By Moza Al Mohannadi, Marketing & Communications Director, Generation Amazing

With Qatar 2022 closer than ever, Generation Amazing has already had a positive impact on more than 725,000 youth in ten countries as the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy’s (SC) flagship human and social legacy programme.

The belief that drives Generation Amazing is that football can change the world and, since 2010, we have witnessed this ethos inspire positive social change in Qatar and globally.

Much of this success is due to our methodology that relies on three main components: the Generation Amazing manual, a tool designed to empower coaches on the ground to deliver the programme according to the needs of their community, a ‘train the trainer’ model in which expert coaches transfer knowledge of football for development to other trainers, young leaders and youth, and, finally, key to our success, is our network of partners who support the delivery of the programme.

A prime example of that is our recent collaboration with the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) to launch a joint football for development initiative for coaching education. The initiative will benefit thousands of children and youth across CONCACAF’s 41 member associations. Parallel to that, we teamed up this year with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for a programme in Argentina, Iraq, Myanmar and Uganda.

Through our various initiatives, we have been able to teach principles like gender equality and inclusivity, and life skills like communication, organisation, teamwork and leadership in countries with identified needs – all while keeping football at the heart of the programme. Our Youth Advocates programme promotes the values of global citizenship to young people by taking them on a year-long journey to better understand the different ways that football can help find solutions to multilateral and national social challenges.

The pandemic presented us with challenging circumstances to continue our work in using sport as a transformative tool. However, by launching online engagement, we were able to reach and support various segments of different communities, and make a positive impact in their lives. Even more so, we have seen the impact of the programme in real time, with many of our beneficiaries stepping up to support their communities during these unprecedented times - notably our advocates Sadique Rahman and Saleem Puthiyottil, from India, who have worked with a team of aid workers to organise food deliveries and transport for sick patients. 

As Qatar continues the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, Generation Amazing is now more than ready to restore delivering our programmes face-to-face. Just last month, we provided the unique opportunity to members of our Generation Amazing-Qatar Foundation Ability Friendly Programme to view the FIFA World Cup Winner’s Trophy at Qatar Foundation’s Multaqa (Education City Student Centre) in the week marking 500 days to the kick-off of Qatar 2022.

And with our third Generation Amazing Youth Festival planned to take place during the FIFA Arab Cup later this year, we are thrilled to continue our efforts to inspire youth during FIFA’s first pan-Arab tournament. With the tournament as a backdrop for this year’s event, we are excited that the festival will become a celebration of youth, football and the region.

Our aim is to reach one million beneficiaries by the FIFA World Cup. As the tournament draws closer, Generation Amazing will drive forward its efforts to empower new generations of young leaders in transforming their communities through the inspiring power of the beautiful game and create a legacy that will remain long after the last ball has been kicked in 2022.