Deadline: 11-Oct-2025
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has announced a new Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the “Swimming for Wellbeing” Sports for Development (S4D) Programme, a pilot initiative aimed at improving the health, safety, and resilience of children and adolescents in the Maldives, particularly in South Nilandhe Atoll and Greater Malé.
With a funding allocation of USD 22,000, the programme seeks to promote swimming as both a life-saving skill and a holistic wellbeing intervention that integrates physical fitness, mental health, and social inclusion.
The initiative is designed to provide structured swimming opportunities in five islands and Greater Malé through safe, inclusive, and accessible facilities. The programme will prioritize equitable participation, ensuring that girls, children with disabilities, and youth from remote communities have access to quality swimming lessons in secure environments supported by trained lifeguards and gender-sensitive design standards.
A central component of the project focuses on capacity building, training at least 100 coaches, PE teachers, and youth leaders in inclusive swimming instruction and psychosocial support. The training will incorporate life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and nutrition awareness, enabling facilitators to link sports with positive health and lifestyle behaviors.
By the end of the pilot, participating children and adolescents are expected to show measurable improvements in water confidence, survival skills, and overall physical fitness, as well as enhanced mental well-being, including reduced stress and improved emotional resilience. The integration of nutrition and healthy lifestyle education will also help lower risks of non-communicable diseases among youth.
The programme emphasizes community engagement and ownership, empowering local councils, schools, youth clubs, and civil society organizations to lead inclusive swimming events, monitor progress, and sustain interventions beyond the pilot. Activities such as Fun Swim Days and Inclusive Swim Challenges are expected to reach at least 15 percent of each island’s population, fostering a community-wide culture of safety, inclusion, and wellbeing.
Insights from this pilot will inform national education, health, and sports policies, embedding swimming into school and community systems as a life skill and well-being activity. By doing so, the initiative will contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health, education, gender equality, and social inclusion in the Maldives.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.