KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 27

The teams from Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) and Association of the Nepalese Alumni from Australia (ANAA) played a mixed-gender friendly football match at the ANFA Complex grounds today.

The match was organised by Sathi, a nongovernment organisation in association with ANAA, NSJF, All Nepal Football Association and Australian Embassy, to mark 16-day of activism against gender-based violence and to celebrate the International Day for the elimination of violence against women, with the theme of Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now.

Australia's Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk said the women and girls in general were vulnerable to gender-based violence. 'This vulnerability is compounded when women identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, when they live with disabilities, are indigenous or from ethnic minorities, where they are migrants or refugees and when they are living through natural and other humanitarian crises,' Volk said. Volk called on the journalists, participants and audience to intensify their efforts to promote women in sports and shift gender stereotypes, as well as harness sport as a tool to fight against gender-based discrimination.

Member of the Committee of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CE- DAW) Bandana Rana said football could influence a large audience, especially youth, men and boys. 'This mixed-gender friendly match can score a common goal for ending all discrimination against women and girls and building a society where no rights are violated, and no one is left behind.'

A version of this article appears in the print on November 28, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.