As Papua New Guinea makes its debut in hosting worldwide sporting events with the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup, one of the most dangerous countries to be a woman or girl according to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report*, Fare member Discover Football looks at tournament as a platform to raise awareness of women's rights and to further opportunities for women and women's football in the region.

Between 4 and 9 April 2017 the German group will organise a conference in Berlin, Germany, to bring together women from different backgrounds from South East and East-Asian countries to share experiences and build a network to evaluate the contributes of sports mega events on women’s rights, in particular the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup.

A pool of experts from both football and human rights organisations and professional players will share their views on women’s football and women’s rights in South East Asia, the U20 World Cup and its legacy programme, the role of football to promote women's rights and the barriers still to overcome.

Human rights activists, players, referees and coaches of both competitive and grassroots level, World Cup organisers, social workers and journalists are invited to participate. Discover Football has bursaries available to cover flights, visa and accommodation for participants.

The initiative is organised as part of Discover Football work to use football as a tool to advocate for and empower women and promote intercultural understanding. The German group has previously organised similar initiatives in Berlin, Lebanon and Brazil.

To apply read the criteria and guidelines here, fill in the application form and it accompanied by a motivation letter to application2016@discoverfootball.de. Deadline 4 December.

*https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016