While the world eagerly awaits the start of the Olympics later this year, for the children at Bor Girls’ school, there is a much more exciting sporting activity: the first girls’ football class in Bor.  While to many, the comparison between the two events seems unusual, it is the key Olympic values of Equality and Determination which defines the Bor Girls’ School football team.  While football and sport in general are second nature to their brothers, for many of the girls, they are experiencing the thrill of being on a sporting team for the very first time.  An initiative introduced by UNMISS Sector East staff to promote Gender Equality, this training involves both male and female Peacekeepers and UN Police, not only teaching the girls how to play football but also key values such as teamwork, leadership and good sportsmanship.

UN studies have shown us that sport is a significant equaliser and first step in empowering women and girls. With football for girls a new concept in this region, UN staff were unsure how successful it would be and whether the teachers and girls would welcome the endeavour.   However, this question was answered within minutes of the first training session starting with the smiles on the girls faces removing any doubt.  While initially starting with 30 girls, the program has grown over the weeks with now close to 40 girls being mentored by up to 10 UN Peacekeepers and Police every Friday.  As the different UN staff members rotate as instructors each week, the girls are able to appreciate the full diversity of the UN as men and women from different countries introduce themselves at the start of each session.  There are welcoming smiles of recognition from the girls when staff from fellow African Union countries introduce themselves and looks of amazement when Peacekeepers say they are from countries on the other side of the world such as South Korea, Australia and Jordan to name a few.

Through providing uniformed role models of both genders, the girls are able to see what their future might look like, allowing them to question what else they might be able to achieve.  While initially shy and reserved, after only 6 weeks of training we are now seeing the girls truly come alive, relishing the competition and importantly, acting as role models in their own right for their younger sisters who watch on from the sidelines.