Football for Peace - Tumaco
The Football for Peace project, originally launched in 2023 to improve socio-emotional skills and prevent forced recruitment and sexual violence among children in Chocó, has been relocated to Tumaco due to an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the original region.
Empowering Girls Through Football and Social Change in Tumaco
Addressing gender-based violence.
Tumaco, located on Colombia’s Pacific coast, is one of the regions most severely affected by armed conflict, poverty, and exclusion. Many girls and young women here face a daily reality marked by forced displacement, lack of access to education, recruitment by armed groups, and deeply rooted gender inequality.
With 22% of the country’s coca crops concentrated in the region and an alarming rate of violence, Tumaco offers limited safe spaces for girls to learn, grow, and exercise their rights.
Additionally, girls face cultural and social barriers when it comes to participating in traditionally male-dominated spaces, such as football. These limitations reinforce harmful gender stereotypes and restrict their opportunities to develop leadership skills, confidence, and community participation.
To address these challenges, Children Change Colombia supports the Fútbol Pacífico: Tecnificación del Fútbol Femenino project, led by Fundación Fútbol Pazífico (2024–2025).
The project provides 60 girls and young women in Tumaco with access to professional football training and comprehensive psychosocial support. By combining sport and social education, the initiative aims to empower participants both on and off the pitch, helping them build confidence, leadership skills, and critical awareness of gender issues.
Check out how we have used sports before to help our beneficiaries.
Football Training with Purpose: What we do
Technical Football Training
Through three weekly sessions, participants receive structured football training that focuses on:
- Improving coordination, endurance, strength, and teamwork.
- Developing technical and tactical skills to compete at higher levels.
- Preparing for participation in local tournaments with proper equipment, including football boots provided by the project.
Psychosocial Support
Alongside training, girls take part in interactive workshops and group activities designed to:
- Reflect on gender stereotypes, inequality, and the history of Afro-Colombian women.
- Promote sexual and reproductive health education, including menstrual health.
- Strengthen mental health, emotional wellbeing, and self-esteem.
- Build leadership skills and a sense of collective solidarity.
Creative activities such as art, storytelling, participatory mapping, and cinema forums further help participants express themselves and critically engage with their surroundings.
