Ten American sports experts associated with the Women Win Foundation visited Islamabad and Karachi from April 17 to 28 and conducted workshops and activities promoting girls’ participation in sports.
During their visit, which was funded by the US embassy and organised by the Right to Play Pakistan, the American experts collaborated with Pakistani sports officials on how to use sports as a tool to advance adolescent girls’ rights and gender equity.
“The ultimate goal of this programme is that adolescent girls in Pakistan are empowered to exercise their rights to and through sport,” said Sarah Murray, US director of Women Win. “Research shows that investing in females produces effects far beyond an individual. An empowered girl or woman builds a better life for her family, a stronger community, a more stable nation, and eventually – collectively – a more equal world.”
The visitors also organised sports activities for Pakistani students, such as a sports clinic for English Access Micro-scholarship Programme students from Sir Syed Public School in Rawalpindi.
The US embassy will continue to partner with the Women Win Foundation to carry out additional activities supporting girls’ rights and gender equity. During the next phase of this programme, Women Win will manage a leadership camp for Pakistani coaches and athletes. The US embassy also supports Pakistani women’s empowerment through other initiatives, such as the Summer Sisters exchange programme and the US Agency for International Development’s Gender Equity Program.