The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced it has extended its partnership with UNICEF through to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 with the focus on empowering women and girls through cricket.
The extension of the partnership will once again see the ICC provide UNICEF with a platform for fundraising to help bring positive change to women and girls and drive awareness for the work that UNICEF does as a global champion for children’s rights in cricket playing nations.
During the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, UNICEF raised $180,000 as part of One Day 4 Children and this money will go directly to fund a girls’ cricket project in Afghanistan.
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The programme which will run for 12 months, will comprise a new competitive cricket competition for school aged girls as well as training for 120 teachers and providing cricket equipment to deliver cricket and a community outreach programme working with elders to reinforce the positive impact girls playing cricket can have.
Money raised during CWC19 will fund a girls’ cricket project in Afghanistan.
Money raised during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 will go to similar projects in cricket playing nations, including an innovative programme to promote girls’ participation in cricket in Sri Lanka and build peace in communities.
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Fans can be part of changing lives through cricket by donating various set amounts when buying tickets and at in-stadia activations. Fans watching globally will also be able to join in and make a difference through an online mechanism that will be promoted throughout the event.
“We are delighted to extend our partnership with UNICEF to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. I want us to harness the extraordinary reach of our sport to empower women and girls around the world through cricket and using ICC events as a fundraising platform enables us to do that,” ICC CEO Manu Sawhney said.
“Sport for development and in particular cricket can be a powerful tool to transform lives and the projects in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are designed to have a long-term positive impact with teachers being trained to deliver cricket to girls for years to come.”
The ICC and UNICEF partnership commenced in 2015, as part of the ICC’s global community outreach programme ‘Cricket 4 Good’ The partnership and public donations continue to bring positive change to children through the programmes in cricket playing nations focused on empowering women and girls in cricket.