Having played for several top European clubs, including Chelsea, Galatasaray, and Marseille, Didier Drogba is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. However, Drogba is not only known for his exploits on the football field, being recognised for his long time humanitarian and activism work. He has been a strong advocate for peace, stability, and development in Ivory Coast, his home country, and Africa as a whole. Using his success as a footballer to support various charitable causes, Drogba created the Didier Drogba Foundation in, a non-profit organisation, in 2007. With a focus on providing healthcare and education to underprivileged children in Africa, the foundation has since built and equipped several hospitals and schools across Ivory Coast and other African countries. The foundation has also notably been involved in conflict solving, reconciliation and disaster relief following the country's 2010 post-election crisis.

Drogba played a crucial role in brokering an agreement between warring factions in Ivory Coast, famously urging fellow Ivorians to lay down their arms and come together for the sake of the nation. Drogba has also been a vocal advocate for ending child labor in the cocoa industry in Ivory Coast, which supplies nearly half of the world's cocoa. He has called on chocolate manufacturers and governments to take action to eradicate the problem. In recognition of his humanitarian and activism work, Drogba was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2007. He has also been honoured with several awards, including the FIFA Fair Play Award in 2013 and the UEFA President's Award in 2015, for his contributions to society beyond football.