Anders Levinsen - Man. Director Cross Cultures 

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In 2010/2011 MFA Denmark and Sida initiated an evaluation study of the Open Fun Football School programme . The evaluation amongst other concluded that • CCPA has continued to demonstrate the immediate appeal and relevance of the OFFS concept. • The OFFS concept remains unique and impressive in the Balkans and Caucasus. • CCPA has managed to establish and maintain an effective network of coaches and leaders across its countries of operation and the bonds and friendships thus created have served to break down enemy images and promote reconciliation. • OFFS have remained relevant in the countries of operation • CCPA has remained focused on its original raison d´être: to work with communities affected by social upheavals and conflicts stemming from tensions between ethnic groups. • CCPA has successfully mobilised growing financial funds from local municipalities who also contribute considerable in kind resources to the Open Fun Football Schools. Narrative mediation While the above mentioned evaluation study concluded that CCPA fully has lived up to the targets and outputs agreed with the donors, it is also evident that the evaluation study reflects a basically different approach to activities aimed at reconciling tensions and promoting peace and stability than CCPA. CCPA is of the opinion that it is a beneficial and long-term effective way having an indirect approach to conflicts in people-to-people programmes like the OFFS. For the OFFS to work as means for reconciliation (and conflict mitigation/prevention) the community football clubs, leaders, coaches, players, parents and other stakeholders gather because of the passion they share (children and children’s football) and the fun they expect from the OFFS – not because the children have specific problems to solve or a given conflict to discuss. In OFFS we thus attempt to take the focus away from the conflict and away from the cultural categories that put the parties in opposition to each other. Instead we wish to place the participants/stakeholders in a context where new actions with new roles, relations and positions are offered such as: caring parent, a volunteer coach, a community worker, a football enthusiast etc. Our hope is that these roles and actions will position the parties in relation to each other rather than in opposition, and thereby construct ‘new reconciliation narrative’– ‘a counter story’ – of common interest. And in this context it is important to point out, that a ‘new narrative’/’counter story’ does not necessarily eliminate the story of conflict. Like a counter story will always exist parallel to the conflict story, the same can be said the other way around. The intention of the OFFS is therefore not to erase the story of conflict but rather to get the counter story to dominate. Correspondingly CCPA is using the OFFS as a platform to facilitate communication situations where the participants discuss and discover basic values in common: What is a good children’s environment? How can we create a good environment for our children together? What are the most important values to address on the OFFS? etc. This indirect approach are always based on participatory methods and child-centred and value-based pedagogic and it constitutes a corner stone in all our workshops at the instructors, leaders, coach, parent’s workshops and seminars. Our many years of field experience have convinced me that OFFS programme constitutes an attractive new narrative that can contribute to local reconciliation and conflict transformation in communities affected by conflicts. Thus during the past years CCPA have observed how thousands of local beneficiaries and stakeholders every year supports, become directly involved, cooperate and experience themselves in the OFFS activities and underlying principles. In this way the stakeholders have contextualised and brought alive the “OFFS narrative” about peaceful coexistence, tolerance and equality in their local context. CCPA also believes this could also be justified by a great amount of the spill-over effects that we in the past few years has observed in the communities that are involved in the OFFS-programme, and in fact should be viewed as relevant and significant for achieving the intended impact of the OFFS. This may further also be substantiated by the depth and width of the program’s public interface in terms of parents, local football clubs, voluntary coaches, local communities, municipality’s and not the least awareness building by a vast media coverage enjoyed by the OFFS program drawing the public’s attention to well received activities among population groupings otherwise hostile to one another. /Anders Levinsen, Managing Director of CCPA

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