Women and Sport

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Women and Sport
Gender ratios in sport remain highly unequal around the globe. There is an urgent need to reduce the marginalization of women within the sport milieu and to increase their participation in sport programmes.

Gender dimension within sport policies remains marginal and even insufficient. This integration of gender issues within public actions in favour of sport and the attribution funds must reduce the marginalization of women within the process of sport development, increase their participation within sport programmes, and throughout their implementations.

The Fourth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Sport and Physical Education (MINEPS IV) moved forward by adopting a proposal for the creation of an ‘Observatory of Women, Sport and Physical Education. The establishment of the UNESCO Observatory was approved by the Executive Board of UNESCO in its 175 Session. UNESCO is cooperating with the Government of Greece in the establishment of this web-based Observatory to gather, analyse, organise, and disseminate information worldwide.
This will help in :

promoting the integration of gender issues within the policies of sport;
raising awareness to the importance of guaranteeing a safe and healthy environment for women involved in sport.

Some precise actions must be taken for gender mainstreaming :

The diffusion of this positive information will only be efficient if the media invest themselves and accept the idea of quality women’s sport;
The establishment of quality PES programmes notably through EFA will also be essential for the initiation of young women to the advantages they can get through the practice of sport;
The participation of women in sport must also pass by the guarantee of a safe and healthy environment where all kinds of harassment, violence, and controls will be banned;
Support to research within the field of women’s sport;
The feminization of ruling bodies proves to be a main element for a policy leading to stronger diversity within the sport movement. The introduction of quotas in view to assuring the participation of women in ruling bodies appears as an efficient way to eradicate this discrimination.



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