UNAIDS ‘Protect the Goal’ campaign is a global social movement, mobilizing the power of sport to empower young people to access HIV services
UNAIDS Protect the Goal campaign has been launched in Brazil on the eve of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The campaign kick-off was announced at a special event on 9 June at the emblematic Castro Alves Theatre in Salvador, Brazil. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe was joined by global and local partners, including the Government of the State Bahia, the Salvador City Hall, the Brazilian Health Ministry, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Protect the Goal spokespersons, Ndaba and Kweku Mandela.
As part of the Protect the Goal campaign during the World Cup in Brazil, 2 million condoms and Protect the Goal leaflets are being distributed across the 12 World Cup host cities and free rapid HIV tests will be offered at local Fan Fests. Other cities such as Aracajú, Porto Seguro, Ribeirão Preto, Santos and many more are joining the campaign and schools in the state of Bahia are participating with contests and HIV training programmes.
Protect the Goal was first launched at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. To symbolize the strong links between Latin America and Africa, the ‘Protect the Goal World tour’ was launched during the friendly match between South Africa and Brazil in March 2014. The tour saw the passing of the ‘Protect the Goal’ football through the countries participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In recent weeks, the Protect the Goal ball was signed by the Heads of State of Algeria, Argentina, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Honduras, and Nigeria, and Uruguay. The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has signed the Protect the Goal football as have many heads of UN agencies and the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Protect the Goal campaign aims to raise global awareness of HIV, encourage young people to commit to HIV prevention; and to emphasize the need to ensure universal access for all eligible for HIV treatment by 2015, the deadline for the UN Millennium Development Goals.
"Protect the Goal is more than just a global HIV awareness campaign. It is a bold social movement, uniting people from around the world with the power of sport and social change. It is an honour to launch the Protect the Goal campaign in Salvador with global partners and our hosts here in Salvador, Brazil."
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS
"This project, carried out in partnership with UNAIDS, is how the Ministry of Health of Brazil is implementing innovative HIV prevention strategies for young people."
Brazilian Health Minister Arthur Chioro
"People will be looking at my country, wanting to see great football during the World Cup. This is a great opportunity, so I want to help UNAIDS and be part of the winning team against HIV."
David Luiz, Vice-Captain of the Brazilian National Team and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador
