World Netball (WN) and WN Foundation are today, 8th March, celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD), under the United Nations (UN) theme, “For all women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”
WN is in a unique position as a female focused sport, made for women and played predominately by women, whilst not excluding men.
Alongside this, the charitable arm of WN, WN Foundation, is on a mission to create new possibilities through netball and harness the power of netball to change lives, focusing primarily on girls and young women that are vulnerable or marginalised due to lack of education, cultural bias, gender-based and poverty.
This IWD we are highlighting work both WN and WN Foundation have been doing to ensure all women and girls, have their rights respected, are empowered and treated with equality.
WN Strategic Development Fund
Following the launch of the Strategic Development Fund (SDF), with the purpose for WN to support Members with developing netball in line with the WN strategy and the Members strategy too, Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland were two of the successful SDF awardees.
Ivory Coast, one of WN’s developing Members, have been using their funding to establish a hub sites model in country, which has already been done in Zambia in 2019.
So far, 6 days of training have been delivered in the country with 57 trainees from 13 different Regions in the Ivory Coast completing the Orientation Completion Certificate.
These 57 trainees were then able to host their first set of outreach activities in the Ivory Coast, which over 1000 participants, all of which were youth and children, participated in.
Netball Northern Ireland (NNI) was awarded their funding to consult and develop a plan for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) using the Moving to Inclusion framework from the UK Sports Council, with the aim to engage minority communities.
Using the SDF, NNI are currently working with an independent external consultant to provide a baseline understanding of current EDI challenges, barriers and opportunities, and to identify areas where further research is needed.
It is hoped that this research will inform the longer-term development of an EDI policy and resources including online training, guidance and insights, with practical recommendations and next steps to be presented to the NNI Board this year, ready for the first actions to be implemented in the 2025/26 season.
WN Foundation X Maitrayana
WN Foundation partnered with Indian non-for-profit organisation, Maitrayana Charity Foundation (Maitrayana) in April 2024.
Maitrayana, aims to leverage the power of sport, to create ecosystems that empower girls and young women to fulfil their potential, whilst also furthering girls and women’s rights, which aligns with the WN Foundation’s mission.
Through this partnership, the WN Foundation set out to put 500 girls through life changing programmes where they will have the opportunity to take part in both netball and life skills programmes, with a focus on their rights. They also offer leadership pathways and economic justice programmes.
The partnership so far has exceeded expectations, with 530 girls as of February 2025 having received netball and life skills training through the YPI Pragati and Netball Clubs due to the grant.
You can find out more about the WN Foundation and donate to the charity on our website here.