A new grassroots programme looking to promote and raise awareness of gender equality through football has been launched in Uruguay.

The project is the result of a collaboration between the Uruguayan National Institute for Women (Inmujeres), the national body for youth football (ONFI) and the ministry of sport and is expected to reach 60,000 children.

"Youth football is a school. Here you learn to work as a team, you learn to win and to lose, and you learn many more important values." said Mariella Mazzotti, a representative of Inmujeres.

Recent numbers have revealed that the number of girls enrolled in football increased from 42 in 2005 to 2,700 in 2017 in ONFI bodies, a slow growth that the programme looks to address.

Workshops and capacity trainings will be promoted as part of the programme to coaches, club directors, referees and parents.

ONFI, an umbrella organisation of 700 youth football organisations in Uruguay, will continue promote across its members football strategies that bring girls and boys to play together, encouraging girls to play in girls-only and in mixed teams.