The 2010 Soccer World Cup: Opportunities to engage men and boys to engage men and boys in advancing gender equality

Sports for development (S4D) initiatives have emerged in recent years, in an attempt to
ofer developing countries alternative strategies to tackle a variety of issues relating to
development (individual, economic or social), peace building, post-disaster relief, gender
equality, health promotion and disease prevention (International platform on sport and
development, 2008).
With the upcoming 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa in sight, this piece looks at the
use of sports to promote social change, particularly in the areas of working with men to
achieve gender equality and to address issues related to gender based violence and HIV. The
latter assumption is validated by the growing evidence base of programmes that work with
men and boys and their signifcant impact on increasing men’s support for gender equality
and in reducing a range of health problems (Sonke, 2007A:25; World Health Organization:
2007).

Publisher: Sonke Gender Justice Network
Year of Publication: 2008
Download : /2010_genderequality_finalreport[1]