The implementation of an international project to develop mass football with EORE (education on risks of explosive remnants) elements is underway in Ukraine. The project is being carried out by the Amateur Football Association in cooperation with the Ukrainian Football Association and the organization Spirit of Soccer.

The program aims to increase awareness among residents living in conflict and post-conflict areas with high levels of explosive remnants contamination regarding safe behavior upon encountering landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

At the end of October, organizers of the program and international partners from Spirit of Soccer selected regional teams of coaches from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Chernivtsi oblasts who completed training to obtain a UAF S-license with EORE elements and continued spreading mine safety messages through football activities in their communities for children and other coaches.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

The main goal of the Spirit of Soccer Ukraine project is to convey EORE safety rules, as well as to introduce skills for providing initial psychological assistance to children and other civilians at risk. Additionally, an important task of the program is to encourage children from war-affected regions to continue engaging in sports, stabilize their emotional-psychological state, and socially integrate people affected by anti-personnel mines and individuals with disabilities.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

To achieve this goal, Spirit of Soccer coaches use specially developed exercises that help children in a simple, accessible and understandable way to grasp the basic principles of behavior upon encountering explosive remnants. The program consists of football games that can be adapted to any circumstances and conditions for young people at risk. Information conveyed to children by trainers during lessons is primarily aimed at effectively reducing the number of child casualties and mortality during war, preventing accidents with landmines and unexploded ordnance, and protecting our compatriots from potential threats.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

During the first three months of program implementation in Ukraine, over 1200 children (of whom 20% were girls) and more than 300 adults participated in mine safety training. Additionally, lessons on civil security for coaches and young football players were conducted by employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

In total, 35 football classes and ten festivals were held across Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Chernivtsi oblasts to reach larger groups. Mine safety lessons covered both regional centers and cities as well as rural areas.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

In particular, in the Kyiv region, basic locations for conducting classes included sports and general education institutions in Bila Tserkva, Skvyra, and Beresan, as well as the football academy "Benfica". Large-scale festivals were held at the Kolos Academy (Kovalivka) in Velykyi Postyshiv, at the Skvira District Children's Sports School named after P. M. Voropay, and at Beresan Secondary School No. 4.

In Kharkiv oblast, football lessons with mine safety are held on the "Nova Bavaria" arena and at the Kharkiv City District Children's Sports School No. 9, as well as in Krasnogorodskyi, Chuhuyivskyi, Bogodukhivskyi, Luhovitskyi, and Lozovskyi communities. Coaches from the Kharkiv region also visited Novosanjar in Poltava oblast, which has taken in a large number of internally displaced persons, including many families with children from Kharkiv.

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

In Chernivtsi oblast, which has taken in a significant number of refugees from conflict zones, classes are held at the Pedagogical Vocational College of ChNU, Vyzhnytskyi Secondary School, and Chornoguzkyi school, educational institutions, and the "Olympia" sports complex in Chernivtsi. Bukovynian coaches also visited schools in Varvativci, Babine, and Nelypivci villages in Dnistrovskyi district.

In addition to conducting classes on-site, the Spirit of Soccer Ukraine program is implemented through digital content containing EORE messages on social networks (FACEBOOK).

Photo by Spirit of Soccer Ukraine

Spirit of Soccer is a leading non-governmental organization that uses sports to educate young people about the dangers of landmines and war consequences. For over 20 years, the organization has worked in some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones using proven methodologies for preventing deaths and disabilities caused by weapons. Currently, SOS implements four football EORE programs in Cambodia, Laos, Colombia, and Iraq, reaching 80,000 participants annually. Ukraine became the 15th country to adopt this program.

The Spirit of Soccer Ukraine project is supported by the U.S. Department of State and is one of the programs aimed at reducing potential consequences of dangerous and illegally disseminated use of military weapons in civilian environments.