The project will take place in four rural schools communities, involving children and youth coming from five villages (Shtiqen, Gostil, Bardhoc, Bicaj & Osmanaj) part of KukĂ«s Municipality, located in the North-East Region confirmed as the poorest region in Albania with 22.5% of the population living under the minimum income threshold, while COVID-19 pandemic has brought an increase of known risk factors for mental health problems mostly for youth in rural areas. This project will combine football with local traditional games, involving children and youth in sport activities, such as Social Inclusion football League, Youth Exchanges, Weekend day camps, and capacity building for PE teachers and coaches, bringing together children and PE teachers from rural schools with the aim to generate a positive impact on the youngsters’ mental and physical health in the context of a pandemic duration, promoting cooperation, tolerance, social cohesion and violence prevention. Sport and play activities will be used as an important instrument with the capacity to contribute in reinforcing school community’s engagement for improving the safe spaces and increasing awareness of mental health problems. The potential benefits of this intervention are 780 vulnerable rural children & youth in rural and urban areas (boys and girls) aged 8-14 years old, 90% are of them vulnerable while 147 of them are with disability, young returnees and early school leavers , at risk of poor educational, health and social outcomes associated with social exclusion and disabilities.
Scoring against COVID-19
