13 October 2010 - About 130 cricket-frenzied girls in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province gathered on Monday in Jalalabad to play a UN-funded cricket match, something unthinkable for girls until recent years in this part of the country.

The schoolgirls and another 200 boys spent three days in Jalalabad with members of the Afghan national cricket team and a female trainer specially brought from Pakistan, to learn how to bat, bowl and field, according to UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which funded the event co-organized by the Department of Youth and an NGO called Afghan Youth Cricket Support Organization (AYCSO).

The event is a part of several youth-related programmes designed and implemented by various UN agencies to mark the International Year of the Youth in Afghanistan. This is the second such event to be organized in the country.

Aziz Noor of UNICEF-Jalalabad said the UN body would continue to support youth-focused activities like this "because healthy youth can do something for themselves and the country."

The Jalalabad event was witnessed by UNICEF Country Representative Peter Crowley, Provincial Governor Gul Agha Sherzai and senior UNAMA staff, among others.

Raees Ahmadzai, the tournament organizer and founder of the implementing NGO – AYCSO – said he learnt cricket in refugee camps in nearby Pakistan.

“It is our duty to share our skills and help build the future of Afghanistan,” said Ahmadzai in a UNICEF statement.

Crowley said a greater focus on sport can promote the development of important skills and attitudes that are key to the future of Afghanistan’s youth.

“Sports brings people together on an equal playing field that transcends social, ethnic and cultural divides,” he said.

Over the years, cricket has fast become one of the most popular sports among Afghan. Earlier this year, for the first time, Afghanistan qualified for the cricket world cup.

By Tilak Pokharel, UNAMA