Africa Goal 2010: Africa Goal Project Launch Exhibition

World Cup 2010
Africa wins, every time you prevent HIV
The Africa Goal Launch Exhibition in Zimbabwe
http://www.safaids.net/?q=node/1317

HARARE, 4 May 2010 (SAfAIDS Media) - It was with much enthusiasm and excitement that the Africa Goal 2010 Project was launched in Zimbabwe last week. The project is an HIV initiative which harnesses the potential of the FIFA World Cup as a platform for HIV Information Dissemination.

Through screening live World Cup matches on a large screen in rural areas throughout the Eastern and Southern African region, the epicentre of the epidemic, and combining this with the dissemination of HIV information, Africa Goal aims to share behaviour change information with traditionally "hard to reach" groups in an effective and memorable way.

Judging by the excitement evoked in guests at the launch by some of the Africa Goal Project materials such as the Vuvuzela, popularised by neighbouring South Africa in the build-up to the 2010 tournament, to be held from 11 June to 11 July 2010, the project will be able to achieve this goal.

The 2010 Soccer showcase will see the rest of the world converge on Africa, where the World Cup is being hosted this year. It is during this period that the Africa Goal team, which is comprised of ten members, will travel through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa, screening FIFA World Cup matches and sharing HIV information throughout their journey.

Dozens of youths, business leaders, diplomats, media practitioners and representatives of AIDS service organisations thronged the National Gallery in Harare to witness the project launch and exhibition, which featured images of hand-made footballs designed by children throughout the continent, as well as images from the 2006 Africa Goal campaign. Both the exhibition and the project were received with much enthusiasm.

In her remarks to those who attended the launch, the Ambassador of Canada to Zimbabwe, Mrs Barbara Richardson, expressed that Canada was proud to be associated with the Africa Goal project. The Government of Canada is one of the major supporters of the Africa Goal Project, together with the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) and PSI Zimbabwe, among others.vuvuzela blowing

"The team will follow the AIDS Highway through eastern and southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of transactional sex along this central transport and trade route have been a major contributor to the spread of HIV through the region," said Ms Richardson.

Soccer has long been followed with excitement in the continent and no other sport has the capacity to draw crowds and attention the way soccer does. It is of note that the largest sector of soccer supporters, the 15 to 49 age-group is also the most vulnerable when it comes to HIV.

It is for this reason that the Africa Goal team sees the opportunity of reaching this group through the Soccer showcase.

SAfAIDS Country Representative Ms Monica Mandiki echoed Ms Richardson's sentiments saying SAfAIDS was very pleased to be partnering with Africa Goal in this innovative endeavour. SAfAIDS is a leading HIV information publication and dissemination house in the region and sees the Africa Goal project partnership as a way to reach at risk groups, which are traditionally hard to reach, with vital HIV prevention information.

The Africa Goal project was initiated for the 2006 World Cup by a team of nine volunteers who travelled from Kenya to Namibia and back projecting soccer matches and disseminating HIV information to remote communities.

Due to the success of that project, the team decided to plan for the year 2010.

Africa Goal 2010 will start in Nairobi in June and end in Johannesburg South Africa in July.

SAfAIDS Media Resource Desk
Email: beatrice@safaids.org.zw

Some photos from the event: