Generation Amazing
Initiative description: Supporting and delivering programmes and initiatives that use football as a tool to improve lives of young people in Qatar, the wider region and the world, capitalising on the synergies of both FIFA’s and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s programmes in this area, in particular Generation Amazing.
The Generation Amazing Foundation (GA) is a human and social legacy programme founded by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) during the bid for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Through its Football for Development programme and strategic partnerships with national and international organisations, GA has inspired and empowered the next generation of youth to contribute to long-lasting social development. Over the past 12 years, the foundation has positively impacted the lives of more than one million people around the world, which was one of the youth education and empowerment targets of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
GA uses a Football for Development (F4D) approach – a unique type of football training on and off the pitch – to equip youth with important life skills such as communication, organisation, teamwork and leadership. The programme also aligns with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and participants also learn about important issues such as gender equality and climate change.
GA Youth Festival and Goal 22 Programme
The GA Youth Festival is an annual event designed to celebrate ‘Football 4 Good’, with an emphasis on social development through youth participation and promotion of core values such as gender equality and social inclusion.
Generation Amazing Foundation kicked off its Goal 22 programme, the first-of-its-kind international youth exchange and sport for development programme to be hosted alongside a FIFA World Cup™ that aims to empower young people who are passionate about football. Goal 22 began in October of 2022 and continued into 2023. The youth, selected to represent the 32 qualifying nations from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, were brought together to learn from various experts in the field. They will take back what they have learned to implement their own development and social impact initiatives in their schools and communities.
The GA Festival 2022, served as the in-person phase of the Goal 22 sport for development exchange programme. It brought together over 300 student participants and over 30 delivery partner organisations from around the world to Doha ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Participants learned football for development practices through workshops and activities exploring topics such as sport diplomacy, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, leadership, mental health and more.
As part of the festival programme, youth participated in an inclusive football activation called the ‘All-In Tournament’ – a “mini” World Cup – and had the opportunity to celebrate cross-cultural interaction and diversity at the closing cultural ceremony.
For more information about the GA Youth Festival, please visit the Generation Amazing website.
GA Youth Advocate Programme
GA’s annual Youth Advocate Programme aims to empower youth to become community leaders and to spread social change. Several workshops are offered to develop inter-cultural competencies, communication skills, peer-to-peer mentoring relationships and team-building skills. As of December 2022, the programme counted 200 youth participants, hailing from the Middle East and Asia. These Youth Advocates have helped to facilitate social change in their communities by assisting with football training, workshops and festivals.
For more information about the GA Youth Advocate programme, please visit the Generation Amazing website.
GA Community Club (GACC)
Each GA Community Club is established to create a multi-purpose ‘hub’ that addresses the specific development needs of a community. Acting as safe spaces and incubators for youth empowerment, GA Community Clubs promote sustainable social development. The community members in collaboration with a local implementation partner complete the needs assessment which can serve as a platform for sport diplomacy outcomes. GA works collaboratively with local organisations to provide safe spaces for the community which play a key role in the delivery of local and international development agendas.
For more information about the GA Community Club programme, please visit the Generation Amazing website.
GA F4D Programmes
In Qatar, the GA Football for Development (F4D) programme has been very successful in educating coaches, engaging schools, empowering beneficiaries, and giving back to the workers involved in building infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
GA has expanded its F4D programmes in schools across Jordan and Oman, helping thousands of students make new connections and friendships, while building their self-esteem, compassion and teamwork skills.
For more information about the GA F4D Advocate programme, please visit the Generation Amazing website.
Benefitting 1 million people around the world through the Generation Amazing football for development programme was a key target for this initiative. For more information on this, and other targets, please visit the sustainability targets web page of this report.
GA partnerships and collaborations
Generation Amazing collaborates with regional and international organisations such as FIFA, The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies (IFRC), local NGOs, and professional football clubs such as A.S Roma from Italy and Leeds United from England, as well as local organisations such as the Qatar Foundation.
Through these collaborations, GA is helping to:
Equip local coaches and volunteers with the skills, tools and support to provide grassroots football training in their communities.
Teach coaches about the importance of their role, sport for development, and how to use football as a tool to support social change.
Promote youth leadership and the promotion of a culture of non-violence and peace informed through a co-creation process.
Provide sporting opportunities for disabled children and youth.
Help vulnerable and excluded youth in developing essential life skills and leadership attributes.
These collaborations have not only enabled GA to expand its global footprint and help to impact more young lives, but they have also played a role in highlighting the sustainable legacy that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ has left behind.
GA Foundation also signed an agreement with FIFA Foundation during the Doha Forum in March 2022. As part of the agreement, both organisations worked together to roll out the Football for Schools (F4S) programme in Qatar. The initiative was run by FIFA and GA’s strategic partner, Qatar Foundation, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It aims to contribute to the education, development and empowerment of children globally and seeks to make the sport more accessible to both boys and girls worldwide by incorporating football activities into the education system.