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East Africa Cup June 2012

In a busy sporting summer, '@Afro2012' could be the tournament for you to follow...

As well as Euro 2012 and the Olympics, '@Afro2012' is bringing people together from all over East Africa.

'Learning Through Sport'

Africa's biggest celebration of sport, fellowship and education kicks off in the last week of June: the award-winning* annual youth event mixes football with first aid classes and brings together young people from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda.

It combines an education programme, sports tournament and cultural event in the small town of Moshi, Tanzania in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.

'A week in Moshi, a year in the community'

One of the qualifications for entry to the tournament, now in its ninth year, is that to participate teams must provide evidence that they use sport to benefit their community throughout the year.

Before a ball is kicked, young players attend workshops in topics like HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention, interfaith dialogue and conflict resolution – a big deal given that some of these countries have a history of contact through conflict. Tribal and ethnic intolerance is not permitted at the tournament – Rwandan teams mix Tutsis and Hutus, for example, and many teams feature players from a cross section of religious and tribal groups. Youngsters with disabilities are involved in competition with able bodied youngsters in a sitting volleyball tournament. Unusually for an event of this nature, girls teams make up nearly half of all participants.

“The week in Moshi is based on the fundamental belief that all youth (both able-bodied and disabled) can make a difference in their respective communities. So the week in Moshi is an inspiration to youth involving themselves in building their own communities throughout the whole year,” according to the event's organisers.

“It's about learning through sport, it's also about a year in the community, a week in Moshi,” said George Kamou, East Africa Cup Organising Committee Chairman.

More On The East Africa Cup

· Youth participants include former child soldiers, young people with disabilities who take part in the sitting volleyball tournament, and cultural groups who perform music and dance during evening cultural events

· Around half of all participants are girls

· Workshops include refereeing, first aid, leadership skills, conflict resolution, Kicking Aids Out, journalism and media skills, cartoons for communication

· The EAC head of referees went on to become the Kenyan Premier League's first female referee and CAAF commissioner, and during the 2010 World Cup used a BBC World Football interview to talk about gender violence

· *In 2011 the EAC won Peace and Sport's 'Sports Event of the Year' award

· The EAC is funded by Norwegian People's Aid, Statoil and receives payment in kind from Ultimate Security who help make the event safe for participants

· The EAC is actively speaking new sponsors

· The first workshops at the event begin on 22 June, and finals day - to which spectators are welcome - takes place at Moshi Memorial Stadium on Saturday 2 June

· Former World Champion athlete and Olympic silver medallist Wilson Kipketer and former South Sudanese child soldier turned rapper Emmanuel Jal ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Jal ) are both high profile supporters of the event

· Last year's event featured more than 2,000 participants

Notes to the Editor:

The East Africa Cup has existed since 2004 in order to enable young people to make a difference in their home communities and promote social development and the role of youth through the use of sports in an expanded Eastern African region.

Partners in the EAC include: Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), Kristen Idretts kontakt (KRIK), Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), Christian Sports Contact (CHRISC). Supporting partners include: Right to Play, Norway Cup, Norges Idrettsforbund, Fredskorpset, Statoil, Ultimate Security, Tanzania Football Federation, Tanzania National Sports Council, NORAD, the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF)

The interfaith dialogue is coordinated by Norwegian Church Aid - which will be linked to the Right To Play seminar on conflict resolution.

About Woinde Shizza

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