A FIFA Foundation Board Member, Madam Isha Johansen, has called for greater collaboration in leveraging football as a catalyst for social change and prison reform across Africa.
She made the call during a courtesy visit to the Director-General of the Ghana Prison Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, in Accra, as part of her regional engagements focused on using football to promote rehabilitation, reintegration and social development within correctional institutions.
Commending the Ghana Prison Service for its progressive initiatives, Madam Johansen praised the Service’s commitment to rehabilitation, skills development and inmate welfare. She lauded Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie’s visionary and transformative leadership, encouraging her to continue championing innovative programmes that give inmates a renewed sense of purpose and hope.
Drawing from her extensive experience, Madam Johansen, who previously served on the FIFA Council, the CAF Executive Committee, and as President of the Sierra Leone Football Association, shared success stories from football-based rehabilitation projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia. She highlighted how the sport has helped inmates develop discipline, teamwork and self-confidence, fostering positive behavioral transformation.
As part of her proposals, Madam Johansen suggested the establishment of a “Football for Reform Summit” to be hosted in Ghana, bringing together representatives from the Football Associations and Prison Services of Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The summit, she noted, would provide a platform to share best practices and innovative approaches to integrating football into correctional reform initiatives.
In her response, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie expressed appreciation for Madam Johansen’s visit and her commitment to supporting the Service’s reformation agenda. She commended the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for championing the GFA Foundation Ghana Prisons Project and the CAF Football for Reform initiative.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie reaffirmed the Ghana Prison Service’s commitment to rehabilitation through education, vocational training and structured recreational programmes, noting ongoing plans to establish industrial parks aimed at transforming prisons into centres of economic productivity and skill development. She emphasized the Service’s openness to partnerships that align with its goal of reforming and reintegrating inmates into society.
Both parties reaffirmed their shared commitment to advancing initiatives that promote dignity, purpose and transformation within correctional facilities, anchored on the belief that football can be a powerful instrument for change.
As part of her visit, Madam Johansen is also expected to visit the Senior Correctional Centre to interact with inmates and observe ongoing rehabilitation and skills development programmes.
She was accompanied by Mr. Malcolm Frazier Appeadu, Director of the GFA Foundation.