Handshakes and warmhearted hugs marked the opening of the first Football for Hope Forum, in Vanderbiljpark near Johannesburg, South Africa, from June 23rd to 25th. Thirty-nine representatives of the streetfootballworld network members and around 100 experts in Development through Football, media and business are in attendance.

The streetfootballworld teams in Berlin and South Africa, both of which helped organise the forum alongside colleagues at FIFA and the Local Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa (LOC), are well-represented, with fifteen people on hand to see old friends and meet the people they had previously only contacted by e-mail or phone.

Moments like this, where almost half of the streetfootballworld network comes together, are priceless for a global approach to development.

Meeting old friends face-to-face
The participants themselves also used the time to get in touch with each other. “We have spent years waiting for this moment. It feels like meeting a good old friend, even if today we are meeting face-to-face for the first time,” said Rob Broomfield from Dads against Drugs after Enouce Ndeche from Vijana Amani Pamoja gave him a big hug in the lobby. For years, the leaders of the two organisations have been in regular contact by e-mail, learning from each other’s experiences in their daily work.

The opening ceremony
After the official opening ceremony, during which Joseph S. Blatter (FIFA president), Dr. Irwin Khoza (chairman of the LOC), Lucas Radebe (former captain of the South African national football team) and Willi Lemke (Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace) addressed the audience, the core part of the event started off with four parallel sessions of workshops.

Exchange on Development through Football
In lively discussions, the participants talked about how football can be used for the promotion of education, health, peace and the rights of girls and women.

The day closed with a panel discussion called “Developing partnerships between NGOs, foundations and the private sector”, during which Klaus Filbry from adidas and Bernd Ebersold from Sony answered questions about sponsorships from major businesses and what organisations can expect from a partnership.

South African hospitality
The atmosphere became even more relaxed at the official dinner hosted by the Local Organisation Committee. A band provided the entertainment and, with the help of their South African colleagues, the international group tried to dance the local Basstop dance.

The second day of the Forum focuses on “Capacity Development und Management”. Besides the workshop and the official components of the event there will once again be a lot of possibilities for individual networking.

Translated by Julia Schilling