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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Women feted twice
Inas MazharIt was International Women's Day. And it was the 100th anniversary of the participation of women in the Olympic Games. The two occasions were duly marked in Paris where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsored its annual world conference on women and sport. The meeting, the second of its kind, drew more than 400 women representing 140 countries, national Olympic committees, governments, non-governmental organisations, international and national federations and universities.
The conference, opened by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Marie-George Buffet, French minister of youth and sport, took place at the Centre for International Conferences in Paris. For three days, it dealt with six different themes, two of which were tackled daily. Each speaker gave a 10-minute lecture on a special topic, followed by a general 30-minute discussion.
The themes were: One Hundred Years of Women's Participation in the Olympic Games; Social and Educational Functions of Sport; Human Development and Promotion of Peace; Physical Education and Sport for Health; International Cooperation; and New Perspectives for the 21st Century.
Prior to the conference, an IOC working group on women and sport evaluated the work accomplished over the past four years and agreed that while much progress had been made, "there was still a great deal more to be done and more challenges to take up to ensure gender equality within the Olympic movement."
The group recommended increasing scholarships and training courses for women leaders, athletes and coaches and other officials, especially through Olympic programmes, with special emphasis on women from developing countries. It tackled the development of educational resources, including training manuals on gender equity in sport and maintaining minimum representation of women in national Olympic committees and international federations and other sports organisations. In keeping with the 1996 decision of an IOC session, the minimum representation of at least two women in national delegations at world and regional assemblies and other forums of sports organisation was again urged by the group. An increased role for women sports leaders working with international federations and national Olympic committees in meetings and seminars came to the fore, as did the continuation of IOC regional seminars for women involved in sport.
The conference adopted a resolution saying the aim of the Olympic movement was to build a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal without discrimination of any kind. It welcomed the initiatives undertaken by the IOC, international sport federations and national Olympic committees to promote women in sport. It urged the president of the IOC to call upon sports organisations to meet the goal of 10 per cent minimum representation of women in decision-making positions by 31 December 2000 and, if need be, to extend the period to December 2001.
The resolution requested the IOC to encourage the minimum representation of at least two women in national delegations at world and regional assemblies and other forums of sports organisations.
It called upon the IOC to increase scholarships and training courses for women leaders, athletes and coaches and other officials, in particular through Olympic programmes, with special emphasis on women from developing countries.
Governments, delegates said, stressed the importance of physical activity and sports for girls and women development at all stages of their lives. Intergovernmental organisations, and UNESCO in particular, were invited to raise awareness about the development of physical activity for girls and women.
The importance of quality physical education and the development of a strategy and educational material to support physical education for girls in school curricula in particular were highlighted at the meeting.
Delegates urged all national and international sports organisations to use sport as an instrument to promote a culture of peace, understanding and the Olympic truce in areas of conflict.
The conference said the IOC should develop and implement a policy on violence and sexual harassment, including codes of conduct for athletes and coaches, and include this theme in all IOC regional workshops and conferences.
Members urged non-governmental organisations dealing with women and sports to establish working relations with concerned governmental institutions and sports movements at local and international levels in order to benefit from technical assistance programmes.
The conference also recommended that all concerned parties work more closely with the media to ensure more accurate information about women's sport and to develop special training programmes for women sports journalists.
