By Clementine Klijberg | Director at Women Win
Had you met Siasokwe two years ago, you would have met a quiet young woman that never wanted to participate in group activities or speak if many other people were around. However, last year the Goal Programme came to her school in Zambia, facilitated by a local organisation called the National Organisation for Women in Sport Physical Activity and Recreation (NOWSPAR) with support of Women Win. Goal, a sport and life-skills programme for adolescent girls and young women, has helped Siasokwe make friends, “That are just like family,” she says.
Siasokwe just celebrated her 18th birthday and is now, “Able to participate in sport that she [I] never used to do and she [I] never thought she [I] could do- but thanks to NOWSPAR and the Goal Programme for coming to her [our] school!” She says, “Most girls are not able to come out and talk about things that are affecting us, speaking of myself, I have been involved in sports and I can sit in a group of my friends and talk about anything. I can say I am open now and more confident in myself.” Looking to the future, all she wants to do is speak to other girls about participating in Goal and share her enthusiasm.
The Goal Programme was started by Standard Chartered Bank in 2006 and Women Win joined forces with them in 2010 to bring about maximum impact and reach. Today, Goal is implemented by 60% of our local partners with great success.
We at Women Win believe that every girl has the potential to lead – herself, her peers and her community. Research shows that investing in females produces effects far beyond the individual. A girl multiplies the impact of an investment made in her future by extending the benefits to the world around her: she builds a better life for her family, a stronger community, a more stable nation, and eventually – collectively – a more equal world.
However, girls’ leadership is inhibited when gender inequity remains deeply entrenched and widely tolerated throughout the world. Gender discrimination, already present during childhood, often becomes more pronounced in the transition from child to woman. Limitations placed upon adolescent girls restrain them from fulfilling their potential, leaving them generally less educated, less healthy and less free than their male counterparts. Living as an adolescent girl in much of the world means facing the life-changing realities of early marriage, premature pregnancy, denial of education (especially secondary school), social isolation, female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence.
Girls are systematically exposed to major rights violations that have a huge cost on individuals, families and societies. Women Win believes that by improving the well-being of girls, we can deliver a measurable, positive impact with the distinct possibility of bringing exponential returns in addressing some of the world’s most complex, omnipresent issues.
It is with donations like yours, that stories like Siasokwe’s are possible. When a girl is free to participate in school and sports, she has the ability to become a leader in her community and positively influence others. When a girl participates in sport, she challenges the core of gender violence - inequity, power and cultural practices and beliefs. Women Win is dedicated to equipping adolescent girls to exercise their rights through sport. We want to thank our supporters for being part of their journey!
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