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With a focus on empowering women and girls through cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its partnership extension with UNICEF through to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.

The extension of the global charity partnership will once again see the ICC provide UNICEF with a platform for fundraising to help bring positive change to women and girls and drive awareness for the work that UNICEF does as a global champion for children’s rights in cricket playing nations around the world.

UNICEF Australia Chair Ann Sherry AO added “Cricket has tremendous power to make a difference in the lives of children, especially girls, by building leadership skills, empowering them to achieve their goals and building bridges within communities - so that we can ultimately build a better world together.”

“We are excited to partner with the ICC on the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 and enormously proud that Australia is hosting this important event for women.”

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will take place across Australia from 21st  February – 8th  March 2020, culminating in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Sunday 8th  March - International Women’s Day. This presents the opportunity to set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting fixture.

During the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, UNICEF raised $180,000 as part of One Day 4 Children and this money will go directly to fund a girls’ cricket project in Afghanistan. The programme which will run for 12 months, will comprise of a new competitive cricket competition for school aged girls as well as training for 120 teachers and providing cricket equipment to deliver cricket and a community outreach program working with elders to reinforce the positive impact girls playing cricket can have.

Monies raised during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 will go to similar projects in cricket playing nations, including an innovative program to promote girls’ participation in cricket in Sri Lanka and build peace in communities. Fans can be part of changing lives through cricket by donating various set amounts when buying tickets and at in-stadia activations. Fans watching globally will also be able to join in and make a difference through an online mechanism that will be promoted throughout the event.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney advised “we are delighted to extend our partnership with UNICEF to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. I want us to harness the extraordinary reach of our sport to empower women and girls around the world through cricket and using ICC events as a fundraising platform enables us to do that.

“Sport for development and in particular cricket can be a powerful tool to transform lives and the projects in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are designed to have a long-term positive impact with teachers being trained to deliver cricket to girls for years to come.”

The ICC and UNICEF partnership commenced in 2015, as part of the ICC’s global community outreach program ‘Cricket 4 Good’. The partnership and public donations continue to bring positive change to children through the programs in cricket playing nations focused on empowering women and girls in cricket.

Fans buying tickets have the option of making a donation to UNICEF at the point of purchase.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will see 10 teams contest a total of 23 matches in six host cities, starting with a blockbuster match-up between hosts Australia and India at Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday 21st February 2020.

Later in 2020, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will take place in Australia, from 18th  October – 15th  November, comprising 16 teams contesting 45 matches in seven host cities.

Image: Mithali Raj and Alex Blackwell have been trailblazers for women and helped launch the UNICEF partnership extension with the ICC

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