Leah Williamson set to make history by addressing gender stereotypes at United Nations summit in New York

Leah Williamson will become the first English female footballer to address the United Nations as she asks for girls around the world to be given the chance to play the game.

The England captain will join world leaders in New York for the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals Summit.

Williamson will urge countries to challenge gender stereotypes when she appears in a talk with girls' education activist Vee Kativhu.

As well as leading England to glory at the 2022 European Women’s Championship, Williamson has played a key role as the Lionesses have pushed for more accessibility to football for girls in the UK.

Following their success at Wembley last year, the squad wrote a letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss who, at the time, were fighting for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

It said: “We are looking to the future. We want to create real change in this country and we are asking you, if you were to become Prime Minister on 5 September, to help us achieve that change.”

Williamson also recently visited Za’atari in Jordan, which holds the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world.

Working with The Arsenal Foundation and Save the Children, Williamson saw first-hand how football has helped shape communities.

Speaking about the visit, she said: “Sport has the power to change lives – but it’s still not a level playing field for so many girls around the world. Football definitely changed my life.

“After visiting the Za’atari refugee camp, I’ve seen first-hand how our football programme, Coaching for Life, is helping the girls in the camp cope better with the challenges they face.

“At first, fathers in the camp were reluctant for their daughters to get involved – but then relented. They saw how their daughters became empowered.

“We are now moving towards a gender-transformative approach in the camp – and this is key all around the world as well – to address deep-rooted stereotypes.”

“We need to involve men and boys in the conversation about positive masculinity and the barriers women and girls face,” she said.

As she prepares to address the United Nations, Williamson said: “Almost all women footballers will have a story about the challenges they faced taking up the game, but at least in countries like England and America we had a chance.

"In some countries, girls have social restrictions that limit their access to playing football and that has to change.”

Williamson continues to recover from injury, after missing this year's Women's World Cup with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

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