Run for Girls! 2023 Save Girls from Child Marriage
Run for Girls 2023 was successfully held on 7 April. We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to you for joining the run and supporting girls’ rights! Here are the results:
Female 10.11km Individual Run
Male 10.11km Individual Run
3km Run
Finisher Certificate will be emailed to you in May via the email you provided during registration. For enquiries, please contact [email protected].
Every little step counts, together we can make a big step forward in advancing girls’ rights! This Easter holiday, Plan International Hong Kong will be co-organising with Cosmopolitan again to bring “Run for Girls” back in form of a physical run at the Hong Kong Science Park. The event aims to fight for and promote girls’ rights, protect girls in developing countries from discrimination, inequality and violence. Over 4,500 participants had joined the run since 2017. Fund raised this years will be used to support our anti-child marriage projects in Bangladesh. By joining a 10.11km or 3km run, you can save a Bangladeshi girl from child marriage with a five-month scholarship, let her stay at school and continue her study, as well as living out her life in the future.
- Date: 7 April, 2023 (Friday) (Easter Holiday)
- Venue: Charles K Kao Auditorium (Golden Egg), Hong Kong Science Park
- Time: 8:30am – 1pm (Kick off ceremony at 9:30am)
- Enrolment: 20 February to 12 March, 2023 (Limited quota on a first come first served basis)
Thank you for all your support! Run For Girls 2023 enrolment period has ended.
Due to the latest policy update from the Transport Department, a permit to run between Pak Shek Kok Promenade and Tai Wong Yeh Temple was not granted. Therefore, the course will now only take place along Pak Shek Kok Promenade. The starting time of the 10.11km run is also changed to 9:00am to reduce the number of runners on the route and ensure the safety of each participant.
We have made every effort not to divert the course much. We apologise for any inconvenience that may cause.
Route and Map
Race category
In addition to the regular races for female participants, this year event is open for male runners for the first time. They can be the “Men for Change” and play a crucial role in advancing girls’ rights!
Click here for FAQ and important notes.
Donation
Runners are encouraged to make donation in addition to the enrolment fee. It allows Plan International to sustain the anti-child marriage projects in Bangladesh and save more girls from being child brides. If you are not able to participate in the race, you are welcome to support the event by making online donations.
- Donate HK$300: Provide a girl with a five-month scholarship to help her receive education and prevent her from becoming a child bride.
- Donate HK$600: Provide 2 girls with a five-month scholarship to help them receive education and prevent them from becoming child brides.
- Donate HK$1,000: Provide girls with vocational training to achieve self-reliance.
- Donate HK$3,000: Provide 5 girls with a half-year scholarship to help them receive education, as well as educating parents and the community about the negative consequences of child marriage, and provide them with vocational training to achieve self-reliance.
Volunteer ambassadors
Runner pack and goodie bag
*Images for reference only
An “INNOTIER Vertex Air Run for Girls T-shirt”(Valued HK$1,280) and a runner’s pack full of souvenirs will be given to each participant. The T-shirt is made of INNOTIER patented fabrics woven with 99% silver threads. It is breathable, light-weight, anti-odor and UPF50+. It can also kill 99% Coronavirus 229E in 30 seconds*. Runner pack collection notice will be sent to participants’ email prior to the event.
*WEIPU report no.: WP-21106318-JC-01En under ISO18184:2019 test method
A goodie bag with Run for Girls Finisher Medal and other sponsored souvenirs will be given to runners on event day, including Sweaty Betty Tote Bag, skin care products by b.glen and SABON, pocket fragrance redemption voucher and discount coupon by Victorinox, snacks and drinks by HIP OAT MiLK Chocolate, Jealous Sweets, PerfectTed and Soul Fruit, personal care products by Andrex and Kotex, discount Coupon by MediLASE and MIMA Skin, digital name card by Minty and free trial voucher by Square Fitness.
