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Sports Reporter
GRASSROOTS Cricket Zimbabwe representative Saaj Patel was scheduled to fly out to India yesterday afternoon to attend Street Cricket World Cup summit from today to Friday this week.
The summit is a platform to prepare for the Street Cricket World Cup in September. Zimbabwe are looking at sending a team of less privileged/street connected kids to this event.
The second edition of the Street Child Cricket World Cup 2023 will welcome 23 teams from 17 countries in total to take part in a mixed-gender cricket tournament. The teams will play the game in the Street-20 format, designed to remove many of the barriers to participation. Each match is six-a-side, with equal numbers of girls and boys on each team.
In addition to cricket, the young people will also participate in a festival of art and a child-friendly Congress, all designed to advocate for the rights of street-connected children globally.
Announcing the teams, John Wroe, CEO, Street Child United said: “Across the world, street-connected young people live on, work in or are at risk of the streets. These young people are often stigmatised, mistreated and marginalised. Their voices are rarely heard.
“The Street Child Cricket World Cup uses the power of sport to provide a global platform for street children to be heard, so they can receive the protection, support, and opportunities that every child is entitled to.”
Save the Children, through one of its largest interventions — Making the Invisibles Visible — aims to create an enabling environment for all children living in street situations in India, thereby strengthening their access to the right to survival, development, participation, and protection, eventually unlocking their limitless potential.
The SCCWC 2023 follows the success of the inaugural event in London/Cambridge 2019, where eight teams competed, and Team India South emerged victorious after beating hosts England in a highly competitive final.
The winners will return in 2023 to defend their title alongside seven other teams from India who will represent organisations from across different regions of the country. They will be joined by teams from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, England, Hungary, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
In 2018 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on Sport as an enabler of sustainable development; recognising that sport has the power to change perceptions, prejudices, and behaviours, as well as to inspire people, break down racial and political barriers, combat discrimination and defuse conflict.
The Street Child Cricket World Cup 2023 will bring together street-connected children from across the globe to advocate for their fundamental human rights — identity, access to education, protection from violence, and gender equality. The event will create a lasting legacy, shifting negative perceptions and creating positive change in the lives of street-connected children worldwide.
Online Reporter