TackleAfrica

Who we are

TackleAfrica uses the power of football to provide young Africans with the knowledge,
confidence and services to realise their sexual health rights and help protect themselves and
their communities from HIV.

All the learning takes place on the pitch in a way that young people enjoy, remember and
understand. We work with adolescent boys and girls in roughly equal numbers, training young
people as coaches to deliver sexual health education and support on the football pitch with
their peers.

AIDS-related illness remains the biggest killer of adolescents in Africa; the only age group in
which new infections continues to rise. Our football-based programme attracts adolescents to
engage regularly at weekly sessions, creating a safe space to learn about and discuss sensitive
issues. We also provide youth-friendly pitchside access to services including contraception,
counselling and HIV testing at sessions and tournaments.

We work with local partners – ranging from small community based organisations to major
international charities and government ministries – to provide sustainable and suitable services
based on the specific needs of target communities. TackleAfrica provides training, resources
and support for partner staff and volunteers to deliver and monitor programmes.

Our programmes support coaches to deliver weekly sexual health sessions with young people, as well as tournaments and community outreach. The sessions are designed to show young people that they have the power to make decisions, and to show them what might happen in their lives based on their choices.

We have over 100 drills which cover a wide range of HIV-related topics. We teach young people how to prevent the spread of HIV, how to live with HIV if they have it, how the virus works, and where to access support and other services. We also talk to young people about relationships, linked health issues such as TB, and related sexual health and rights issues such as family planning, FGM, Child Marriage and Gender-based violence.

We work closely with partner organisations including community based organisations, INGOs
and government ministries to build capacity to deliver HIV education through football coaching
to young people. This ensures our work is sustainable, replicable and African-led.