Using football to build lasting peace in Rwanda is at the heart of our work.

We collaborate with a range initiatives in Rwanda, led by the community and/or schools to encourage young people of all genders to become involved in football.

For many years Football for Hope Peace and Unity (now part of the Ishami Foundation) has worked with Coaches Across Continents to train more than 600 community impact football coaches in Rwanda.

Today our activities are centered around our flagship football tournament Play2Remember and the development of future plans.

Play2Remember is an annual football tournament taking place in the UK and Rwanda with a social goal; to remember genocide survivors while promoting reconciliation and togetherness through sport. In Rwanda, Play2Remember is designed to create a sociable space for camaraderie and fun where people can share, and learn from each other’s stories, in a way that promotes togetherness and collective social action.

In 2018 we held Play2Remember events in two locations in Rwanda: The Togetherness Cooperative Centre in Kigali and the Gihisi Centre in Nyanza. We were joined by 500 Rwandan male and female youth participants spread across three age groups; (Under 12 years, 12- 15 years, and 15 years and above).

During the session we played various social impact football games promoting the values of unity, conflict prevention and peace building. These were led by eight Community Impact Coaches with further support provided by the coaches of the youth teams attending. Two short football matches followed the social impact games and the events finished with all those in attendance gathering in the community hall for messages, celebration (sharing food and drinks) and an awards ceremony for the participants. Eric Murangwa Eugene spoke about the power of football and his message of peace during the celebration.

Read our full report about the events on our blog.

Working with our partners Coaches Across Continents and Football 4 Peace, the Ishami Foundation is currently seeking funding to begin a new Sport for Social-Impact Academy to support women and girls playing football in Rwanda. We envision this project as a sustained programme with regular training sessions for young people of all genders, enabling participants to engage with gender equity, solving problems peacefully and the importance of social inclusion and cooperation.