Boxer Catherine Phiri awarded a scholarship to study in Europe
ZAMBIA’S female boxing icon Catherine Phiri and 24 other academically talented underprivileged young Zambian women and girls have been offered a scholarship to study business and leadership courses in different parts of the world.
According to a statement by Zambia High Commission in the United Kingdom first secretary for press and public relations Abigail Chaponda, upon completing her secondary education in Zambia, Catherine Phiri will study sports management in Italy.
The Justina Mutale Foundation has partnered with the European School of Economics (ESE) to offer Business and Leadership Scholarships while the Rai University of India will offer Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Scholarships to the women and girls.
During the launch of the Justina Mutale Foundation scholarship on Thursday night at the Zambia House in London, Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Mr. Muyeba Chikonde said Zambia attaches great importance to the empowerment of women and girls and that the country had practically demonstrated this through various ways and that is why organisations such as the Justina Mutale foundation which is complimenting Government’s efforts should be supported.
He said the choice of Catherine was not an accident but designed to inspire other women and girls to excel irrespective of their background.
High Commissioner Chikonde said the addition of sports management will help Catherine further her education and provide a future beyond boxing.
And Justina Mutale said Catherine Phiri and the other 24 scholarship recipients will be the first to benefit from the initiative and that other scholarships will go to vulnerable and under privileged women and girls across Africa.
“We all need to acknowledge that our governments do not have all the answers, nor the requisite resources to solve the problems that our Continent faces regarding educating our youth, especially our young women and girls. Our scholarship programmes aims to give young women from Africa an opportunity of a lifetime. Cross-cultural learning and studying abroad can be transformative to one’s future and outlook on life”, she said.
Ms. Mutale said recipients of the ESE Scholarship would be able to study International Business and Leadership at any of the six ESE campuses in different cities including London, New York, Madrid, Florence and Rome while Rai University has several campuses in India, including Ahmedabad.