Beyond the field: true power of sport.

The recent one-day international saw the return of one-day international and T20 cricket to Pakistan after a long wait. Whatever your opinion may be on the Pakistan cricket team's performance, it is undeniable that sport has the ability to bring people together. But the ability of sports to create new bonds and friendships isn't just limited to cricket fans: sports can also have a real positive impact on improving the lives of the most marginalized and vulnerable in our societies.

Sport is increasingly becoming an important component of development and humanitarian work, particularly around programmes for children. According to a recent UN report, sports can have a massive impact of improving education, child protection and social inclusion.

Karachi is Pakistan's largest and most diverse city. It has also sadly long been associated with crime and violence. And while the security situation in the city has improved remarkably over the past few years, nonetheless issues of violence, instability and crime are still prevalent, often a result of perceived disenfranchisement and societal conflicts among different communities. And to make matters worse, it is not uncommon to see children - sometime as young as 8 - inducted into these gangs to act as informants or carry out both petty and major crimes. Among the main reasons behind youth involvement in violence in Karachi are poverty, illiteracy and limited access to positive social interactions.

The challenges here are myriad, so how does one start to deal with them? One way to tackle community cohesion and disenfranchisement is how the British Council's did with its work with young people in sports. As a programme, DOSTI was created to promote peace and community cohesion by providing young boys and girls with safe spaces and opportunities to engage...