On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GTZ South Africa has signed a contract with Volkswagen South Africa for a ‘Public-Private Partnership’ (PPP). It will focus on education on life skills including HIV/AIDS prevention. GTZ was represented by Gerald Guskowski, manager of the Youth Development through Football project. The partnership was initiated within the framework of the PPP-Programme of the BMZ, named ‘develoPPP.de’.
Volkswagen South Africa is one of the largest employers in the region with more than 6,000 employees. The company has established several Corporate Citizenship units to improve the living conditions of the people in the Eastern Cape Province. Within these units, VW runs programs with a focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, job creation and skills development.

GTZ’s cooperation with Volkswagen South Africa will centre mainly on introducing life skills development including the reduction of the spread of HIV/AIDS and on mitigating its impact on the youth. To achieve this goal, education on football will be linked with life skills education including education on HIV/AIDS. The popularity of football - particularly among 12- to 20-year-olds, who are mainly at risk of becoming infected - will be used to increase the awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention. Therefore the project will combine youth development together with a newly to be developed curriculum that compliments the traditional approaches to health education that youth are exposed to in the formal school setting.

The project will use two soccer buses to reach the youth in three core regions: Uitenhage, Buffalo City and Mthatha. On board these buses will be young soccer coaches who will also act as peer educators on life skills and HIV/AIDS. The coaches will be trained by specialists in football training, youth development and HIV/AIDS prevention. The VW Health Unit will provide free HIV tests. A local non-governmental organisation will help to implement and monitor the project. GTZ’s ’Strengthening the German Contribution to the Global AIDS Response’ programme contributes further expertise.

The new partnership is jointly financed by VW South Africa and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The project is designed to run for almost three years.