UNESCO and OPPO begin a new collaboration to foster and empower aspiring young football players in Mexico, enhancing activities across the country to turn sport into a powerful social change tool for social inclusion and wellbeing through UNESCO’s Fit for Life programme.

The initiative will equip, in its first phase, youth players in Puebla and Chihuahua with the support of municipal institutes for Sport of these localities, which are part of the Latin-American Network of Local Governments for Sport and Development (Red D+D), led by themselves and supported by UNESCO. The collaboration is not only fostering skill development but also igniting their dreams of professional careers in football, while supporting the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

The sport-based flagship programme of UNESCO, Fit for Life, supports sport as a driver of resilience, cohesion, and empowerment, and pursues strengthening public policies, developing evidence, and promoting sports practice with a cross-cutting approach that links education, health, and sustainable development.