Transformative year for Generation Amazing as exciting journey continues
The past year has been a transformative one for Generation Amazing, the human and social legacy programme initiated in 2010 during Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. During the past eight years, this unique football for development initiative has been using the power of sport to positively impact lives and create sustainable social development in 27 communities across Qatar, the Middle East and Asia.
On 21 November, I was honoured to be part of the Generation Amazing activation at Aspire Zone to mark exactly four years to kick-off. Symbolically, it was young children from our programme in Qatar who kicked off the football for development activity and were inspired by the presence of football legends from across the world. We have an unparalleled opportunity with this first World Cup in the Arab world to tap into and transform the potential of these young people.
With less than four years to go until we welcome the world to Qatar, we are already bringing to life the legacy of 2022. We are doing so through our innovative programmes – by educating and empowering the next generation using the power of football. This year, I am delighted to report that we surpassed 250,000 beneficiaries – and are well on our way to achieving the 1 million beneficiaries we set as our target by the time the first ball is kicked in 2022.
During the World Cup in Russia, we invited ambassadors from our programme to enjoy the unique atmosphere and take part in leadership workshops. Ronalyn Lagata, from the Philippines, was one of the youth ambassadors who travelled to Moscow. She used to work as a scavenger to support her family but has now received a varsity scholarship to attend one of the leading universities in the Philippines. Generation Amazing has supported her journey by providing coaching and leadership opportunities – and we look forward to her continued success in the future. Generation Amazing is precisely about this transformational effect which football has – in our country, but also across the region and the entire continent.
This past year, we also had the honour to work with many fantastic players and dignitaries at our events – in Doha we had visits from H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Al Thani, along with NFL star Tom Brady, former footballers Gilberto Silva and Paul Robinson, and with local TV personality Mohamed Sadoon Al Kuwari. Internationally, we were joined by H.E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Berlin, Xavi Hernandez, Florent Malouda and Javier Saviola in Moscow, and Bora Milutinovic in New York. Each of them and many others greatly inspired our participants in their capacity as exemplary role models.
We look forward to continued success in 2019 and beyond.
– Afraa Al Noaimi, Acting Executive Director, Generation Amazing
