About the Programme
Goal Accelerator is a sport-powered, gender-responsive economic resilience initiative that aims to create concrete pathways for disadvantaged girls and young women to obtain decent employment, earn an income and become economically resilient.
The programme takes a holistic approach to women’s economic empowerment, promoting financial independence, leadership development, and facilitating access to decent employment and entrepreneurship. Core to the programme, sport and play provide a unique methodology that is foundational in cultivating key transferable skills. Sport also provides opportunities for participants to strengthen their leadership, increase their self-confidence and improve mental health.
Goal Legacy and Evolution of Goal Accelerator
Goal Accelerator is an evolution of the deeply impactful Goal Programme. Through life skills education and sport- and play-based learning, Goal equipped girls, ages 12-18 living in underserved communities, with the skills and knowledge to transform their lives and become economically resilient. Since 2006, Goal has been delivered in more than 23 countries, positively impacting the lives of 1,044,359 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) by the end of 2023.
As the Goal Programme comes to a close in 2024, our partners around the world are celebrating the collective impact that the programme has had on girls and women worldwide.
Goal Accelerator was developed from the learnings of Goal and the need to address gender inequalities in the global workforce. According to the International Labour Organization’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 Report, “Globally, young people are not in employment, education, or training. A majority (68%) are female and young women are almost 1.5 times more likely to be unemployed than young men.”
Goal Accelerator aims to reach young women, between the ages of 15-35, who are actively seeking decent employment or self-employment. The programme will support the participants’ pathway to employment or self-employment through advanced life skill and business readiness knowledge development, exposure to employer networks, and concrete connections to employment opportunities. The goal of the programme is to support the participants to be earning a sustainable income through decent employment or self-employment.
MEET THE PARTNERS
Futuremakers by Standard Chartered
Futuremakers is Standard Chartered’s global youth economic empowerment initiative, tackling inequality and promoting greater economic inclusion. The initiative aims to achieve these goals by enabling disadvantaged young entrepreneurs and job-seekers, predominantly women, to learn, earn and grow to improve their economic skills and prospects. Launched in 2019, Futuremakers is delivered in partnership with the Standard Chartered Foundation, NGOs and SC’s business and client networks. Goal Accelerator is one of the projects funded by Standard Chartered Foundation that make up the Futuremakers initiative.
Junior Achievement Mascareignes
JAM has been operating in Mauritius since 2009 and is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAWW), which has existed since 1919 and is today one of the largest global NGOs dedicated to youth education, operating in 117 countries worldwide. JAM is affiliated with the sub-Saharan Africa bloc under the aegis of JA Africa. JAM partners with local community-based organisations and school administrations to offer various programs tailored to different age groups. JAM has been implementing the Goal Programme in Mauritius since 2019, before transitioning to the Goal Accelerator programme in 2024.
Right to Play
Right To Play is a globally recognized not-for-profit organization dedicated to harnessing the transformative power of sport and play to educate and empower children. Its mission is to help children overcome the challenges posed by poverty, conflict, and disease within disadvantaged communities worldwide. Founded in 2000 by four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Johann Olav Koss, Right To Play currently operates in over 15 countries, positively impacting more than 2.3 million children globally. In Pakistan, Right To Play has been active for over a decade, having initiated programming in 2007. The organization has directly reached over one million children, with more than 50% of participants being girls.
Right To Play implements structured sports and play programs designed to enhance educational quality by providing extracurricular activities that foster leadership skills. These initiatives contribute to the development of confident individuals who demonstrate greater empathy, tolerance, teamwork, and other essential competencies, ultimately empowering them to become leaders and change-makers in their families and communities.
SERVE
Registered in 2000, SERVE is a Sri Lankan non-profit social work-based organization working with and for children, youth, women and families. SERVE works in selected locations across Sri Lanka among all ethnic and religious communities, both from urban and rural settings, and partners with institutions such as pre-schools, schools, probation homes and prisons. Currently, through their projects, SERVE have been able to orchestrate project activities with the vision of working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Street League
Street League’s mission is to see an end to youth unemployment in the UK. They use the power of sport to help young people, aged 14 to 30, who face personal barriers to employment to improve their wellbeing, secure employment and have a brighter future. Street League works in schools, communities and with employers to equip young people with the confidence, motivation, essential skills and qualifications needed to succeed in the world of work. Skills development, qualifications and wellbeing are core within the services offered and act as the ‘building blocks’ for each young person to build a brighter future.
WOMEN:girls
WOMEN:girls is a non-profit founded to help women achieve their potential as role models. W:g was established in 2013 under the official name Pertubuhan Pembangunan Kendiri Wanita dan Gadis. The organization is determined to promote growth from the grassroots by creating better opportunities and implementing development programs so that women are more empowered. In addition, WOMEN:girls also wants to create women to be agents of change to reach their full potential.
