About 100 girls ranging from five to twenty years old took part in a cycle rally in Karachi’s old neighbourhood of Lyari to commemorate the UN-declared International Day of the Girl Child on Tuesday.

This was the fifth year for the 3 kilometre cycle race that started from the Aga Khan Jamatkhana in Kharadar and ended at the City Complex in the Baghdadi.

The race is organised by the Lyari Girls Café, a vocational institute in the area that was once notorious for gang war and drug peddling. The event was well attended including by people from the area as well as the families of those participating.

Shams-un-Nisa, 17, was the first to cross the finish line after having come second the previous year. “I’m very happy that I won the race. I wasn’t expecting to win the race this time around but I believed in myself and pushed hard for this win,” she told Aaj News while holding aloft her trophy.

Second runner-up Areeba Shoaib said that such events boost the confidence of young women. “I’d encourage every girl to participate in cycling races and sports so they can go far in life, and also make their country proud.” said the third position holder, Areeba Shoaib.

Sultan Mandhro, one of the founders of the café, said the event was aimed at making the youth, particularly women, feel empowered, confident and self-reliant. “Cycling is also environmentally friendly,” he added.