Women and girls must be participants and leaders in sport recovery plans, says UN Women
While the world is currently working on addressing and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls must be both participants and leaders in this process, so their gains are not lost, and a better future for all becomes a reality, says UN Women in a Policy Brief published today.
The impacts of COVID-19 are already being felt harder by women and girls in many areas of life due to gender inequalities. This reality is also mirrored in sport. The Policy Brief called “COVID 19, Women, Girls and Sport:
Build Back Better” clearly points out that “existing gaps between women and men, girls and boys in both elite and grassroots sport may widen if governments, sport organizations, sponsors, civil society, athletes, media and UN agencies do not put women and girls at the centre and address their specific needs in response and recovery plans”.
Informed by the Sports for Generation Equality Framework, a multi-stakeholder coalition launched by UN Women and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in March to advance gender equality, the document focuses on the impacts of the pandemic on women and girls in sport in five key areas:
Leadership, Gender-Based Violence, Economic Opportunities, Media Participation and Representation, and Girls’ Participation in Sport.
