African Ball & Community Development

Mission

ABaCoDe is a Non-Profit Organization that aims to empower African communities by nurturing young players so they may become agents of change. Through the implementation of sustainable basketball programs, we contribute to their development and empowerment. This is accomplished by training coaches and field interveners, building the appropriate infrastructures and establishing a favourable environment for current and future young players.

Statement of Purpose

The essential role of sport in children’s lives has been recognized around the world. Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that states shall “recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.” Therefore, sport can no longer be considered a luxury but is rather an important investment in the present and future.

In 2003, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution 55/2 on the role of sport as a means to promote health, education, development and peace. As a result, 2005 was proclaimed the International Year for Sport and Physical Education.

Sport is not just an end in itself, but also an effective tool to help improve the lives of children; in fact, practicing regular physical activity is essential for the physical, mental, psychological and social development of children and adolescents.

UNICEF, a pillar in contributing to the welfare of children ,believes that sport can be an effective tool to help achieve goals in health, education, gender equality, HIV/AIDS, child protection and child development — goals that are known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, to be more effective, sport has to be combined with non-sport components. Sport alone cannot solve complex social problems, but by informing people, raising awareness on certain issues and giving young people skills to overcome challenges they may face in life, sport becomes a tool for a greater and bigger agenda.

To reach this objective, one of ABaCoDe ’s mandates is to set up lifeskills training and information sessions on issues affecting young persons. The program also seeks to empower participants and communities by engaging them in the delivery of activities which results in building local capacity and contributes to the local economy.

Mandatory for the participation in the activities are the 5 session trainings on the 5 values ABaCoDe cherishes. These sessions are called LifeSkills trainings.

Since 2010, our organization has been using basketball as its main axis for development, and its main tool to nurture and educate its young players.

Present in Ghana and Uganda, we build on traditional extracurricular activities and emphasize on academics, education, social empowerment, and well being through our expertise in basketball.

On a daily basis, we impact the lives of young African players though activities organized on and off the court, such as academic follow-ups & homework clubs; life-skills training; community cleanups & outreach programs and basketball training.