The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has concluded an agreement with United Way Worldwide (UWW) to further the education and health of children and young people in Asia. Cooperation between the two organisations will take place under the auspices of the AFC Dream Asia Foundation.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John said: “Education and health are essential building blocks for societies and individuals to thrive. The AFC is delighted to partner with United Way Worldwide to further these goals through football across Asia. Football is a powerful tool for social development and it can make a real difference in lives across the world.”

United Way Worldwide International President Mr Jose Ferrão said: “Creating stronger communities is a team sport. United Way is proud to build on the success of our 45-year partnership with the National Football League (NFL) in the United States to work with the AFC and its 47 Member Associations across the region to improve the education and health of our next generations.”

The organisations have a common interest in improving education, work skills and health for children and youth in countries and regions in Asia. Under the cooperation agreement, the AFC and UWW will work to connect local representatives and AFC Member Associations to explore ways to improve education and health outcomes.

The goals of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are to improve:
1. early childhood development and reading skills of children;
2. school success and youth transition to secondary education of disadvantaged youth;
3. skills development and training that can lead to meaningful employment for youth;
4. and physical and mental well being of children and youth.

The partners will do this by:
1. identifying countries and regions for potential collaboration;identifying education issues for potential partnerships;
2. connecting AFC Member Associations and UWW partner organisations to explore potential partnerships;
3. coordinating communications around the MoU and country-level partnerships; and
4. monitoring progress of partnership discussions on a quarterly basis.

(AFC)