

Find out more about involving the community

Lack of education, dependence, violence, poverty, prejudice... the sheer complexity of issues facing women can be overwhelming. More than one streetfootballworld network member has had to deal with the challenges of tackling tightly interwoven social issues. They have learned to stay focused but flexible in order to ensure that as young women’s issues develop, they are able to address them effectively. Programmes can then be added and expanded as success grows.

Moving the Goalposts began by focusing on reproductive and sexual health but understood that the issue could not be fully separated from other challenges such as economic dependence and education. The organisation built its repertoire of programmes carefully, avoiding taking on more than it could handle. Nearly ten years later it offers a range of services, from livelihood support to education support.

Showing a girl that she can play football might not change her life overnight. Nor is it likely to have an immediate impact on her community and the people who believe that she is weak. But with time, young women will feel more confident and willing to exercise their newfound skills, and communities will begin to accept their emerging role. You may find yourself explaining the same ideas to the same people more than once before it sinks in, but eventually, it will sink in.

A programme that violates cultural restrictions may never get off the ground. Football United knew that its programme to give young Muslim women a place to play would only succeed with female coaches. The Peres Center for Peace created a separate girls’ programme to accommodate religious considerations. Both organisations were sensitive to cultural needs, but were still able to challenge traditional ideas of the role of girls and women in society.