The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced that 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 global charity 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 around the world.
During the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, UNICEF raised USD 180,000 as part of 'One Day 4 Children 'and this money will go directly to fund a girls' cricket project in Afghstan.
The program 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 program. Working with elders to reinforce the positive impact on cricket playing girls.
Monies raised during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 will go to similar projects in cricket playing nations, including an innovative program to promote girls' participation in cricket in Sri Lanka and build peace in communities.
"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 in a statement.
"Sport for development and in particular cricket can be a powerful tool to transform lives and the projects in Afghstan 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," he added.
UNICEF Australia Chair Ann Sherry AO said, "Cricket has tremendous power to make a difference in the lives of children, especially girls, by building leadership skills, empowering them to achieve their goals and building bridges within communities - so that we can ultimately build a better world together."
"We are excited to partner with the ICC on the Women's T20 World Cup 2020 and enormously proud that Australia is hosting this important event for women."
The ICC and UNICEF partnership commenced in 2015, as part of the ICC's global community outreach program 'Cricket 4 Good'. The partnership and public donations continue to bring positive change to children through the programs in cricket playing nations focused on empowering women and girls in cricket.
( With inputs from ANI )
