b'road to equalityThe Soroptimist International (SI) Road to Equality Appeal projects were able to proceedwith Shreeja Indiain 2021 and included the topics of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Child and ForcedOur work on Beyond Football with Shreeja Marriage, Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking,India, a non-profit CSO working towards Migration, and the Rights of Older Women. engaging, educating, and empowering A series of Informational webinars educatedyoung girls and women from marginalised Soroptimists and others on these issues, andcommunities in West Bengal, continued suggested ways to become advocates locally,throughout 2021. Beyond Football trains girls nationally, and internationally.in the skills of football (soccer) to reduce In February 2021, SI Road to Equality hostedinstances of child marriage, trafficking, an online seminar to highlight a range of SIdomestic violence, and other forms of projects under the title Progress: from the Pastabuse. At the end of December there were to the Future. This involved a discussion on the33 beneficiary villages participating in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)programme. theme, and increased awareness of our projectSeveral girls received awards, and 13 girls work, which directly informs our advocacyfrom class 10 were selected for The Telegraph work, and supported our status with the UnitedEducation Scholarship and awarded financial Nations. help to continue their education. Many played in tournaments, and the team became with Global Media Campaign champions at the Womens Tournament (D.T.P.S. Sanghasree Club) Durgapur, winning The Road to Equality work with the Globalthree back to back matches, a Trophy, and Media Campaign to end FGM, focused on15000. Road to Equality branded T-shirts Sierra Leone in the first half of 2021, at awere distributed to the girls and worn on the time when the President had stated that hepitch with pride! 140 girls were registered could not legally stop girls being cut as itfor the subsequent Beyond Football session, would impact his political career. With girlsand the project is expected to continue until out of school, many were being broughtAugust 2023. together for mass cuttings. In June SI hosted an online seminar for the International Day of the African Child with two Soroptimist Six FGM campaigners from Sierra Leone. They shared their action in Sierra Leone, resulting in alternative ceremonies that did not involve cutting, and the changing of mindsets - and parents choosing not to cut their daughters. Collectively, the Soroptimist Six through radio and television interviews community awareness programmes, were reaching millions about the harm of FGM and pushing forward to make change happen. soroptimistinternational.org 6'