The Facts:

Country: Egypt, Minya
Launched: 2006
Partners: Nike, Ashoka, Al Tanwir (Association for Education & Development)
Objectives: To activate the right of Egyptian girls in sports through encouraging the spirit of competition in volleyball
Program Highlights:

• A massive 17 of the 20 public schools in Minya participated in the all girls Volleyball tournament
• The program saw 200 Egyptian girls playing organised volleyball

“The impact the program has had on the girls socially has been incredible. It has shown to have strengthened the relationships between the girls, their parents and their teachers. The girls now feel respected and content that their opinions and desires have been acknowledged,” says Magdy Aziz, Ashoka Minya Girls Volleyball Director.

Located in the underdeveloped region of Upper Egypt, The Minya Girls Volleyball Program focuses on advocating gender equality among girls in public schools of the Minya Governorate.

The program is a joint initiative between Ashoka, Nike and Al Tanwir. According to the Rights of the Child (1989 UN Convention), the child has the right to take rest, to have spare time, to practice sports and relaxation that is suitable to her age, and she has the right to participate freely. Magdy Aziz, Ashoka Director, saw that the Egyptian girls were being denied this right and put forth his efforts to rectify that.

The Project entitled, ‘Your right: Play. Compete’ was an overwhelming success, with 17 of the 20 public primary schools in Minya participating. Girls were organized into teams in governmental primary schools and were trained by volleyball specialists for five months. Girls then participated in a regional tournament consisting of 43 matches. This marked the beginning of the fun and competitive culmination of the program.
Through the practicing of volleyball in an organized framework the girls learned the spirit of teamwork and competition. They acquired the knowledge, skills and discipline required to successfully be a part of a team. And it has begun to tear down barriers of discrimination which has previously limited the girls’ participation in sport.

Nike, committed to challenging worldwide resistance to girls’ participation in sport were pleased to be able to fund the entire project and contribute equipment.

After just the first volleyball tournament exciting changes were already beginning to take place with the girls. “They have become more self confident and happy knowing they can now practice the same sports as boys, and they were overjoyed to have a space where they were free to express themselves.” Furthermore, this little taster has injected many of the girls with the enthusiasm to continue practicing sport.

Although many exciting changes have taken place, Magdy says, there is still a lot more work to do, “We are still working hard to continue applying human rights concepts, including the rights of girls to participate in different kinds of sports. This practice faces a lot of opposition from society as a whole, especially in Upper Egypt. This resistance is due to an inherited Egyptian culture that says girls do not have the right to play sport in a framework which encourages competition and creates spirit of challenge.”
Nevertheless, Magdy and his team are still steamrolling ahead with passion and enthusiasm and are full of confidence their work will continue to break more barriers. The second phase of the initiative will grant girls the opportunity to practice other sports, including soccer.

Visit www.nikewomen.com and vote for Egypt – El Minya Girls Volleyball if you think this program deserves a grant from Nike.

To learn more about Ashoka, visit the site here.