EHF Marketing has extended its collaboration with Plan International for a fourth successive season.

For the first time in the history of the charity partnership, Plan International will work together with both the Men’s and Women’s EHF Champions League competitions.

Building on last year’s #freetobeonline, this season’s campaign is focusing on how misinformation and disinformation online affect the lives, learning and leadership of girls and young women. They are disadvantaged in all aspects of their lives by gender inequality, and the spread of lies and false information online reinforces inequalities and deepens the gender divide. This is a new and growing area of concern in an increasingly digital world.

"Digital spaces have long been important places for girls and young women to network, meet like-minded people and speak their minds. Digital media literacy urgently needs to be developed to support young people in forming their judgement. Only with this confidence will girls and young women be able to engage online and in social media and stand up for their issues and rights," says Kathrin Hartkopf, spokeswoman of the Management Board of Plan International.

To throw off the start of this season’s charity partnership and to introduce the new campaign, every match in round 4 of the competitions – starting this week on Wednesday & Thursday with the matches in the EHF Champions League Men and the women’s games on the weekend – will feature special activations such as a pink centre circle and interviews with players and ambassadors of the EHF Champions League, to promote International Day of the Girl Child, which supports equality and the rights of girls worldwide.

The overall campaign and Plan International’s girls' petition calling on governments to educate children in digital literacy will be visibly communicated across EHF Champions League social media channels.

David Szlezak, EHF Marketing Managing Director, said: "We are delighted that Plan International will once again be our charity partner for yet another season – and doubly excited that our collaboration is extending to the DELO EHF Champions League.

"We have been involved in many important activations since we began this partnership, supporting the dedicated hard work that Plan International do to help those less fortunate.

"This season we are looking forward to focusing on projects which will focus on gender equality – a topic which is close to the heart of both ourselves and Plan International."

Following last season’s EHF FINAL4 Men in June, EHF Marketing has confirmed its continued support to Plan International by donating 10,000 Euro towards its gender equality related projects and support the charity’s campaign in the fight against online harassment of girls. The amount equated to 10 Euro per fan that was allowed inside the LANXESS arena to watch the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne.

EHF Marketing also continues to support Lays, a girl who lives in an area of Brazil in which children and adults live in poverty and where schools are either poorly equipped or lacking in teaching staff.

Further information on Plan International's projects and the online petition can be found on planinternational.org.