Children have enjoyed the 2010 FIFA World Cup and if 1GOAL succeeds they will enjoy the benefits of education even more. Photo: UK Department for International Development
We have almost reached the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Tomorrow Germany and Uruguay will battle it out for third place and on Sunday we will finally know who is going home with the cup when the Netherlands and Spain go head-to-head.
So much has happened in this past month! Just read through the blog entries we wrote every day to remember it all. In one of our first blog pieces we wrote about the 1Goal campaign, the charity supported by FIFA. Since we first blogged about it, the campaign has gone from strength to strength with many celebrities adding their voices to the cause of ensuring education for all.
On Sunday, before the final 2010 FIFA World Cup match kicks off, President Zuma will hold a summit on education which is to be attended by African Heads of State and Government, senior officials of the United Nations and African Union, celebrities and football stars.
What is 1GOAL?
According to www.join1goal.org 1GOAL:Education for All, “is a campaign that tends break the violation of children’s rights to education by using the power of football to ensure that education for all is a lasting impact of the 210 Fifa World Cup”. The aim of this campaign is to use the World Cup to focus attention on education so that 72 million children can have access to education by 2015.
The idea for the campaign started with the drafting of the Millennium Development Goals. Two out of eight goals involve eradication of poverty through education by 2015. The campaign was officially launched at Wembley stadium-UK by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan on 6 October 2009. 9-year-old Gugu Ngubane, from South Africa was the first person to sign up for the campaign.
Who supports this campaign?
1GOAL gives a bright future to little soccer fans. Photo: Media Club South Africa
Many well-known faces can be seen supporting the campaign. Among the people who linked up via satellite for the launch was President Jacob Zuma, President John Atta Mills of Ghana, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapetero of Spain, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Other people who are making a big difference towards the success of this campaign includes some of the biggest names in football, such as Pele, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and Alessandro del Piero. Shakira doesn’t just have a beautiful voice, she also supports1GOAL and she believes through this campaign every children can have a chance to fullfill their dreams and live up to their full potential through education. Other celebrity supporters include Matt Damon, Jessica Alba, Bono, Kelly Roland and Mick Jagger, to name but a few.
You can also become a supporter by signing up on their website or by SMSing 31970 (if you are in South Africa). The video below shows why this campaign is important. This is the difference that an education can make in the lives of two women born on the same day.
