Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) representatives joined more than 80 participants from across the Pacific at the third Regional Safeguarding Workshop, hosted by the Oceania Impact Network in partnership with Team Up.
The three-day event focused on building safeguarding capacity, sharing knowledge, and empowering participants to apply learnings within their own organisations.
Safeguarding Leads and Social Responsibility Managers from seven OFC Member Associations including the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF), Samoa Football (SA), Fiji Football Association (FFA), Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA), Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF), and Tonga Football Association (TFA) joined National Olympic Committees, NGOs, sporting bodies, and regional service providers for an intensive programme of collaboration and training.
According to Palu Uhatahi Tuamoheloa, OFC’s Safeguarding and Wellbeing Officer, the workshop played a critical role in developing the practical skills of safeguarding leaders across the region.
“The scenarios and information shared have been instrumental to the Safeguarding Leads and Safeguarding Practitioners based on their roles and experience,” she said.
“The collaboration between OFC and Team Up plays a greater role in shaping our game in preparing, implementing and executing our beautiful game to ensure that everyone is safe, whether as a player, organiser, or official.”
Over the three days, participants engaged in practical sessions on bystander intervention, technology-facilitated violence, and reporting and referral pathways. The workshop was not only an opportunity to learn from expert facilitators but also a call to action, to return home and embed safeguarding more deeply within their organisations.
For Maria Rufina, Solomon Islands Football Federation Safeguarding Lead and Just Play Manager, the most valuable part of the experience was reflecting on how to apply new knowledge.
“Having and attending these Safeguarding workshops is not only important to learn from the facilitators and other organisations,” she explained, “but more importantly, it’s about what I do when I return to my organisation.”
Maria added that she had learned a great deal over the three days.
“The sessions on Technology-Facilitated Violence and the Bystander Intervention were really interesting as I see that these are areas our football community can benefit from.”
Christine Wamala Uru, Social Responsibility and Programme Manager for the Papua New Guinea Football Association, shared similar reflections.
“I found the workshop to be very informative. One key takeaway is how Sport for Development programs understand the reporting referrals to service providers. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.”
Tuamoheloa noted that this continuity of learning reflects OFC’s broader vision for safeguarding development.
“At the beginning of this year, OFC ran a Safeguarding Training of Trainers, and most of those participants returned for these three days,” she explained.
“This workshop builds their capacity in areas such as technology-facilitated violence, Safeguarding MERL, and the importance of embedding safeguarding into major event planning which is currently being done by the OFC Competitions Department when preparing for regional competitions to ensure that everyone involved is safe from harm and abuse.”
OFC’s Safeguarding Training of Trainers programme provided a strong foundation for many attendees. This workshop expanded upon that learning with sessions on Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) and integrating safeguarding into event planning. These efforts reinforce OFC’s long-term commitment to embedding safeguarding principles across its competitions, programmes, and community initiatives.