Africa Goal is an exciting and innovative project which will harness the popularity of the football World Cup to address HIV and AIDS in the region of the World most effected by the epidemic.

Africa Goal was initiated in line with the World Cup 2006. A team of nine people from diverse backgrounds travelled from Kenya to the West Coast of Namibia, projecting live World Cup matches every evening for the duration of the football tournament, together with HIV and AIDS information videos. Following the success of Africa Goal 2006, the same team, building on their experience gained and lessons learnt, is proposing the 2010 Africa Goal Project. Africa Goal 2010 will start in Nairobi, Kenya and end in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team’s journey will follow the “AIDS Highway” through Eastern and Southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of transactional sex along this central transport and trade route were a major contributor to the spread of HIV through the region.

Football has long been followed with great enthusiasm and excitement in Africa. Bars, hotels and shops display pictures of famous footballers; children construct balls out of whatever material is at hand in order to play football and people of all ages crowd around television screens to watch the big matches. No other sport has the capacity to draw as much attention in the region and, significantly, the World Cup in 2010 will be held in South Africa. This is the first time that the tournament has been hosted in Africa and so the excitement across the continent is even greater and the audience will be even bigger. The largest sector of the football audience is people aged between 15 and 49, correlating with the age sector most severely affected by HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, that the 2010 games are being held within Southern Africa, the region of the world most severely affected, makes this upcoming event even more relevant as an opportunity for HIV interventions in the region.

By naturally drawing crowds of those most at risk of HIV infection, the tournament provides an unprecedented and invaluable opportunity to raise awareness and disseminate information about HIV and AIDS.

The 2010 Africa Goal Project will harness this opportunity by disseminating HIV and AIDS information to the crowds that gather to see the World Cup matches. Before every live game, the team will screen HIV and AIDS awareness videos, selected to ensure that they are both target specific and culturally sensitive. Wherever possible, Africa Goal will partner with community based NGOs and, by providing an enabling platform, Africa Goal will support local partners to maximize the potential of the World Cup as a tool for HIV information dissemination. In these instances, Africa Goal will take on a facilitating role by drawing the audiences, whilst local service providers will be invited to share their expertise in HIV information dissemination within the specific local context.