Kolkata, 16 March 2016 - In a unique and remarkable CSR initiative under the aegis of ICC Cricket For Good and Team Swachh, star players from the participating ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 men’s and women teams have been engaging with children and adolescents on sanitation and toilet use, as one essential step towards ending open defecation in India.
As the cricket frenzy of the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 begins, cricketers from 16 teams will join forces to promote messages on health, sanitation and hygiene as part of the innovative Team Swachh campaign.
In what was probably an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, adolescents from Kolkata today interacted with the star cricketers of Sri Lanka team at the Team Swachh WASH clinic held at Jadavpur University, Salt Lake Campus in Kolkata.
14 children from different schools of South 24 Parganas joined the clinic and shared the key messages on hand washing and toilet use with cricketers.
The star crickets of the Sri Lanka team had a field day with the children at the WASH clinic, a day before the team’s match against Afghanistan at Eden Gardens.
The cricketers made the children go through basic cricket drills which included, short multiple high power sprints, long individual runs, which was followed by batting, bowling and fielding drills. The clinic ended with the cricketers and children pledging to support Team Swachh campaign which advocates for toilet use in India.
The cricketers listened attentively as the kids demonstrated the five steps of handwashing--a crucial way to avoid diseases such as diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal problems. The group also talked about why open defecation was an invitation to health problems and therefore the emphasis on making the country Open Defecation Free (ODF).
The children had a great time playing cricket with the stars they had only watched on TV so far and it's definitely not a day they will easily forget.
14 children from different schools of South 24 Parganas joined the clinic and shared the key messages on hand washing and toilet use with cricketers.
The star crickets of the Sri Lanka team had a field day with the children at the WASH clinic, a day before the team’s match against Afghanistan at Eden Gardens.
The cricketers made the children go through basic cricket drills which included, short multiple high power sprints, long individual runs, which was followed by batting, bowling and fielding drills. The clinic ended with the cricketers and children pledging to support Team Swachh campaign which advocates for toilet use in India.
The cricketers listened attentively as the kids demonstrated the five steps of handwashing--a crucial way to avoid diseases such as diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal problems. The group also talked about why open defecation was an invitation to health problems and therefore the emphasis on making the country Open Defecation Free (ODF).
The children had a great time playing cricket with the stars they had only watched on TV so far and it's definitely not a day they will easily forget.
Earlier in October 2015, the ICC Cricket For Good and UNICEF launched a five-year global partnership in New York. They decided to engage the broader cricketing community to empower children and adolescents. In particular, during the many ICC events over the next five years, they will develop and implement various community outreach programmes and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.
OVERVIEW:
Team Swachh is an integrated nationwide initiative that aims to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use thereby leading to an open-defecation-free India. This visionary collaboration between ICC and UNICEF aims to raise awareness about challenges faced by the most disadvantaged children and focuses on improving sanitation. The ICC WT20 is the launch platform to advocate for children, leveraging the reach and popularity of cricket in India.
During the tournament, cricketers of participating teams will interact with children through a cricket coaching programme and educate in the use of toilets, stressing on the importance of hygiene and sanitation at the specially designed Team Swachh cricket clinics set up at the various stadia.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Sachin Tendulkar also emphasized the need for team play, “Ending open defecation and achieving sanitation for all in India takes a genuine team effort in which all relevant actors–from the Government to the people practicing open defecation, from role models to international development partners--play together as one team.”
With more than 564 million people still defecating in the open – the largest number of any single country in the world and half the global total – India’s children suffer the effects of poor toilet use. Almost 1 in 10 of the 1.2 million children under five years old who die every year in the country succumb to diarrhoea, which is linked to poor water, hygiene and sanitation. Some 40 per cent of the country’s children are stunted – chronically malnourished – a condition which is linked to open defecation.
Note to Editors
Team Swachh is the first in a series of collaborations between the ICC Cricket For Good,UNICEF and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with the aim of leveraging the vast reach, appeal and immense power of cricket in India. This visionary collaboration aims to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use, thereby leading to an open-defecation free India.
In October 2015, the ICC Cricket for Good and UNICEF launched a five-year global partnership in New York. They decided to engage the broader cricketing community to empower children and adolescents. In particular, during the many ICC events over the next five years, they will develop and implement various community outreach programmes and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.
Media Contact
Rajiv Lodha: Launcherz PR -98310362041
launcherzpr@gmail.com
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