Tanzania to host the first Africa Women’s Cup
Arusha, a city in East Africa's Tanzania, will host the first ever Africa Women’s Cup in June.
The Homeless World Cup Foundation’s newest competition will involve eight teams competing on a specially designed Homeless World Cup pitch on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June 2024 to see who can become the inaugural Africa Women’s Cup Champions.
Joining hosts Tanzania, Homeless World Cup Member Countries from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe will be at the two-day street soccer event which will be played under the unique rules of the Homeless World Cup.
The Africa Women’s Cup is one part of the initiative announced this year between the Homeless World Cup Foundation and FIFA Foundation. The two-year project, ‘Football to Protect Vulnerable Women from Exploitation’, is being implemented with four Homeless World Cup Member Countries who will be taking part in the tournament: Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The new tournament is being introduced to further strengthen the Homeless World Cup Foundation’s commitment to grow the Women’s game across the globe.
Alongside the tournament, one of the aims of the project is to educate and help support our African Member Countries in developing the game further across the country but to also empower women.
The project aims to achieve this through education both on and off the pitch, participants receiving awareness on gender-based-violence, being able to access tools to prevent and protect themselves from exploitation and are guided towards economic empowerment via vocational training.
Mel Young, HWCF President and co-founder, said:
“The ‘Football to Protect Vulnerable Women from Exploitation’ project uses the power of football to identify vulnerable women, engage them in safe football activities and to guide and support them to safe and productive alternatives to exploitation.
The Africa Women’s Cup is the start of a special journey for everyone involved with the Homeless World Cup Foundation and something we hope to replicate across the globe as we continue to deliver world class tournaments and initiatives, like this and our annual Homeless World Cup.
Our four Member Countries involved in this project already have strong foundations from which to strengthen their women’s programming. We are confident that this tournament and the new Homeless World Cup Foundation Hub being created in Kenya will allow for more sharing, collaboration and progress between our African Member Countries to develop a model for using football to prevent and protect women from exploitation and help prosper their future aspirations in economic empowerment.”
Alfred Itaeli, Founder & Director, Future Stars Academy said:
“Arusha, Tanzania becomes the beacon of hope as eight nations converge for the first ever Africa Women’s Cup. From June 29th to 30th 2024, the power of football transcends borders, uniting young women in a journey of empowerment, education, and mentorship.Join us at Future Stars Academy as we kick off a transformative experience, where the beautiful game inspires dreams and drives change.”
Already, as part of the project which was introduced in January this year, Zoë Hopkins, the International Partnership Manager at the Homeless World Cup Foundation has visited all four countries involved to establish their requirements and goals from being a part of the two-year project.
Whilst the context varies between the four countries, it is clear from the visits and work being undertaken already that there are strong lessons to be learnt between Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Through the project, the Homeless World Cup Foundation is looking forward to creating effective approaches to address these societal issues of discrimination and exploitation faced by young women.
Read more about the project and blogs from Zoë’s visit to Africa