"Aurat Barabar Hay" (Women are Equal) Cricket Tournaments
Through series of cricket tournaments in conservative tribal communities in interior Balochistan, we’re mobilizing men to make a difference for women.
About You
Contact Information
Title
Ms
First name
Khalida
Last name
Brohi
Your job title
Youth Activist
Name of your organization
Youth and Gender Development Program
Organization type
A project that resides within an organization
Annual budget/currency
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Location
Project Street Address
Near Metrological Department Office, Zahidabad, Chemroke,
Project City
Khuzdar
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Pakistan
Your idea
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Other
If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below
Cricket
What approach does your initiative incorporate?
Capacity Building
Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2007
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Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
Social stigmas and prohibitions
Insight
Make the first step easier
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Name Your Project
"Aurat Barabar Hay" (Women are Equal) Cricket Tournaments
Describe Your Idea
Through series of cricket tournaments in conservative tribal communities in interior Balochistan, we’re mobilizing men to make a difference for women.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Through series of cricket tournaments in conservative tribal communities in interior Balochistan, we’re mobilizing men to make a difference for women.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
My project beneficiaries are indigenous women of Khuzdar, however this being an awareness raising program it takes in account almost all the women in the community and so our number of beneficiaries goes well beyond, into the very fabric of the society.
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
“Aurat Baraber hay” is an initiative of Youth and Gender Development Program which actually resides with Non Governmental organization Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI).
Participatory Development Initiative [PDI] is a not for profit and non-governmental organization. Launched on January 29, 2000 by a group of young community development professionals, human rights activists, trade unionists, researchers, media professionals and concerned citizens, PDI is registered under Societies Act 1860.
The organization is engaged in advocacy, campaigning, community awareness, mass mobilization, participatory community development, participatory research, and networking on the local, national as well as global issues negatively affecting the lives and the livelihoods of the poor communities.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Balochistan has strict tribal laws and social structures characterized by male domination. Women are viewed as property to be used as the male of the family likes, exemplified by the saying: Zan, Zar, Zameen (Women, Money, Land). This is one of the core challenges in bringing equity to women: changing male mindsets who think it a sin to speak for women’s rights.
The seemingly innocuous cricket tournaments are the lever to catch men’s attention in Khuzdar District, and mobilize then towards the message of women’s equality & equity. YGDP arranges the matches as per normal, with other teams from the district, through a selection of days, dates and teams. Sometimes the tournaments last for even two months. Message dissemination is usually done by brochures in national language and messages in the commentary of the tournaments. Banners and posters are used as well.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
Main aim: shifting paradigms of indigenous men’s thinking to realise their behavior towards women is wrong, and women should be given equal rights.
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
“Aurat Baraber Hay” is aimed to mobilize men and give them the message of women’s equality. Our impact has been wonderfully positive indeed, the women’s group which consisted of only 13 members at first, now has reached 130.
More of women participated in the skill building and capacity building sections of YGDP and got certificates of attaining sewing and computer classes.
As we see the change, it makes us feel that complete success isn’t far, though being tough the road is becoming easier when paradigms are being changed from the male side.
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
In time, certainly.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
Viewing only financial support as a resource is limiting. The young people make up my success story and they’re the force for change. I plan to grow tournaments to provincial levels & reach out to other districts too. The “Aurat Baraber Hay” message ought to go out to all conservative minds and am hoping to take it that far. Besides that, we believe that by mobilizing youth and building their capacities, we’re building a sustainable & effective approach, by using them as the tool for change
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
The initiative of Aurat Baraber Hay was financed by all self-support, at the first tournament money was gathered from the YGDP cricket team for the speakers and banners. Fortunantely enough, we could influence the director of the press club Khuzdar to come join us in the final match and distribute prizes to the winning team. He was very impressed by the message forwarding method and amazingly enough promised to further help arrange more of the tournents around the district.
So the next series got help we got was from him and from the NGO participatory Development Intiatives PDI whom we wrote for support.
Financing source
Annual budget
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Annual revenue generated
This field has not been completed. (150 characters or less)
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
This field has not been completed. (150 characters or less)
What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
At first our biggest barrier was that we weren’t a good number of youth together as it was a great challenge to bring along the girls, but now seeing the impact and the number of members growing we find it influencing enough to be funded.
However fundraising in Balochistan is still a problem as being a youth group we aren’t considered serious change makers in our community, even having to play a great role for the community in service delivery and other parts.
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
See answer to question above.
The Story
What stage is your project?
Ongoing project .
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
I’m from the small rural town of Khuzdar, Balochistan province, near Afghanistan and Iran.
My community is deeply immersed in tribal traditions and customs. Tribes have placed great emphasis on family and tribal honour on top of everything else. in this deeply conservative community, the lives of women and young people are severely constrained. Child marriage, wata sata prevention from getting higher education and having no access to essential services are the key issues effecting my community. Honour killings, though illegal, are a cultural reality.
To change this situation, in 2004 I founded the Youth and Gender Development Program and since then the campaigning towards gender equality started. I came up with the program of having tournaments when I created the boys cricket team in YGDP.
At the moment of YGDPs birth the initiative looked more at mobilizing women & building their capacities. A girl’s group was formed but soon enough the initiative faced great opposition and received threats that it has been giving anti-Islamic education to the girls and must be stopped. It was a bitter decision to stop with the weekly meetings but YGDP soon saw it the other way and chose a different path and the cricket team was built, consisting of only men.
Amazingly enough the men/boys in the teams soon found their perceptions changing about the program and they sent their sisters over for the women group or to take part in any other activities of YGDP.
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
My community is immersed in patriarchal tribal traditions with no rights for women. I escaped the horrifying laws and studied in Karachi where I grasped every opportunity towards brilliant success. It was “freedom” which was responsible for changing me & I wanted to work for the women who are less fortunate – who have no rights or decision making powers. I felt it was my human responsibility to do whatever I can to bring positive change.
(Optional) To be eligible for an additional prize, please select age range
18 – 22
 | 168 weeks agoSimon McKenzie said: The challenge that you face of changing male mindsets - I imagine - is frightening, inspiring and daunting. As I read your review, I get ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 169 weeks agoKhalida Brohi submitted this idea. |
