Goals for Girls

This campaign uses the power of sport and the appeal of football and the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 as platforms for helping challenge gender discrimination and empowering women and girls. The campaign promotes education for girls and CFS, a philosophy centring around emphasis on the needs of the whole child. CFS promotes an integrated approach to a healthy, safe, and protective environment for children's emotional, psychological, and physical well-being, including school-based health and nutrition services, life skills, and provision of separate water and sanitation facilities for boys and girls. A CFS encourages gender-sensitive learning by providing an intellectually challenging educational setting for both girls and boys.

All campaign materials centre around 'Nu', a single Chinese language character signifying a female figure in motion - running, dancing, moving forward. While 'Goals for Girls!' is the slogan at a global level, the Chinese translation of 'Equality Creates Opportunities' is the slogan in China.

The logo and slogan are prominent in UNICEF's Sport-in-a-Box kits, which containing footballs, basketballs, skipping ropes, and other equipment to allow children the opportunity to enjoy a variety of games during playtime. UNICEF also launched a series of multilingual public service announcements (PSAs) using FIFA tournament footage. In addition to being seen on television around the world, they were played for football fans before each of the matches in China. The PSAs highlight the links between girls playing in their own communities and the stars who make it to the top, carrying the central message that through sport – and education – any girl can achieve what those stars have achieved. An interactive campaign website in the Chinese language was also developed.

Gender, Education.

Speaking at the campaign launch, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific underlined that "children, everywhere in the world, have the right to education. Educating girls is key to the fight against poverty, protecting them against violence and exploitation, and informing them about the risks of AIDS. Sport can really help in this aspect."

UNICEF's report "The State of the World's Children 2007" showed how efforts to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women impact the survival and well-being of children, and are "pivotal to the health and development of families, communities and nations. This report focuses on a number of key interventions to enhance gender equality, including "women empowering women", arguing that women themselves are the most important catalysts for change.

According to FIFA, "Sport can help girls and young women claim their place in society. It can provide girls, who are often under tremendous pressure to begin sexual activity and child­bearing early, a chance to exert more control over their lives. It can help girls gain respect for their bodies and develop self-esteem. It allows them to form friendships. It teaches girls self-sufficiency, personal autonomy and leadership. Challenging the stereotype that girls are weaker than boys, sport exposes girls to female role models, making goals in other areas of their lives seem attainable."

Editor's note: The Goals for Girls! campaign at the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 is independent of the Goals for Girls programme of DC Soccer, which aims to help girls achieve their full potential through the medium of soccer. Click here to learn more about that programme.