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NFF, UNICEF Open Talks on Girl-Child Empowerment Partnership Through Football
The Nigeria Football Federation and the United Nations Children’s Fund have initiated discussions aimed at formalising a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a broad partnership focused on improving the welfare and development of the girl-child.
The engagement took place on Wednesday at the NFF Secretariat, where General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, received a UNICEF delegation led by Chief of Communication, Advocacy and Partnership, Lone Hvass.
Both organisations explored potential areas of collaboration, including polio eradication campaigns, child protection initiatives, and efforts to discourage child molestation.
Hvass emphasised the importance of using football personalities as ambassadors for social change, particularly in reaching children and families.
“Our objective is to engage a couple of players of the Super Falcons to speak out about polio, raise awareness, and address other key issues affecting children. We have had successful collaborations in the past with the great Nigerian ambassadors (football stars), and we believe role models from sports are extremely powerful for these campaigns,” she said.
She added that public trust in athletes makes them highly effective voices in health and social awareness campaigns.
On his part, Sanusi welcomed the initiative, describing child development as a key priority for the current NFF leadership.
He noted the devastating impact of polio on children across Africa, including Nigeria, and pledged the federation’s support for the proposed partnership.
“Polio has had a devastating impact on children in Africa, including Nigeria. Any effort to protect children from polio and other related diseases is welcome, and you have our full support in this initiative,” Sanusi said.
He further stressed the power of football as a tool for positive messaging and confirmed that the federation would explore ways of involving national team players in future campaigns.
“Football is an exceptionally powerful tool to drive positive campaigns, and we will explore various pathways for enlightenment as soon as we have a memorandum of understanding… We can equally get some players of our U20 and U17 girls national teams involved in these noble campaigns,” he added.
Also present at the meeting were UNICEF officials Susan Akila and Samuel Kaalu, alongside senior NFF officials including Ademola Olajire, Ruth David, Rajan Zaka, Alizor Chuks, and Enebi Achor.
