GWANGJU – The FISU Gender Equality Committee (GEC), which was created two years ago, held a meeting in the sidelines of the 12th FISU Forum, organised this March in Gwangju (Republic of Korea). The purpose of the meeting was to bring the committee members together to further develop the committee’s internal projects.
The GEC decided to give the 4th FISU Gender Equality-Sport Award during the celebration of the 2015 Summer Universiade in the city of Gwangju.
The committee also agreed to organise another edition of the Gender Equality Round Table during the 2015 Gwangju Universiade in order to share new initiatives in the field of Gender Equality with leaders, technicians, athletes and volunteers from different continents.
During the meeting, an evaluation focusing on the Gender Equality policies related to University Sport was also developed. The participants shared their opinions and proposals in order to update and create new policies with a view to allow women’s incorporation and participation as well as equal opportunities for all, men and women, in the university sports movement.
It was also confirmed that a delegation of nine FISU representatives would attend the “International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport Conference”, to be held in Finland in June 2014. This attendance will reflect on the alliance that already exists between the IWG and FISU GEC. At this event, the GEC will stage a parallel session and workshops, and launch the video “We are the Change”.
Amongst the main topics discussed during the meeting were the terms of reference and FISU’s internal and external cooperative work.
The incorporation of the Gender Equality sub-theme into the Forum programme allowed to better understand the expectations of students, athletes and leaders. The presentations delivered by renowned speakers allowed to have an overview of the current state of women’s participation in sport in general, while raising awareness among the participants and especially the leaders of the team work carried out to achieve equal opportunities for both men and women, thus making our organisation fairer. The committee expressed the need to keep exposing the topic of “Equality” in all the FISU educational and sporting events.
Natasha Campos and Rosaura Mendez.