Twenty Afghan female football players have been sent to Hiroshima city of Japan to participate in the Hiroshima Leadership and Communication Training Program.

The women belonging to the Afghanistan Women’s Football team left Afghanistan on September 14 and scheduled to return to Kabul on September 22.

The program is being sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

However, Promote’s Women’s Leadership Development program sponsors five of the 20 women during this trip.

The program involves cultural introductions to Hiroshima, press events, and development of leadership, team and communications skills.

“These programs are what we need in our society to help women in every way, and especially in sports and education,” said Hajar Abulfazil, a member of the Afghanistan women’s national football team.

“I see these programs building the future of Afghanistan. Soon I hope we will have a lot of women leaders in every office and government association.”

The athletes will act as Promote ambassadors and mentors to current leadership participants. They will share their trainings with other young women to further inspire their own leadership and development.

Promote is the largest women’s leadership program in the history of USAID and will provide 75,000 young, educated women the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to advance in Afghan society.

Promote’s leadership component is one of five Promote programs. Its mission is to provide 18,000 high-achieving, young educated women with sophisticated, cutting-edge leadership skills.