Charter for Northern Ireland is an organisation dedicated to the transformation of societies in conflict to a peaceful outcome resulting in sustainable peace and reconciliation. Utilising community development techniques, measured against National Occupational Standards (CD NOS) as a change management mechanism to deal with the social and economic deprivation that is associated with civil unrest and conflict.  Its guiding principles are social justice based on equality, sustainable development and partnership working on regional and international bases.

The primary objective of Charter NI is to engage in collaborative working :-

To sustain peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and with its neighbours within the context of an overall Human Rights based approach.

To engage Ethnic minorities who come to Northern Ireland to find work and to welcome those families who want to integrate into Northern Ireland life.

To give these people a voice and to create opportunities for them so they can be part of Northern Ireland life as equals.

To establish a FootballfestNI 7-a-side football tournament with 26 teams (with 6 women’s teams) & festival to highlight anti-racist and anti-hate crime.

To attract over 400 people from local communities and various ethnic minorities to participate in the event, including people from across the border and cross community.

To reverse the negative stereotype image that the Loyalist community has in relation to hate crime and ethnic intolerance

This tournament is one aspect of our overall strategy to address the issues around ethnic minorities who come to Northern Ireland to work and welcome those families who want to integrate into Northern ireland life. It is a continuation of our work to address ‘Hate Crime’s’ over the last four years where we have successfully organised more than twenty events and brought together people from various ethnic minorities to interact with local people from Northern Ireland.

Many of the participants will be traveling considerable distances including Dublin, Limerick, and Donegal and Omagh and there will also be teams from other parts of Northern Ireland participating. The festival will adopt a fully inclusive approach with groups from a whole range of ethnic backgrounds including;African, Polish, Chinese, Travelers and Indian. There will also be groups from a cross community bases who are addressing issues of sectarianism and who are actively pursuing peace and building a new future for our society. The whole programme will be deeply embedded in the local community.