Cricket for good

a young girl holds a cricket bat while her coach looks on

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and UNICEF have launched a global partnership to empower women and girls and promote inclusion and gender equality through cricket.

The partnership includes initiatives to drive greater gender equity, mobilising the power of cricket to drive positive social change. As part of the partnership, the two organisations have launched the “Criiio 4 Good” programme for youth, providing opportunities to experience cricket while learning gender-based life skills.

Criiio 4 Good is available for free on the ICC and UNICEF websites in 12 languages. The programme consists of an eight-week lesson plan on the fundamentals of the sport and core life skill modules. The programme aims to get youth to become physically active, while learning the importance of gender equity and building skills like leadership, self-esteem, empathy, teamwork and goal-setting.

The programme has been developed by leading educational and cricket experts with the main purpose of getting people active. It can be used by schools, clubs, communities and individuals. It is based on a number of key principles:

A fun first experience for someone new to cricket
An adaptable resource that can be adapted to suit different groups (age, ability, space, time)
A programme which is facilitated not coached

Cricket for Good is the ICC’s global community outreach programme, aimed at leveraging the vast power and reach of cricket to transform the lives of children and families worldwide. The programme works to tackle the issues facing children around the world. It is helping children have better food, water, health and education, as well as protecting children from abuse and empowering children and young people with life skills.

Australia men’s T20I captain Aaron Finch said, “Cricket has more than one billion fans and we have a huge platform to empower women and girls through our sport. The Criiio 4 Good programme gives young girls and boys the chance to get active whilst learning life skills that are essential for gender equity. Every single cricket fan can join me and #BeAChampion and together we can harness cricket to build a better future.”

Speaking on the partnership, Geoff Allardice, ICC CEO, said: “Harnessing the power of cricket to build a better future is a central part of our global growth strategy. So, I am delighted to be continuing our partnership with UNICEF to empower women and girls through cricket.

“The Criiio 4 Good programme is a wonderful tool for anyone around the world to use to get young girls and boys active having fun with a bat and ball and also learn vital life-skills that will help shape a more gender equal world in the future.”

Elaborating on the partnership, Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, said, “The partnership with ICC is fantastic and powerful. It reaches more than a billion cricket fans with the message to be a champion for girls. When girls’ do better, we all do better. We know that the benefits of gender equality go beyond their direct impact on children. With gender equality, we create a world of tolerance and shared responsibility – a world that is fit for children.”