Secretariat of State for Cooperation and Francophonie and Agence Française de Développement to support Diambars’ new “education-through-football” center in South Africa

Alain Joyandet, Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophonie, Jean-Michel Severino, Chief Executive Officer of AFD, and Bernard Lama, President of the Diambars association signed a partnership agreement this morning for the creation of a training center for young footballers in South Africa. The center will be inaugurated a few months ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and will give 120 youngsters access to both high-level sports training and a general education. The Diambars association was set up in 2000 and has already created a similar center in Senegal which has received over 100 pupils since it opened.

Tripartite partnership for sport in South Africa: looking ahead to the 2010 World Cup!

The partnership will benefit from a €300 000 AFD grant that will allow the “Diambars South Africa” association to begin works as early as February 2009 in Ekurhuleni, a city near Johannesburg with 2.8 million inhabitants. A platform for sponsors willing to support the initiative will also be set up thanks to this partnership.

The project is much more than an education-through-football scheme and aims to contribute to the development of educational programs all over the continent. South Africa is a symbolic choice since the center will open in January 2010 just ahead of the FIFA World Cup which is to be held in Africa for the first time.

Football for education and development in Southern countries

Diambars develops an “education-through-football” model based on two principles:

education-through-football Institutes that provide high-level sports and educational training for local young talent;
a socio-educational system for youngsters from communities that uses the football craze in order to provide general education.

The project has three targets: human development via education, the economic development of the region by boosting the sports sector and social development via a popular and universal sport. “Football creates social links and is part of a culture shared by both the North and South. It is a marvellous way to build bridges between the peoples of the North and South” explains Alain Joyandet, Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophonie.

Diambars: “The football craze can be an engine for education”

The Diambars association was set up in 2000 at the instigation of champions of African origin who wanted to use the football craze to promote education. It was founded by Bernard Lama, Patrick Vieira, Jimmy Adjovi-Boco and Saer Seck and since it was set up has been supported by a number of players including Aliou Cissé, Ferdinand Coly, Emmanuel Petit, Marcel Desailly, William Gallas, Thierry Henry, Claude Makelele, Robert Pirès, Mickael Sylvestre, Lilian Thuram and Zinedine Zidane.

After 5 years of activity the pilot center in Saly, Senegal, has shown promising results: an 82% pass rate for the high-school diploma and 12 players shortlisted for Senegal’s national junior team. The center’s students are selected at the age of 13 purely on the basis of their football skills. Their schooling is completely paid for and they study for 5 years. 70% of their time is spent in class and 30% on football. “Some of our players may be signed up by prestigious clubs”, says Bernard Lama. “The most important thing though is that they will all have received an education and acquired knowledge and skills which will allow them to integrate socially and professionally.”

In addition to AFD’s support, the Diambars association has obtained funding for this new project in South Africa from a number of other sources including Gauting Province, the Norwegian foundation Ivar Sloge’s, Adidas, Soccerex… Diambars also expects to associate the Ile-de-France Region and private partners with help from Agence Française de Développement and the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

To find out more about Diambars: www.diambars.org

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a specialized financial institution at the center of France’s official development assistance to poor countries and support to French Overseas local authorities. In this capacity, AFD contributes to poverty reduction, supports economic growth and environmental preservation. AFD finances projects led by local public authorities, public enterprises, the private sector and associations. www.afd.fr