On 20 July 2024, PLAN Health Advocacy and Development Foundation (PLAN Foundation), in collaboration with God’s Treasure Kiddies Initiative (GTKI) and Peridot Football Academy, convened a Consultative Assessment on the Engagement of Vulnerable and Endangered Children as Soccer Ambassadors at Academy Suites, Ososami, Ibadan. The assessment formed part of ongoing efforts to identify innovative and sustainable approaches for supporting vulnerable children and adolescents through sports, mentorship, and community-based interventions.
The consultation brought together children aged 10–15 years residing at the GTKI shelter home and provided a unique opportunity for them to share their experiences, aspirations, challenges, and perspectives on the role football can play in transforming their lives. The exercise was designed not only to gather information but also to ensure that the voices of vulnerable children are heard and reflected in future programmes that affect their wellbeing and development.
Listening to the Voices of Vulnerable Children
Through a series of participatory assessment tools, the children reflected on their understanding of wellbeing and the circumstances that had contributed to their vulnerability. For many participants, wellbeing meant living in a peaceful and supportive environment where parents and caregivers provide love, protection, and encouragement. Several children described the pain of family conflict, parental neglect, abandonment, and lack of emotional support. Others highlighted how harsh parenting practices, aggression, and difficult family relationships had pushed them into situations of vulnerability before finding refuge and support through GTKI.
The discussions underscored the reality that many vulnerable and street-connected children face multiple challenges that extend beyond poverty. Emotional wellbeing, family support, social inclusion, and access to positive role models emerged as critical factors in helping children thrive and build resilience.
The assessment also explored the support networks available to children during difficult times. Participants identified parents, siblings, teachers, religious leaders, coaches, friends, and community organizations as important sources of guidance, counselling, moral support, and practical assistance. They emphasized the importance of having trusted adults and mentors who can provide advice, encouragement, and opportunities for personal growth.
Football as a Tool for Hope and Transformation
One of the most powerful themes emerging from the consultation was the children’s enthusiasm for football and their belief in its ability to change lives.
Participants described football as more than a game. For them, it represents hope, discipline, friendship, confidence, and opportunity. The children spoke passionately about how football can help young people become hardworking, self-controlled, and connected to others. They viewed the sport as a pathway to achieving their dreams, building healthy relationships, and gaining recognition within their communities and beyond. Some participants noted that football could provide opportunities to travel, make new connections, and improve their future prospects. Others highlighted its physical and mental health benefits, including improved fitness, stronger bones, and greater resilience.
At the same time, the children identified several barriers that prevent them from actively participating in football. These included the absence of trained coaches, lack of training kits, limited opportunities for regular practice, insufficient competitions, and inadequate support structures for nurturing talent. These findings point to significant gaps that, if addressed, could unlock the potential of sports as a powerful tool for youth development and social inclusion.
Building on a Strong Partnership
The assessment also reflects the growing and long-standing relationship between PLAN Foundation, Peridot Football Academy, and GTKI.
For several years, the three organizations have shared a common commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable children and young people in Oyo State. While GTKI has provided shelter, care, education, and psychosocial support to vulnerable and street-connected children, Peridot Football Academy has demonstrated the transformative power of sports in nurturing talent, building character, and creating opportunities for young people. PLAN Foundation has contributed its expertise in health advocacy, youth development, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), disability inclusion, and community engagement.
This partnership has been strengthened through continuous engagement and a shared belief that innovative, community-based approaches are needed to reach children and adolescents who are often excluded from mainstream education, health, and social protection services. The consultative assessment provided another opportunity for the partners to deepen their understanding of the needs, aspirations, and strengths of vulnerable children and to identify areas for future collaboration.
Exploring New Approaches to Youth Development and SRHR
The findings from the assessment have important implications for future programming. They suggest that football can serve as a highly effective entry point for engaging vulnerable children and adolescents in broader development initiatives.
For PLAN Foundation, this creates an exciting opportunity to build on its experience promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights among young people. Through collaboration with Peridot Football Academy and GTKI, football can become a platform for delivering life skills education, mentorship, psychosocial support, leadership development, and age-appropriate SRHR information.
Many out-of-school youths and street-connected adolescents face barriers in accessing conventional health education and youth development programmes. Sports-based interventions provide a unique opportunity to reach these young people in environments where they feel safe, valued, and motivated to participate. By integrating health education into football activities, young people can gain knowledge and skills that support healthy decision-making, self-esteem, gender equality, and protection from violence, exploitation, and harmful practices.
The assessment therefore reinforces the potential for sports to serve not only as recreation but also as a vehicle for social change, empowerment, and rights promotion.
Looking Ahead
The consultative assessment marks an important step in the ongoing efforts of PLAN Foundation, Peridot Football Academy, and GTKI to develop innovative solutions for vulnerable children and adolescents in Oyo State.
Building on the findings, the partners are committed to exploring opportunities for deeper collaboration that combine sports, mentorship, health promotion, and community engagement. Future initiatives may include the use of football ambassadors, youth leadership programmes, life skills education, SRHR awareness activities, and structured pathways for talent development among vulnerable and street-connected young people.
By bringing together the strengths of community-based organizations, sports institutions, and health advocates, the partnership offers a promising model for addressing the complex challenges faced by vulnerable children and adolescents. Most importantly, it demonstrates the value of listening to young people, recognizing their potential, and creating opportunities for them to shape their own futures.
As the partnership continues to grow, PLAN Foundation, Peridot Football Academy, and GTKI remain committed to ensuring that every child—regardless of background or circumstance—has the opportunity to be healthy, safe, empowered, and able to achieve their full potential.
PLAN Foundation is a member of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the World Patients Alliance (WPA), the International AIDS Society (IAS), the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), the Stop TB Partnership, the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD), the Global Health Council (GHC), as well as various other relevant regional and global networks, movements, and professional associations aligned with its vision of a Nigeria where the individual, family, and community are adequately empowered to protect themselves against poverty, underdevelopment, and the spread of diseases.
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Ifedayo Osemwegie,
Advocacy, Strategic Communication and Media Officer,
PLAN Health Advocacy and Development Foundation (PLAN Foundation)
+2348038320421
ifedayo@planfoundation.org.ng