Awards and Prizes
Public Run (Winners will be awarded with trophy/medal and the following prizes)
- Female and Male 10.11km Individual Run (each for different age groups)
- Champion: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Victorinox Swiss Army Knife and Women/Men Fragrance (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 1st runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Astronomie le Verseau Skincare Products (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 2nd runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products (Valued over HK$9,000)
- Female 3km Individual Run
- Champion: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Victorinox Swiss Fashionable Wallet (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 1st runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Astronomie le Verseau Skincare Products (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 2nd runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products (Valued over HK$9,000)
- Female Bestie 3km Group Run
- Champion: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Victorinox Swiss Fashionable Wallet (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 1st Runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products, Astronomie le Verseau Skincare Products (Valued over HK$11,000)
- 2nd Runner-up: Square Fitness 1-year Membership, Swisse Health Products (Valued over HK$9,000)
Corporate Run (Winners will be awarded with a trophy)
- Corporate Cup (Corporate 3km group run) – Champion, 1st Runner-up, 2nd Runner-up
- Corporate Top Fundraising Award
- Corporate Most Participants Award
Online enrolment
Enrol Now, Save Girls from Child Marriage!
In Bangladesh, child marriage has robbed girls of their futures
Marriage is one of the most important life events. But for many Bangladeshi girls, such a life-changing decision was never made out of their own free will. Bangladesh has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world. According to data from the United Nations Population Fund, 50% of girls were married before the age of 18, and 15% of them were even aged under 15. Poverty and the traditional concept of undermining females’ value force girls to drop out of school and become child brides, ruining their lives forever.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, households in Bangladesh suffered severely from the adverse economic situation. According to a survey, child marriage cases in Bangladesh have rapidly increased by 13% in 2021 and marked the highest record in 25 years. The girls are in desperate situations.
“Eve Teasing” targets young and unmarried girls
Men’s superiority over women is a deep-rooted culture in Bangladesh, causing young and unmarried girls to be treated as a disgrace to the family. Such a norm has also further aggravated the sexual harassment problem in society. “Eve Teasing”, a widespread form of sexual harassment with threats of rape or kidnapping towards unmarried girls alone is commonly found. Tanzila had been verbally abused and threatened by strange men on the way to school since she was 14 years old. She also received unknown phone calls for a marriage proposal with a warning of kidnapping. To protect Tanzila’s reputation and get away from danger, her family had no choice but to arrange a child marriage while she was still at school age. She was forced to drop out of school and become the caretaker of her new family, losing the opportunity to fulfil her dreams.
Sexual harassment is a devastating issue in Bangladesh. Tanzila lost her freedom to go out alone just because she is a girl. She had to be accompanied by relatives whenever on the way to school or went out.
Poverty forces girls to be child brides
In Bangladesh, apart from being harassed by men, girls being treated as a burden of the family is another problem caused by gender inequality. To alleviate financial difficulties, many poor families marry off their underage daughters through hasty decision-making. Keya was forced to marry a stranger at the age of 14. It turned out her husband was a drug addict with aggressive behaviour, and she became the victim of domestic abuse once they got married. Keya’s dreams for the future were gone because of child marriage. It also traumatised her physically and mentally.
Keya wanted to complete her secondary school board exams, but an arranged child marriage by her father had taken her dream away.
Girls in child marriage uphold their rights to education
Though Tanzila and Keya were not allowed to refuse child marriage, they never surrendered and hope to regain control of their lives through education. By joining Plan International’s anti-child marriage projects, they learned about girls’ rights and were no longer afraid to stand up to their families and husbands, to fight for the right to go back to school. As a result, they were able to continue their studies, pursue their dreams, and live out their lives again.
Tanzila is now working as a teacher at the school supported by Plan International. To break the tragic circle of child marriage in her community, she is now assisting girls at risk by drawing on her own experience.
Sponsor
Use of “Run for Girls” 2021’s donation
Donation collected from “Run for Girls” 2021 was used to support our anti-child marriage project in Vietnam which helped Vietnamese girls learn knowledge, life skills and harmful impacts of child marriage in Girls Club, enabling them to escape from the vicious cycle of child marriage.
Enquiry
Tel: (852) 3405 5305
Email: [email protected]
