The Peninsula
A top official at Street Child United, a UK-based charity, has lauded Qatar’s “generous” efforts offered in hosting the Street Child World Cup 2022. Hosting the Street Child World Cup 2022 has been easy due to generous people in Qatar, said John Wroe, co-founder, and CEO of Street Child United.
Although it is a difficult concept working with street-connected children, Qatar has been “fantastically generous” in making this year’s tournament a success, he said.
“It has been amazingly easy, people understand what we are going to do. People in Qatar have got big hearts, they knew we needed a lot of help and they have been generous,” Wroe said while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Street Child World Cup 2022 tournament.
Street Child United uses the power of sport, and particularly international sports events, to change negative perceptions and treatment of street-connected children, which organises the Street Child World Cup.
Also, Qatar signed a document ‘Qatar Commitment’, giving those young people the opportunity to present their voices to the world, yesterday, during the Street Child World Cup 2022’s General Assembly served as a conclusion to a series of child-friendly congress sessions held over the course of an eight-day event, which was hosted in partnership with Qatar Foundation (QF).
The Qatar Commitment is one of a number of legacy initiatives focused on education and healthcare that will start at the Street Child World Cup, aimed at continuing to make positive changes around the world in the months that follow the tournament.
Prior to the tournament, during the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2022, a report was launched on the health concerns and risks to health for street-connected children worldwide. The report addressed health-seeking behaviours and barriers to accessing healthcare for street-connected children.
“People like Sultana Afdhal, the CEO at WISH commissioned research on barriers to access to health for street-connected children, and it was published at WISH with our young leaders. That was a significant moment for us,” said Wroe.
He also appreciated the opportunity given to young leaders about their journey with Street Child United and how football changed their life in front of policymakers and leaders of sports and health sectors.
The UN estimates there to be over 100 million children living on the streets worldwide. Most of them are children without any formal identification; legal rights; access to education; and without access to healthcare. The Street Child World Cup aims to change this.
“The depth of the legacy of our work is we really focus on access to education and identity. We like to get one million birth certificates between this World Cup and the next World Cup. That’s a huge number and it's four years,” said Wroe, expressing hope that Qatar and other countries will support to achieve the goal.
He also mentioned that Street Child United has held discussions with universities in Qatar and said, “We would like to have further conversation, particularly on how to get our young leaders into the universities.”
The Street Child World Cup 2022 featured 15 boys’ teams and 13 girls’ teams, with 10 of the teams being represented by a refugee or displaced children. The tournament culminated with the final games yesterday.