Using Sport to Promote Health and Wellbeing in the Pacific

The challenge

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), based in Auckland, has been at the forefront of using sport for international development in the Pacific Islands since 2009. Its flagship initiative, Just Play, employs a play-based learning approach to promote healthy lifestyles among children, and its success even captured the attention of Prince William during his visit to the Solomon Islands in 2012.

What we did

• To continue and expand this impactful programme, OFC sought funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in 2014 and again in 2018, enlisting the expertise of Kirsty Burnett to pilot new activities in primary schools across the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
• Thanks to Kirsty's guidance, the funding application was successful, enabling the programme to reach Kiribati and extend its focus to secondary schools.
• Just Play Plus introduced components that promote water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices, alongside plans to address humanitarian crises caused by extreme weather.

How we worked

Strategic Development and Community Engagement: Kirsty played a crucial role in refining OFC's strategy for sustainable international development and structuring their application. The programme prioritises measurable behaviour change and community engagement to ensure lasting impact. Simple, effective monitoring tools were developed to track progress and gather local stories, ensuring the programme's benefits are both visible and sustainable.

Outcomes