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Alley-oop Africa: Educating and raising the awareness of young people on sustainable development issues through sports and the use of media tools

Project

Sports and Development
Visuel standard du site
© AFD
Project start date
Status

Completed

Project end date
Project duration
1 year
AFD financing amount
1 500 000 €
Country and region
Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Morocco, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Togo
Location
Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Togo
Type of financing
Grant
Partners
Basketball Africa League (BAL)
Beneficiaries
20 young people from the project countries, young people and communities in Mali, Senegal and Togo, and local CSOs
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AFD and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) are financing the production of a mini-series about 20 young Africans in an academy that combines playing basketball with sustainable development projects.

Context

In February 2019, the NBA and FIBA announced the creation of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). It was launched in March 2020 and brings together teams from 12 African countries with the aim of creating conditions to build an economy of sustainable basketball.

In January 2020, AFD and the BAL started working together on the creation of an “edutainment” program: a form of educational entertainment using various media, such as television, social networks and other digital tools. Sporting activities are recognized for their benefits in terms of personal development, sharing universal values, cohesion and raising awareness of the importance of taking part in the community. They are a key tool of edutainment.

Description

The program organizes a competition between 20 young girls and boys in a Basketball Academy for close to a month. They are selected in seven countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Togo) based on their sports skills and their awareness of the SDGs.The competition comprise four stages:

  • Collective thematic projects: building group projects on gender equality and health with support from a CSO 
  • Individual projects: experimenting with individual projects on the themes of sustainable development  
  • Sports challenges: sport sessions with basketball stars
  • Personal and collective development: fun activities based on sport and raising awareness of the SDGs.

These filmed activities lead to the creation of educational tools that aim to raise the awareness of over 120 million African viewers on health and gender equality. Following the broadcast of the television program, a community training and debate campaign has been deployed in Mali, Senegal and Togo. It aims to increase public support for the activities implemented, change behavior in terms of gender equality and raise awareness of local health issues. 

Impacts

  • Young people sensitized to the SDGs (health and gender equality)
  • Promotion of sporting activities, particularly for women, and creation of an ecosystem for sport and local development 
  • Promotion of African dynamism and talent on the theme of “sport and development” through the edutainment materials