Fair Play for Girls

This initiative draws on athletics to promote the right of equal access to education for girls and boys in South Asia. Major sporting events are means for raising awareness, generating public support, and mobilising resources for girls' education. Further, girls' mental and physical health is a key focus; in the words of UNICEF's Carol Bellamy, "Playing sports is a fundamental part of a healthy childhood. More than just recreation, sports is a 'school for life' where children can learn skills such as discipline, confidence and leadership and core principles such as tolerance, co-operation and respect." Organisers observe that girls in South Asia are often denied the chance to play and participate in recreational activities, with consequent adverse effects on their social inclusion. Drawing on the global power of sport and the appeal of cricket in the region, this initiative seeks to communicate the message that all girls and boys should be educated - and hope that this message will be disseminated broadly.

Partnership is key to the effort; the initiative seeks to engage governments, businesses, community leaders and sporting organisations. Collaboration with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a key means of collaborating on a number of showcase cricket events. To cite another example, UNICEF joined hands with the Pakistan Cricket Board Women's Wing and the education department of Punjab to organise a 30-over women's cricket match (September 2005 in Lahore) which drew a 12,000-strong audience of girls. A "lively" song in the Urdu language ran as follows: "Our optimum goal is to get education and take the lead in sports for personality development. Education and games together give rise to a new spirit in us! We must all share and breathe the lively spirit of education and sports." The song signalled the start of a day-long cricket match between two women's teams. During an interval (break in play), two novice schoolgirl teams faced off for a UNICEF trophy. The stadium was decorated with banners and streamers featuring Meena - a popular cartoon character developed by UNICEF, and a symbol of what girls can achieve given equal opportunities.

Girls, Education, Rights, Health.

UNICEF claims that the single strongest factor in grassroots socio-economic development is girls' education. For example, each additional year of schooling for girls translates into a decline in child mortality and female fertility by 5% to 10%. Children whose mothers completed primary school are half as likely to suffer from malnutrition as mothers with no formal education.

Achieving the MDG of primary education for all by 2015 could be difficult or impossible in Pakistan. According to the 2003-04 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 7.85 million primary-school age children were out of school in Pakistan while UNICEF says that 13 million school-age children are not enrolled in primary schools. There are vast gender and regional disparities between the provinces in Pakistan. While the overall literacy rate in Sindh is 56%, it is only 36% in Balochistan and substantial disparities also exist at the district level within provinces. Pakistan's overall literacy rate is 54%. In sum, there are 43 million children out of school in South Asia, of which 26 million are girls.

Non-availability of middle and secondary schools or those at a distance have proved to be a deterrent for parents in sending their daughters to primary schools. Reflecting on strategies to ensure a more child-friendly learning environment for quality education, some have stressed the need to provide basic facilities (including water and toilets for girls), same-sex schools, more motivated and well-paid female teachers, a curriculum that has greater and more positive visibility of girls/females, a flexible time for enrolment, and an end to the custom of corporal punishment in schools.