AIM HIGH is IODR's latest community-based initiative to improve the livelihoods of needy children in the Indian Ocean region. Recognising the therapeutic power of sport, Aim High aims to use physical activity and recreational games to enhance the lives of thousands of society's most vulnerable children, the vast majority of whom have been denied their right to play by extreme poverty and poor living conditions. As the name suggests, Aim High seeks to reaffirm young people's drive and potential to accomplish themselves in wider society.

Using sport as their platform, Aim High programmes develop valuable transferable skills and attitudes in addition to imparting health and hygiene knowledge: enabling even the poorest children to aim higher and achieve far more than their personal circumstances might ordinarily allow.

IODR recognises the children of the Indian Ocean Region to be in particular need of such support following the 2004 South Asian Tsunami. Thousands are now entirely dependent upon external emergency responses and charitable aid, making sports development programmes like Aim High a particularly effective tool in combating the social and economic aftermath of the disaster upon the area's young people.

Aim High offers a much-needed opportunity for these youngsters to enjoy themselves despite their economic disadvantages, and attain important life skills such as confidence, team leadership, collective responsibility and discipline in the process. Such attributes both increase an individual's potential employability and enable them to become self-sufficient, which in turn lowers the collective vulnerability of the entire community in future. This reinforces IODR's stipulated commitment to providing sustainable and effective local aid to all the areas in which they operate.

Competitive team sports such as cricket and football are also invaluable in that they promote unity and togetherness irrespective of gender, background or disability. The Aim High programme provides a combination of sports resources, including equipment and sports facilities, structured play therapy sessions, coaching and personal support, and other sports-related training.