FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007

‘Goals for Girls!’ campaign kicks off

© Courtesy Leonardo Ricagni

Girls in a scene from the public service announcements for the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007 campaign launched by FIFA and UNICEF.

By David Koch

NEW YORK, USA, 7 September 2007 – In the run-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007, which takes place from 10 through 30 September, UNICEF has launched a new set of dynamic public service announcements.

Directed by Uruguayan film impresario Leonardo Ricagni and incorporating tournament footage from FIFA, the world governing body of professional football, the PSAs were produced by UNICEF’s Division of Communication.

“The PSAs we’ve produced with FIFA are intended to capture the fun of football and the sense of achievement girls and women who participate in the sport enjoy,” said UNICEF Director of Public Partnerships Peter Crowley. “It’s also an attempt to show the links between girls playing in their own communities and the stars who make it to the top.”

Mr. Crowley added that the video spots “carry the message that through sport – and education – any girl can achieve what those stars have achieved,”

In addition to being seen on television around the world, the PSAs will be played for hundreds of thousands of football fans before each match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup around China this month.

Girls as equal players in society

Football is the world’s most popular sport, and UNICEF has found that the game is an excellent way to reach out to girls – providing them with role models as well as opportunities to mix with their peers, enjoy the sense of achievement that comes with success in sport, and challenge gender stereotypes.

© UNICEF video

Football fans enjoying the world’s most popular sport.

“UNICEF has long recognized the importance of sport, recreation and play, not only as rights in themselves but also as means to achieve positive results for children in development, in promoting peace and achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” said Mr. Crowley.

China is home to 20 per cent of the world’s women and girls, and this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup presents a spectacular opportunity to reach a global audience with messages about gender equality and the importance of education.

About the campaign

‘Nu’, a single Chinese character that represents ‘female’, is the heart of the FIFA-UNICEF global communication campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007. (See logo in box at right.)

The logo design characterizes a female figure in motion, running, dancing, moving forward.

While ‘Goals for Girls!’ is the campaign’s global title, the title in China will be ‘Equality Creates Opportunities’, a slogan that has greater resonance with local audiences. But the ultimate goal of the FIFA-UNICEF campaign – empowering girls and women to advance – is the same everywhere around the world.