The Women’s World Cup (WWC) has been a huge win for those in the women’s sport and development field. Not only has it shed light on the power and talent of amazing female athletes from around the globe, it has also given us the opportunity to come together and celebrate the great strides forward that have been made in the last four years.
Symposiums such as the Girl Power in Sport capitalized on the WWC as a rallying point to bring together players in the world of sport and sport development. The result was a 2-day conference filled with inspiring and passionate people, projects and athletes.
Gathered together in the capital of the host country Canada the participants of this invite only symposium represented countries and regions from the far corners of the world and sports that ranged from football (heavily represented) to skateboarding (unconventional). The uniting factor remained unanimous; each group was dedicated to empowering girls and women through sport.
Sessions were led by host organizations such as Women Deliver, UNICEF, Women Win, One Goal and Gain. Broaching the topics of global partnerships, education through sport and gender norms, these sessions provided a safe space to discuss the struggles and challenges initiatives around the world were facing.
A session we found fascinating featured the International Working Group on Women and Sport, Football Federation Australia, UN Women, Human Rights Watch, Non-Stop Media in a discussion about human rights, sport and partnership. Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch challenged participants, sponsors, sports fans, everyone to hold international sporting bodies accountable to the same principals we hold our governments. When women in Iran are not free to even watch a sporting event, how are we ever to hope that one day they will be able to take part in one[1]? She pointed to organizations such as FIFA (who boast more countries represented than even the UN[2]) to set the standard and insist upon the equal rights of women in sport.
At the close of the symposium projects from all over the world stood up and pledged their support for elevating the status of girls through sport. Girls & Football SA was proud to pledge to fulfill the rights of women and girls in sport and play.
So as the stadiums clear and we go back to ‘sport as per usual’ lets not forget the excitement the Women’s World Cup brought or the promise made to continue giving a voice to girls and female athletes everywhere.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/iran-ban-women-fans-sports-events-volleyball
[2] FIFA has 209 associated member states the United Nations has 193
