According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child is equal whether it is a girl or boy. However, we find that there is a huge gap on enjoying rights by girl children due to patriarchal structure and stereotyping thinking of the society. It is mostly believed that girls cannot do many tasks like boys; especially they are not suitable in the outdoor activities. Therefore, girl children are being restricted at home. In our country, outdoor sports like football, cricket and so on are mostly considered for boy children. To hit at the stereotyping thinking of the society and to make aware the community on girls’ rights, LRP-50 organized a football match for girl children, as a part of celebrating Child Rights Week 2021. ActionAid Bangladesh organized the match and children were also given their team jerseys. After the match, Tusa (12), from the winning team shared that “We enjoyed playing the football match. We wore a yellow color jersey, and our opponent team wore a green one. I was the captain of my team. We practiced hard to win the game. We seriously practiced for a week in the afternoon. We scored 02 goals. We also felt excited when the audience applauded us. Through this game, we realize that girls can also make difference if they get the chance. Besides, my team became very happy too when we got the winning trophy. Besides, we appreciated giving a medal to each player of both teams. We will continue our football playing; so that we can do better in the future too”.

On the other hand, Sinthea (11), from the opponent team told that “Though we could not win the match, the learning of the game was significant for us. Through our game, we tried to make people aware that all are equal. Girls can do everything like boys if they get the opportunity. But it is also realized that we all should work together to create the opportunity for us to ensure our rights. Thanks to ActionAid to arrange this match for us”.