Following the Youth Charter’s presentation and contribution to the Magglingen 2003 conference, the Youth Charter was invited to submit a funding proposal to deliver a social coach leadership programme and toolkit for Southern Africa. This opportunity provided a chance to develop an integrated framework and approach in the growing investment being made in the Sport for Peace and social and human development agenda.

The Youth Charter had already established a strong and continued fourteen-year presence in Africa and Southern Africa in particular with UK Trade Missions delivered to Zambia and South Africa. Project programme initiatives had already been contributed to Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The Youth Charter set about establishing a ‘needs assessment’ of the social and human activity through sport in the region through its dialogue and contribution to the Zone 6 Supreme Council for Sport as part of the legacy of the 1999 All Africa Games hosted in South Africa. The Youth Charter then consulted a number of NGO’s working as part of an EU sponsored programme initiative in Southern Africa to establish a common framework and respond to issues surrounding South African community sport and development organisations wishing to deliver their own projects and programmes and even design them with a more cost efficient, effective and sustainable benefit. The Youth Charter responded with a consultation and contribution to a UK Sport and UN ILO hosted workshop in Mozambique. A two-day seminar saw a national youth sports policy and social and human development policy through sport framework agreed and an offer extended to the Youth Charter to deliver the social coach workshop. This overall approach was presented to an international audience at the Magglingen 2005 Conference with preparations made for its delivery. A number of challenges were experienced resulting in the social coach workshop finally hosted and delivered in Namibia by the Namibian government and Sports Commission. Participation was also forthcoming from Zambia and South Africa with a number of leading NGO’s in the region in attendance. As a result, the Africawise toolkit was, designed and developed and established by Africans for Africans and realised for those in the developed world for the developing world. Twenty-two social coaches were in attendance and also saw the first Youth Charter social coach accreditations offered anywhere in the world. The project was independently reviewed and highlighted the need for more sustainable resources as part of the continued ability for the social coaches to utilise their toolkits as the all-important tools in measuring, mapping and tracking the impact of their efforts as part of the collective and integrated Southern Africa contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.