A Whole New Ball Game 

By Didier Drogba, Professional Footballer and Founder of the Didier Drogba Foundation 

 

Amid the championships and career highlights, one of my proudest achievements to date was the creation of the Didier Drogba Foundation (DDF). When we launched in 2007, it was with the hope of making a positive impact in the lives of the people of Côte d’Ivoire, elsewhere in Africa, and around the world.

On a personal level, I wanted to do my small part to provide young people in my country with the same opportunities that form the cornerstone of my success today.

At DDF, we believe that investing in young people’s health and education is not only key to theirwellbeing and ability to realize their full potential, but also essential to developing thriving and resilient communities.

This journey has also taught us the need to address one of the major—and often overlooked—challenges facing young people today: access to contraception.

Despite major progress, teen pregnancy is a serious and growing issue that affects about 42% of girls in Côte d’Ivoire–70.9% of these are unplanned. Unintended pregnancy is not only a health issue, but one that is both deeply rooted in, and perpetuates, the cycle of poverty. I’ve learned it’s one of the primary reasons girls drop out of school early, diminishing their access to future opportunities. It’s also associated with increased death, HIV infection, and disability, particularly among girls and women 15 to 24 years old.

The global health experts we’ve worked with have shared that many young people urgently need health information and access to contraception, but face countless barriers, including health providers who don’t understand their unique needs, don’t have contraceptives in stock, or discriminate against them.

I’ve gotten the chance to see first-hand that overcoming these barriers requires us to work differently, smarter, and forge new and creative partnerships.

This is why DDF is pleased to announce we are working with PSI and CARE on a transformative initiative to put young people at the center of claiming their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

But this isn’t about us deciding what’s best for youth. It’s about young people taking the lead, elevating their voices, and advocating for programs that work for them. We’re joining their team, not the other way around.

Putting young people in the driver seat presents a unique opportunity that allows them to hold stakeholders accountable and helps to build engagement between youth and decision makers, and thus, eventually improve the quality of services they receive.

I’m excited to work with young people to co-create the tools they need to thrive and then get out of their way, because I believe that’s when communities and countries thrive.

Sign up to
Receive Updates

Donate to
Support Our Work

Related

OUR COMMITMENTS

The Future of Work

With overarching commitments to flexibility in our work, and greater wellbeing for our employees, we want to ensure PSI is positioned for success with a global and holistic view of talent. Under our new “work from (almost) anywhere,” or “WFAA” philosophy, we are making the necessary investments to be an employer of record in more than half of U.S. states, and consider the U.S. as one single labor market for salary purposes. Globally, we recognize the need to compete for talent everywhere; we maintain a talent center in Nairobi and a mini-hub in Abidjan. PSI also already works with our Dutch-based European partner, PSI Europe, and we’re creating a virtual talent center in the UK.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Meaningful Youth Engagement

PSI is firmly committed to the meaningful engagement of young people in our work. As signatories of the Global Consensus Statement on Meaningful Adolescent & Youth Engagement, PSI affirms that young people have a fundamental right to actively and meaningfully engage in all matters that affect their lives. PSI’s commitments aim to serve and partner with diverse young people from 10-24 years, and we have prioritized ethics and integrity in our approach. Read more about our commitments to the three core principles of respect, justice and Do No Harm in the Commitment to Ethics in Youth-Powered Design. And read more about how we are bringing our words to action in our ICPD+25 commitment, Elevating Youth Voices, Building Youth Skills for Health Design.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Zero Tolerance for Modern-Day Slavery and Human Trafficking

PSI works to ensure that its operations and supply chains are free from slavery and human trafficking. Read more about this commitment in our policy statement, endorsed by the PSI Board of Directors.

OUR COMMITMENTS

UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT

Since 2017, PSI has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, a commitment to align strategies and operations with universal principles of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Read about PSI’s commitment to the UN Global Compact here.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Environmental Sustainability

The health of PSI’s consumers is inextricably linked to the health of our planet. That’s why we’ve joined the Climate Accountability in Development as part of our commitment to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Read about our commitment to environmental sustainability.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity

PSI does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, protected veteran status or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Read our full affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policy here.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Zero Tolerance for Discrimination and Harassment

PSI is committed to establishing and maintaining a work environment that fosters harmonious, productive working relationships and encourages mutual respect among team members. Read our policy against discrimination and harassment here.

PSI is committed to serving all health consumers with respect, and strives for the highest standards of ethical behavior. PSI is dedicated to complying with the letter and spirit of all laws, regulations and contractual obligations to which it is subject, and to ensuring that all funds with which it is entrusted are used to achieve maximum impact on its programs. PSI provides exceptionally strong financial, operational and program management systems to ensure rigorous internal controls are in place to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse and ensure compliance with the highest standards. Essential to this commitment is protecting the safety and well-being of our program consumers, including the most vulnerable, such as women and children. PSI maintains zero tolerance for child abuse, sexual abuse, or exploitative acts or threats by our employees, consultants, volunteers or anyone associated with the delivery of our programs and services, and takes seriously all complaints of misconduct brought to our attention.

OUR FOCUS

Diversity and Inclusion

PSI affirms its commitment to diversity and believes that when people feel respected and included they can be more honest, collaborative and successful. We believe that everyone deserves respect and equal treatment regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural background or religious beliefs. Read our commitment to diversity and inclusion here. Plus, we’ve signed the CREED Pledge for Racial and Ethnic Equity. Learn more.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Gender Equality

PSI affirms gender equality is a universal human right and the achievement of it is essential to PSI’s mission. Read about our commitment to gender equality here.

Cover

01 #PeoplePowered

02 Breaking Taboos

03 Moving Care Closer to Consumers

04 Innovating on Investments

ICFP Q&A:
Let's Talk About Sex

icons8-linkedin-circled-240
icons8-twitter-circled-240