Football connects people all around the world. And as World Cup fever spreads, our friends over at Oxfam NZ have put together a handy list of those campaigns turning the passion of the beautiful game into something genuinely world-changing.

Don’t Drop The Ball On Aid

Rich governments aren’t keeping their promises on poverty. So with all eyes on Africa for the world’s biggest football tournament this month, Oxfam has launched a global game of keepy uppy that will link fans worldwide in an amazing video chain.

Oxfam asks football fans to join the world’s longest game of keepy uppy
Grab your football, shell suit and your camera and upload your keepy uppy video at www.dontdropaid.org

The launch of the action comes after the release of Oxfam’s new report, 21st Century Aid (PDF 1MB), which says that although aid has its faults, it has made a massive difference to the lives of millions of people in Africa and beyond.

1Goal – Education for all

1GOAL is a campaign seizing the power of football to ensure that education for all is a lasting impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Raising our voices all over the world we believe that, together, we can make education a reality for the 72 million boys and girls who are denied the chance to go to school.

1GOAL is bringing together footballers, fans, charities, corporations and individuals to lobby and achieve our ambitious aim of education for everyone. Over 9 million people worldside have already joined 1GOAL. By joining the 1GOAL team, you can strengthen the campaign’s voice and give it the best possible chance of success.

Visit www.join1goal.org

Love football, hate poverty?

To find out who you should be cheering for – visit www.whoshouldicheerfor.com to see the 32 World Cup 2010 teams ranked according social justice indicators such as the percentage of GDP spent on aid and on military, levels of inequality, carbon emissions, maternal mortality, life expectancy and the number of women in government.

Visit www.whoshouldicheerfor.com

Kick Up a Fuss flash game

Here’s a blast from the past! Four years ago, to celebrate the last world cup in Germany, Oxfam had this Flash game on our website to highlight the working conditions of sportwear workers in Asia. We thought it would be fun to bring it back for this year’s world cup.

Have a play and see how long you can keep that ball up!

Kick out poverty

The UNDP has launched a new initiative – a football themed website and TV commercial featuring stars Didier Drogba and Zinedine Zidane. This is in support of the Millennium Goals. On the Kick out poverty website you can watch the video of the TV commercial and find other activities in advance of the Millennium Development Goals review meeting in September.