The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the LaLiga Foundation have signed an agreement to carry out a community project to develop two football fields in the municipality of Sarhan (Jordan), through civil organizations.
The agreement is part of the “Qudra 2 – Resilience for refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities in response to the prolonged Syrian and Iraqi crises” program, financed by the European Union and the governments of Germany and Spain.
AECID in Jordan is in charge of implementing the component aimed at local government institutions and civil society organizations. Its objective is to seek to strengthen the capacities of municipalities in coordination with civil society organizations to offer transparent and inclusive basic municipal services through community projects.
This project is being developed in six municipalities of the Mafraq Governorate, one of which is Sarhan, on whose land two soccer fields have been built.
Through the agreement signed, the LaLiga Foundation, in coordination with civil society organizations, undertakes to maintain the two football fields in perfect condition, ensuring that all citizens of the municipality can access them without any type of discrimination. Likewise, they will seek to create – the agreement indicates – “a healthy leisure space that allows for comprehensive personal development, especially for children and young people” and “a safe sports space where skills can be developed at both an individual and team level.”
The Foundation will promote the use of football as an educational tool among civil society organizations and will promote good management of the use of sports facilities. To this end, it will advise the municipality of Sarhan in the process of construction and management of soccer fields, and will train organizations in the use of soccer as an educational tool and in the management of sports facilities.
Likewise, the Foundation will develop training workshops for members of civil society organizations based on sports management, coach training, and football as an engine of comprehensive development, among others.
The LaLiga Foundation will assume the expenses involved in the development of these activities and will not receive funds from either the AECID or the European Union for the implementation of the agreement.
