Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - Football icon David Beckham has stood up for girls' rights and gender equality in a powerful new speech.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Crystal Awards 2025,
as he accepted one of the honours, the British sports star, 49, said
he wants his "daughter
Harper to have the same opportunities as her brothers" and for all
girls to have the same rights and opportunities as boys.
Beckham urged listeners to
give girls "opportunities" and support them in their endeavours,
saying they have the potential to be "future leaders and innovators".
"Girls are held back by poverty, girls are held back by
violence, girls are held back by discrimination," Beckham, who is a UNICEF
Goodwill Ambassador, began.
"I'm lucky enough to be a father of three boys and one
beautiful girl.
"I want my daughter Harper to have the same
opportunities as her brothers, and that should be the case for all girls
everywhere."
He said girls and women are held back by their gender and it
shouldn't be the case.
"Being a girl shouldn't determine what you can do,
where you can go, and who you can become," he said.
"Today's 600 million adolescent girls are the largest
generation of future leaders and innovators that the world has ever known, what
an exciting prospect."
"But
girls need more than words. They need opportunities. They need collective
action, and they need investment," he added.
Beckham has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2005 and
has long advocated for the rights of children and issues affecting them around
the world.
He
previously spoke to Grazia about gender inequality.
"I have three sons and one daughter and I've seen over
my travels with UNICEF the difference in the way young boys are treated as
compared to young girls; the opportunities that young boys are getting but the
young girls aren't," he said.
"That's why our focus changed a few years ago."
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