Olympism365: Funding local innovators for social development through sport

25 November 2024 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will provide USD 170,000 in grants to support 12 grassroots projects using sport to drive social development within their communities. The grants are offered through the IOC’s Olympism365 Innovation Hub.

The projects will receive support to develop, test and expand local innovations that tackle pressing societal issues aligned with specific community needs, with emphasis placed on equitable access to resources.

The 12 recipients of the Grassroots365 grants, selected in collaboration with Women Win and Beyond Sport, reflect a wide array of innovative approaches:

• African 1,000 Days Action (South Sudan): Football tournaments teaching girls health and life skills.
• Amazon Women’s Sports Association (Brazil): Encouraging women’s participation in mountain biking by training local teams to organise events.
• Association des Jeunes (Mali): Eco-friendly, accessible basketball courts for people with disabilities.
• AYNI Skate Project (Bolivia): Safe, educational skateboarding spaces for marginalised young people, especially girls.
• Finaa Organisation (Jordan): Football pitches for girls, promoting sports participation in Petra.
• Freedom Restoration Project (Thailand): Fitness and football for gender-based violence survivors in the migrant community of Mae Sot.
• Dream Big (Italy/Cyprus): Football tournaments fostering well-being among refugees and asylum seekers.
• Hawa Feminist Coalition (Somalia): Sports programmes and mentorship for girls at risk of violence.
• Impact Academy (Egypt): Refugee women as climate justice ambassadors.
• Psychology Spa (Palestine): Stress and trauma relief through accessible sports programmes.
• SOMA Surf (São Tomé and Príncipe): Surf therapy advancing gender equality and social inclusion.
• Watoto Wasoka (Uganda): Football drills and play-based learning with water, sanitation and hygiene health education.

This first group of recipients, out of the four funds of the Olympism365 Innovation Hub, represent diverse regions and initiatives, and are all committed to innovating how sport is used as a transformative tool for sustainable development at community level.

Two of the projects illustrate the breadth and depth of this impact: Watoto Wasoka in Uganda and the Amazon Women’s Sports Association in Brazil. Both initiatives demonstrate how grassroots innovation can address critical local challenges while fostering equity and inclusion through sport.

Amazon Women’s Sports Association: Empowering Women Through Mountain Biking

In Brazil’s Amazon region, the Amazon Women’s Sports Association encourages women’s participation in mountain biking and equips local teams to organise sports events. Through these efforts, the initiative not only promotes gender equity but also builds a network of female leaders in sport. Participants gain resilience, teamwork and leadership skills while challenging gender stereotypes in remote communities.

The Grassroots365 grant will help the association formalise its structure, expand training programmes and inspire more women to lead in sport.

“We believe that by empowering women and placing them as leaders in cycling we will have more inclusive and respectful sporting events for everyone,” said Gabriela Bianchi dos Santos, of the Amazon Women’s Sports Association.

There is a need to promote gender equity in the Brazilian sports system, so that girls and women can benefit from sport, especially in more remote regions where sexism and gender stereotyping are even greater barriers to keeping women in cycling. As members of the Olympism365 Innovation Hub, we want to learn from other initiatives about project management, improve our fundraising processes and partnership skills, and share our experience in the Amazon.

Gabriela Bianchi dos Santos – Amazon Women’s Sports Association

Watoto Wasoka: Promoting Health and Gender Equity Through Football

Watoto Wasoka in Uganda combines football drills with Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) education to foster healthy habits, and promotes gender equality. Through play-based learning, children acquire life-saving health knowledge while enjoying equal access to sports and education. The funding will help the organisation scale its operations, strengthen governance and expand its volunteer network to reach even more communities in Uganda and beyond.

“As a member of the Olympism365 Innovation Hub, we can position our Football 4 Wash innovation for greater impact, increasing handwashing practices among young people in marginalised communities in Uganda,” said Francis Mugoya, Executive Director of Watoto Wasoka.

We are also most eager to learn how we can improve our impact assessment and optimise our monitoring and evaluation framework.

Francis Mugoya – Executive Director of Watoto Wasoka

Driving innovation through the Olympism365 Innovation Hub

The Olympism365 Innovation Hub, a collaboration between the IOC, Beyond Sport and Women Win, is a bespoke programme and fund that will support 50 innovations/grantees that use sport for development around the world, through a multimillion-dollar investment that will benefit thousands of people and communities by 2026.

Aiming to foster new and innovative ways to use sport for social change, four distinct funding opportunities have been launched through the Innovation Hub: Grassroots365, Enterprise365, Collective365 and Tech365.

For more details on Olympism365 Innovation Hub initiatives and funds, visit the Olympism365 Innovation Hub.