International Day of the Girl Child
October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child which is commemorated annually. The theme of this year is Digital Generation, Our Generation, aimed at advocating for women’s equality for using the internet and digital services.
Working with Adolescent Girls & Young Women
Play it Forward continues to use football as a tool to advocate for women equality and through various interventions such as our Girls Moving Forward programme providing entrepreneurship & financial literacy education, sexual and reproductive health and rights through football sessions and various other opportunities to ensure girls realise their full potential.
The Own Your Destiny programme is also another intervention in partnership with School Club Zambia, using football as a tool to provide opportunities for 750 young girls who are out of school in Sinazongwe Province by providing sexual and reproductive health and rights football sessions, numeracy and literacy, financial literacy education and micro-finance and entrepreneurship to ensure they gain back their confidence to get back into the education system.
2021 International Day of the Girls child commemorations
Gender Based Violence (GBV) Focus Group Discussion
There has been a surge in GBV cases among women and young girls during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the commemoration of the international day of the girl child, the GBV one-stop center of Livingstone had a group discussion with the girls educating them on how to identify abuse and where they can report cases of abuse as it has been noted that most GBV cases go unreported, due to lack of knowledge and harmful gender norms in the society.
Liquid Intelligent Services Visit
This year’s theme Digital Generation, Our Generation is a reminder that as the world becomes increasingly digitalised, everyone including girls and women must be carried along. During the commemoration of this day, we took the girls for a tour to Liquid Intelligent Services, one of the prominent internet service providers in Zambia, to provide them with an opportunity to learn about various internet services available and how they can use digital platforms positively.
Visit to the Mayor’s Office
The girls were privileged to meet Her Worship the first ever female Mayor in Livingstone; a symbol of resilience and hard work among women. In her talk she highlighted the importance of obtaining a quality education as it will empower them and decide their future, “Don’t let your background limit you”, further encouraging them to stay away from negative vices such as alcohol abuse, drugs & early marriages. Her worship the mayor stated she will continue supporting the team and pledged to donate footballs to the team.