In the field: If He can, She can too…

Today marks the official launch of Khelegi, a sports-for-social-impact initiative dedicated to keeping girls in sport during adolescence, a stage when 49 percent of them drop out of sport, a rate six times higher than boys, according to UNESCO data.

Supported by the IOC Young Leaders Programme through Olympism365 of the International Olympic Committee, Khelegi addresses the barriers that prevent girls from participating in sport, including menstrual stigma and lack of awareness, unsafe play spaces, gendered norms, inadequate facilities, economic pressures and limited role models.

“Khelegi is a promise, a vision, and a declaration: every young person has the right to stay in the game, access opportunity, and thrive through sport,” said Laher Gala, Founder of Khelegi.

“Keeping girls in sport empowers them to grow with confidence, resilience, and opportunity, while also nurturing a stronger, more inclusive ecosystem for women in sports. It creates leaders, role models, and a new generation of athletes who can break barriers and redefine possibility,” she added.

Launching in Dharavi

Khelegi aims to begin its pilot programme in Dharavi, Mumbai, working directly with local schools, communities, and sports organisations to create safe, inclusive, and joyful play spaces for girls.

The pilot will inform future scale-up strategies, ensuring programmes are tailored to community needs and sustainable for the long term.

Tackling the dropout crisis

Nearly half of adolescent girls (49 percent) drop out of sport during puberty, six times higher than boys. Globally, 85 percent of adolescent girls are insufficiently active, and only 7 percent of schools provide equal Physical Education time to boys and girls.

When girls leave sport, communities lose leadership, confidence, health, economic growth, and innovation, Laher said.

Khelegi directly responds to this crisis, ensuring that girls can participate through puberty and menstruation, with dignity, safety and joy.

Khelegi is touted as a research-backed, community-driven, and ecosystem-focused initiative, which leverages a holistic process that includes capacity building and ecosystem engagement

Some features are:

• Iterative feedback and measurement
• Expert-backed curriculum design
• Collaborative implementation and advocacy

Through this process, Khelegi aims to strengthen local leaders, amplify community voices and create programmes designed to scale, sustain and transform sports experiences for girls.

For more information, visit www.khelegi.com