Girls play football at Il’Ab We’Yana final Festival.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar Shell celebrated the overwhelming success of their award-winning programme ‘Il’Ab We’Yana’ with end of term festivals which took place across the country.
The 24-week extra-curricular school programme uses football as a tool to develop healthy habits and positive behavioural change among young people in Qatar.  
Over 1400 school children from across the country participated in the third season of the programme. The community-inspired initiative, which targets children 7-16 years of age aims to support the Social and Human Development pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030 by engaging Qatar’s youth at every stage of their lives.
‘Il’Ab We’Yana’ is part of the award-winning KOORA TIME initiative created by Qatar Football Association in partnership with Qatar Shell. Since its launch in March 2013, the programme has positively impacted over 10,000 children across Qatar.  Almost half of the participants in Il’Ab We’Yana have experienced a significant reduction in their Body Mass Index.
Since its launch, KOORA TIME has won a number of awards including the ‘Dar Al Sharq Corporate Social Responsibility Award’ for the Best Sports Initiative, the Sports Industry Award for ‘Best Youth Development Initiative’ and the ‘AFC Dream of Asia Award’ in the area of social responsibility.
The third season of ‘Il Ab We Yana,’ which began in October 2014, included three venues dedicated to girls. Over 300 girls are now registered in the programme proving that football is not just a boy’s game. The programme’s fourth season will begin in September 2015.
A five-year sustainable initiative between Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar Shell, KOORA TIME is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Qatar’s youth through football.



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