La League; empowering girls and creating gender equality though football in Brazil SUMMARY 
Girls and young women in developing countries often face two substantial obstacles: teenage pregnancies and child marriages. The project La League Champions of Change (LL-CoC) empowers girls and young women to overcome these obstacles. The project, which has football (soccer) at its heart, is being implemented from January 2018 till July 2021 in 9 communities in Codó region, Brazil. It pilots a model that takes girls’ football to a higher level; as a sport and a driver for girls’ empowerment. Football is used to transform gender norms and raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Next to actively involving girls (aged 12-24), fathers and boys are strongly involved in this project to support these girls and the social change they bring about. This project is part of a broader pilot programme carried out in Nicaragua and the Netherlands, where Plan International is partnering with the Cruyff Foundation and Women Win. Every year, over 700 million women worldwide are married before they are 18 and about 16 million girls under 19 give birth. Becoming a wife and mother so young has far-reaching consequences. It causes early school dropout, increases the risk of exploitation, sexual and domestic violence and abuse, as well as death at childbirth. Holding girls back like this and endangering their lives negatively impacts a country’s overall development. 

In the largely male-oriented Latin America, girls often mistakenly believe that early marriage and pregnancy are their best escape from poverty and domestic violence. In Brazil, as in many countries, traditionally represents the masculine scene. Girls are in general not allowed to participate in football by their parents or male peers. 

Research from the UNDP shows that Brazil is the number 4 country in the world when it comes to absolute number of teenage pregnancy cases.
In Brazil, machismo contributes to sexual violence. Many pregnant teenagers have been victims of sexual abuse. But unwanted teenage pregnancies also occur because girls in remote areas have no access to SRHR education and services to prevent pregnancy. In Brazil the pregnancy rate for adolescent girls is 18%. Even higher rates can be found in communities where Plan works, going up to 31%. Ironically, Brazil also holds the fourth highest absolute number in child marriages worldwide.

In the emerging body of evidence on child and adolescent marriage in Central and Latin America, Brazil stands out due to the sharp contrast between the country’s high ranking in terms of absolute numbers and the lack of research on the subject. According to one estimate, Brazil is ranked the fourth country in the world in absolute numbers of girls married or living together with a partner by age 15, with 877,000 women ages 20 to 24 years reporting having married by age 15 (11 percent). Also among women ages 20 to 24, thirty-six percent (nearly three million women) are estimate Plan, together with the Johan Cruyff Foundation (JCF) and Women Win (WW), are combining successful methods into an effective new model called La League - Champions of Change. It uses football to empower girls and make them more visible, and involves fathers and boys in supporting the freedom and equal rights of girls. It follows three pathways.

1: The social empowerment of girls 
By stimulating girls to play football, they will experience teamwork and become more confident. This together with the CoC methodology will empower them to seek access to quality SRHR information and services so they can take informed actions on their sexual health, thus avoiding teenage pregnancies and early marriage.

2: The involvement of males
To transform gender norms and raise awareness on SRHR, we are mobilising boys, fathers and other strong male role models to support girls, in football and in other important life choices. Plan's successful Champions of Change method will promote gender equality and this will be amplified by JCF’s ‘Heroes of the Cruyff Courts’. Community members will be actively encouraged to foster positive attitudes towards gender equality so they are committed to end child marriages and teenage pregnancies

3: The economic empowerment of girls
Based on WW’s Leadership and Economic Empowerment Pathway (LEEP) the project will boost girls’ economic empowerment by creating income-generating opportunities centred around football. They can, for example, become coaches or referees or perhaps obtain scholarships to become professional footballers. Football will thus help change gender roles and create awareness for the negative effects of teenage pregnancies and child marriages. And not just for girls, but for everyone. Direct beneficiaries:
350 girls become champions of change between the age of 12 to 24
175 boys become champions of change between the age of 12 to 24
50 girls (out of the 350) are empowered economically around the sports Market and its value chain
175 engaged fathers and men

Indirect beneficiaries:
750 community members are committed to improve gender equality in their daily lives
250.000 general public aware of program In the preparation phase (3 months):
- Recruit project team;
- A start-up meeting will be held with the participation of all stakeholders involved, including: Plan regional office of the Americas, Plan Brazil, Plan Holland, Cryuff Foundation and WomenWin;
- The La League – Champions of Change methodology is developed, and trainers are trained;
- La League project team is trained in the LEEP methodology and Heroes methodology;
- A baseline study will be conducted regarding the incidence of teenage pregnancy and child marriage in the selected communities;
- 01 market study if developed and conducted by external consultant;

In the implementation phase (30 month):
- 525 Both boys and girl’s champions of change workshop sessions are held;
- Weekly football training with the 350 girls that are Champions of Change;
- Groups of boys/girls, led by girls and supported by father’s design and carry out community events to raise awareness about the harmful practices of child marriage and teenage pregnancy and other project thematic among their peers and in their communities, reaching other 750 peer boys and girls;
-750 community members are engaged and committed to improve gender equality in their daily lives;
- La League project team is trained in Heroes methodology;
- 50 girls are selected and trained in economic empowerment LEEP methodology and have access to sports related opportunities (courses, jobs, internships, informal initiatives, technical trainings);
- Engaging 175 fathers, brothers and other male figures through girl’s football activities;
- 35 number father/daughter events have been organised;
- 02 La League tournaments at local level are organized;
- 01 Public campaign is held on the impact of girl’s football and gender equality in Brazil;
- 09 Football pitches are made fit for use in each community and teams are set up;
- 01 official Cryuff court is built and maintained in one central community in the Codó region. 1.	The empowerment of girls
All project interventions aim to strengthen girls’ and boys’ capacity as agents of change, thus driving change in their communities. Girls will acquire leadership skills that will be essential to ensuring the sustainability of the activities once the direct intervention period has ended. Reaching out to fathers male role models will help assure the  presence of an enabling environment. 

2.	Connecting with local stakeholders
During this pilot, Plan will connect with all stakeholders, from local up to national, and even international level. Including parents, schools, sports clubs and community leaders in our actions and reaching out to national football clubs, sports and education ministries. These  stakeholders will be invited to adopt the girls’ football teams and integrate the methodology into their own spaces. 
 
3.	Developing, systemising and scaling-up effective methodology
After this pilot project has ended it will be thoroughly evaluated with the aim to upscale this programme. This, so that this La League goes beyond the borders of the communities of this single project. Together with our partners, Plan aims to roll out girls’ football for gender equality globally. La League is therefore not only a method; it is also a movement for girls’ football worldwide that other NGOs, corporate partners, sports clubs and government agencies can join. Because then we can - together - empower as much girls and young women as possible through football.