Fundación Paraguaya and the Embassy of the United States in Paraguay launched the new educational program called “She scores for the planet,” which involves soccer, the empowerment of women and the mitigation of climate-related issues.

The presentation took place at the Club de Leones Bernardino Caballero, with the presence of representatives from the US Embassy, the Fundación Paraguaya, the Ministry of Education and Sciences, the Ministry of Women, the Paraguayan Soccer Association, through the national women’s soccer teams, and the educational institutions that will implement the program, as well as students and special guests.

“It is such a joy for us to use soccer, especially women’s soccer, as a tool to empower women, which is what we intend to do with this pilot program. For the first time we are developing this kind of program, where 180 girls from educational institutions in Asunción and Central are going to participate in a sporting event in which they are going to compete, they are going to become leaders in their communities and agents of change. Also, they are going to start eco-friendly enterprises to acquire environmental awareness. It will be a great sports event that will also have the participation of athletes from the United States Women’s Soccer Team, who will be participating in the closing of the tournament that will be held in December,” said Lorena Soto, manager of Entrepreneurial Education at Fundación Paraguaya.

For her part, Jazmín Ramírez, Educational Project Coordinator of the US Embassy, said that this is a very important initiative for the embassy and for the country because it will address a very important issue that concerns the country and the world: climate change. “The negative effects of climate change make the country especially vulnerable with the increase and prevalence of forest fires, drought, and the drop in river levels, which makes it imperative to act now and create the necessary capacity and awareness to counteract these threats. Within this context, from the embassy we believe that the objectives of this program empower 180 women by training them to develop eco-friendly enterprises, generating spaces for environmental literacy, and at the same time allowing them to have fun while doing it. We congratulate Fundación Paraguaya for having sent this proposal to the embassy. Thank you so very much for working on this initiative and we wish you all the success, in the world” she said.

The first three public educational institutions selected for this experience are the República de Cuba and Gral. Pablo L. Ávila from Asunción; and Luz de Esperanza from Areguá city.

What is the program about?

The program’s main objective is to use soccer as a platform for positive community actions, involving 180 adolescent girls from public schools. The girls will participate in a sports competition and at the same time they will create an eco-friendly enterprise for the benefit of their communities.

Among the objectives of the program, education on climate change, eco-friendly entrepreneurship and community stands out in a first stage, in addition to promoting resilience among 180 girls from three public schools in vulnerable areas of Paraguay, applying a US educational curriculum, using a thematic soccer tournament as a platform.

As part of the educational process, there will be a contest for young American experts and opinion leaders on climate change, eco-friendly entrepreneurship, and community resilience, to jointly develop workshops for Paraguayan girls, using the curriculum of the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.

Also, the participants will be trained in the Canvas methodology developed within the framework of the eco-friendly entrepreneurship program to encourage the generation of ideas and solutions to increase resilience to climate change in their communities.

In a second stage, the girls will be invited to present their ideas at the “Foro de Emprendedores del Paraguay”, a platform designed to empower young people and involve them so that they are part of the solution to global problems, promoting the empowerment of women through sports and education.

In addition, there will be a closing tournament for girls with the opportunity to be awarded scholarships to study English at the Centro Cultural Paraguayo Americano (CCPA).