Yuwa

Yuwa is an internationally acclaimed non-governmental organization that uses football (soccer) and education to put girls in charge of their own futures.  Yuwa is registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in the USA and as a Trust in India. 

Yuwa is based in villages in the Ranchi district of Jharkhand, where girls are especially at risk of dropping out of school, early marriage, violence, and human trafficking. Through the creation of football teams, girls gain leadership skills and confidence, continue their education, and are less likely to be forced into child marriage.  Here, teamwork is a powerful force to promote health, education and improved livelihoods among the most important agents of change—young women.

Watch Yuwa girls speaking at TEDx here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0fZphncH1o&feature=youtu.be&t=5m30s and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmAvPwi4zuY. Almost all of Yuwa’s external representation is done by the girls themselves.

Yuwa has been featured in Al-Jazeera, Huffington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, BBC, Sports Illustrated, Hindustan Times, Times of India, NDTV, Times Now, Indian Express, The Hindu, Scroll, ABC News and other media in India and internationally. Recent awards include:

·       2016 Digital Trail Blazers Award from Jharkhand Government 

·       2015 Cequin WOWmen Award Celebrating Men for Women

·       2014 FIFA Football for Hope Awardee

·       2013 Barclay’s Beyond Sport “Sport for Social Inclusion” Winner

·       2013 Times Now Amazing Indians Award (category: Indian at Heart)

·       Yahoo India “12 Unsung Heroes of 2012”

·       2012 NDTV Spirit of Sport Award, (“Best Promotion of Education through Sport”)

·       2012 Ashoka Changemakers award (all-Asia winner) for Innovative Secondary Education for Skills Enhancement (ISESE)

·       2011 Nike Gamechangers Award

About Yuwa School 

In June 2015, we launched Yuwa School for Girls in Hutup village, Jharkhand. The vision of our school is: Every girl’s future in her own hands. Our mission is to enable students to reach their full academic potential, develop critical and creative thinking skills, and become compassionate, empowered leaders in their communities. 

Our current campus supports 85 students and 8 full-time teachers. The school will run on this campus until mid-2017, when building of our permanent and residential campus will be completed.