UEFA Foundation for Children
Monday, April 1, 2019
Article summary
The UEFA Foundation for Children has harnessed the power of football to give more than three million of the world's most vulnerable children the chance of a brighter future.
Article top media content
Article body
Our mission
Since its launch as an independent, charitable organisation in 2015, the UEFA Foundation for Children has harnessed the power of football to help deliver better futures for countless vulnerable children, whether they face personal disabilities or live in disadvantaged communities.
Specifically, the foundation offers grants that help finance football- and sport-related projects run by humanitarian organisations, charities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other non-profit organisations around the world. Whatever their focus, all of these projects:
• reinforce the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child, the mostly widely ratified human rights treaty in history;
• align with the UEFA Foundation for Children’s areas of focus (see below);
• support, empower and benefit children from across society and around the world.
The foundation's ethics code guides our actions and regulates relations with our partners.
In addition to financial support, the foundation capitalises on the reach and visibility of UEFA competition finals to put the floodlights on local initiatives working to improve young lives. Often this sees children benefitting from the projects walk on to the pitch hand in hand with players – a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
In November 2017, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin was elected as the chair of the UEFA Foundation for Children. He succeeded José Manuel Durão Barroso, the former president of the European Commission, who had led the charity since its creation.
"Football is not only about elite competitions. By reaching everyone, it can be a powerful force for positive social change."
Our impact
Over the past ten years, the foundation has funded almost 600 life-changing projects in 138 countries, from Afghanistan to Zambia, Central America to the Central African Republic, transforming the lives of 4.9 million children.
You can read more about past, current and future projects on the UEFA Foundation for Children website – where you can also donate to support its work worldwide.
Apply for foundation support
The UEFA Foundation's general secretary
Each year, the foundation invites organisations working in one or more of our ten areas of focus (see below) to apply for funding support. In 2023/24 alone, grants worth a cumulative €4.5 million financed 64 projects, improving hundreds of thousands of lives on every continent.
Our next open call for project funding takes place in June/July 2024. You can learn more and apply for funding on the UEFA Foundation for Children website.
Donate to the foundation
You can donate to the UEFA Foundation for Children on the foundation's website. Thank you in advance for your support.
UEFA foundation ambassadors
UEFA is proud to count on the support of some of European football's biggest stars:
• Ivan Rakitić, the Croatian midfielder whose many honours include a UEFA Champions League title with Barcelona, and
• Eugénie Le Sommer, France’s all-time record goalscorer and an eight-time winner of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Ivan and Eugénie are UEFA Foundation for Children ambassadors, promoting its mission and impact around the world.
“To be a part of the UEFA foundation family … gives me a lot of responsibility to show everyone that together with all the players we can accomplish a lot and, above all, help children all over the world smile with joy.”
Our projects
The UEFA Foundation for Children provides funding support for projects focused on ten clearly defined humanitarian areas of work – each aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Access to sport
Every child should have the right to play sport. Through projects like VillaGol: Football for Life, which helps young people in Lima, Peru, and Football for Future, which promotes sport and inclusion among children in Ukraine, the UEFA foundation works with international partners to give more young people the chance to experience the joy of football and other sports.
Personal development
Football can help young people to fulfil their potential by teaching them values that are crucial to life. Line Up, Live Up in Kyrgyzstan and KIFUMPA: Girls United in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – both UEFA foundation-supported projects –offer real proof of the game's life-changing impact on and off the pitch.
Healthy lifestyle
UEFA foundation grants encourage the promotion of healthy lifestyles for children and young people – from The Knowledge to Be Healthy project, which works with children in rural Romania, to the Facing Crisis Through Football initiative in Colombia and Venezuela.
"I am very committed to children’s education and giving young people the educational resources they need to grow up in the best environment. I want to help future generations."
Children with disabilities
The UEFA foundation funds projects that empower children with disabilities – such as Sport for Equal Opportunities in Armenia, which removes barriers blocking participation in sport.
Conflict victims
Projects such as the Europe-wide Football for Unity 2.0, Team Up for Ukraine and Kick for Hope in the Zataari refugee camp in Jordan all aim to improve the living conditions and protect the rights of displaced children in conflict zones.
Gender equality
UEFA’s efforts to encourage girls and young women to play football are matched by foundation support for projects that empower young girls. Scoring Girls works with refugee, migrant and underprivileged girls in Germany, while Life Champions 2.0 introduces girls and young women in five European countries to the joy of football.
Employability
The UEFA foundation works with partners across Europe and beyond on projects that use sport to facilitate young people's integration into communities – both socially and professionally. Life Goals – Future Skills Through Football has benefitted more than 2,000 underprivileged children in Austria.
Infrastructure and equipment
GOAL 4 ALL and Kick for Hope, which support Syrian refugees in Türkiye and Jordan respectively, are just two examples of how the UEFA foundation uses its support to purchase equipment and build infrastructure that ensures children impacted by humanitarian emergencies can still access sport.
Environmental protection
From Football for Climate Change in Egypt to FOOTBALL4WILDLIFE in Kenya, foundation grants support initiatives that use football to teach children how to preserve their environment and our ecosystem.
Strengthening partnerships
The UEFA Foundation for Children supports collaborative projects that mobilise sports organisations specialising in development activities. Examples include Together for the Ukrainians in Italy and Football Friends – Together Is OK! in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Useful resources
UEFA Foundation for Children website
Charter of the UEFA Foundation for Children
Ethics Code
Reports and other documents
Latest news
UEFA Foundation Activity Report 2023/24