Officials from both the British High Commission and the U.S. Embassy on Thursday called for the use of sports to empower women and create gender equality in all spheres of life.
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The acting British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Moon, said sports was a veritable tool to promote gender equality aside from the various international legislation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Moon spoke on the sidelines of the Generation Equality Football Competition to commemorate the 2020 International Women’s Day.
“Today is a day to have fun and watch the women play football, but there is a deeper political purpose behind these activities.
“The UK is absolutely committed to identifying more women in sports as part of a wider agenda to promote women and gender equality,” Moon said.
He said the UK would be collaborating more with the Nigerian government to promote women in all sectors, including politics, education and sports.
Similarly, the Chargè d Affaires, U.S Embassy in Nigeria, Kathleen FitzGibbon, while speaking at the same event said gender equality was critical to having an egalitarian society.
She said sports was one of the ways of promoting gender equality and the U.S. was committed to women sports right from the early age.
NAN reports that the six-team women competition was won by Team Helpline Foundation which defeated Team NUJ 2-0 in the final.
Earlier, Team U.S. had beaten their British High Commission (BHC) counterparts by the same scoreline to emerge third.
The football competition was organised by FAME Foundation as part of activities to commemorate the 2020 International Women’s Day.