Gender Equality

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Sport: A powerful tool for inclusion

FISU GE

 

Sport is known to be one of the most powerful tools for promoting inclusion and diversity in society, and this extends to gender equality as well. The important contribution of sport to peace and development has long been recognised by the United Nations, and further emphasised in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in 2015. SDG 5 is about gender equality, stating that the objective is to "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". 

 

University sport, by its very nature, plays a key role as a building block, or foundation, for the development of future communities and societies. It is with this sense of immense responsibility that FISU takes concrete steps towards ensuring gender equality at its sports and education events, as well as in its governance.

 

 

 

Gender Equality at FISU Events

gender equality 1999 2019Over the past decades, FISU has led the way in this direction, with pathbreaking adaptations to its sports events. Women’s ski jumping, for example, was included as an Olympic discipline for the first time at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but FISU had already included it in its sports programme at the 2005 Winter Universiade in Innsbruck, Austria.

 

Today, there are mixed team disciplines at various FISU events, including those in archery, sailing, triathlon and ski jumping, among many others. 

 

Rapid strides have also been made with regards to the number of female competitors at FISU's flagship sports event - the World University Games - over the last 20 years.

 

In 1999, at the Summer Universiade held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, there were 2,635 male athletes as compared to 1,441 female competitors.

 

By the time the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade came around, the number was nearly equal, with 3,100 men and 2,793 women - 52% and 48% respectively. This is a result of a concerted effort and implementation of FISU's longterm strategies, in which gender equality is among the top priorities. 

 

 

 

 

Gender Equality in FISU Governance 

Mrs Yvonne BOVANGA AKPA (CIV)Yvonne Bovanga Akpa (CIV)The first woman to be a part of the FISU Executive Committee was Mrs. Jian Zang from the Federation of University Sports China (FUSC), who held the position of Assessor from 1983-1991 and was named an Honorary Member thereafter.

 

Following in her footsteps was Mrs Yvonne Bovanga Akpa from Côte d'Ivoire, who was the FISU Executive Committee Assessor from 1995-1999. 

 

In 2007, FISU established the Women’s Committee, then led by Dr. Verena Burk, who is today FISU Senior Executive Committee Member. In 2011, this Women's Committee gave way to the Gender Equality Committee, tasked with the strategic objective of integrating gender equality and balanced representation into all FISU activities and the global University Sport Movement.

 

In 2019, Penninah Aligawesa Kabenge from Uganda was elected as FISU's first female Vice-President. Kabenge had earlier been part of the FISU Gender Equality Committee. 

FISU GEC in 2015Women Members of the FISU Executive Committee in 2015

Within FISU’s governance structure, the FISU Committees strive towards a 50-50 balance between men and women in their composition. This change was introduced as part of an attempt to significantly increase the number of women on FISU Committees and work towards the general objective of achieving gender equality in sport governance.

The 2019-2023 FISU Gender Equality Committee (GEC)

The Gender Equality Committee advises the FISU Executive Committee on suitable policies to be developed, to encourage, support and improve the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures, with a view to implement the principle of equality between men and women, thus fully representing the values of university sport and those of our modern society worldwide.

Chair

rosaura mendez gamboa

Rosaura Mendez Gamboa

(CRC)

Vice-Chair

adam pratchett

Adam Pratchett

(GBR)

Member

wei sun

Wei Sun

(CHN)

Member

etienne turukumana

Etienne Turukumana

(RWA)

Member

kyung eun lee

Kyung Eun Lee

(KOR)

Gender Equality Roundtables 

Taking this initiative further, FISU and the FISU GEC organise a Gender Equality Roundtable at every edition of the FISU World University Games since Shenzhen 2011. These roundtables are organised at both, summer and winter editions, to engage members and promote discussion about gender equality in sport. 

 

International experts, senior members from the University Sports Movement and student-athletes are invited to take part in these discussions. Topics at previous editions of the roundtables have included 'Gender Equality in University & Olympic Sports', '10 Years of Gender Equality in FISU - The Way Forward', 'Gender Equality & the Role of NUSFs and CUSFs', among others. 

 

Additionally, FISU works hard to ensure that gender equality is considered throughout the event organisation of the FISU World Conferences and the FISU World Forum, including a gender balance in the selection of speakers and topics.

FISU Gender Equality Award

Established in 2009, the FISU Gender Equality Award was created to raise awareness and acknowledge existing projects in the University Sport Movement, designed to achieve gender equality in sport.

 

Awarded biannually, the Awards aim to promote the advancement of gender equality in sport and recognise outstanding efforts and achievements to increase the participation of women, but also non-binary and transgender individuals, in sports at all levels, both on and off the field of play.

 

Following six successful editions of the Gender Equality Award, the FISU Gender Equality Committee (GEC) proposed in 2020 to expand the awards, to not only recognise Higher Education Institutions/Universities, National University Sports Federations (NUSF) and Continental Associations (CUSF) who have developed outstanding projects designed to advance and achieve Gender Equality in sport, but to also recognise individuals in the university sports movement, who have made significant efforts to advance and achieve gender equality in University Sports in their country, continent or internationally.

 

The newly named FISU Gender Equality Awards therefore now consist of two awards:

  • FISU Gender Equality Project Award
  • FISU Gender Equality Champion Award

Previous Award Winners

Edition

Project & Winner

Implementing organisation
2021

Champion: Lakshika Madhushani

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
2021

Project: The FA University Women’s Leadership Programme

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS)
2019 Participation of Women at the National University Sports Festival

Universities Sport Association of Ethiopia (USAE)
2017 Equality promotion plan between women and men in university sports University Sports Federation of Costa Rica (FEDEU)
2015 Gender Equality in University Sport National University Sport Federation of Spain (CEDU)
2013

Mentoring Program for Female Leaders in Norwegian University Sports

National University Sport Federation of Norway (NSI)
2011 The Women’s Sports Day National University Sport Federation of Kenya (KUSA) in conjunction with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and technology (JKUAT)
2009 Tandem: Mentoring for Young Women in University Sports National University Sport Federation of Germany (ADH)

 

LATEST GENDER EQUALITY NEWS

 

Cooperation with partners 

 

FISU collaborates with a number of external partners including the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) on the topic of gender equality. The FISU GEC members also attend the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport’s World Conference.

 

For more information about the FISU Gender Equality Committee, click here or contact education@fisu.net.