20 May 2018

For decades international conventions have recognised equal rights for women and men, but women and girls still face disadvantages and grievances in their everyday lives.

Speaking at the 7th IWG World Conference on Women and Sport on May 17, Finland’s former president, Tarja Halonen said if all stakeholders wanted to build a better future for all, they needed to make sure that women and girls enjoyed the same rights and opportunities as men and boys. She added that they needed to live free of violence and discrimination.

She said it was also paramount to eliminate harmful practices such as forced early child marriage and female genital mutilation. She added that they should be universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Furthermore, she said women’s participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making should be guaranteed.

Women’s participation, she said, was not only a question of gender equality, but also of economic development and structures of society. She added that gender equality created more sustainable and competitive societies.

Talking about human rights and health in women’s sport, she said it was a universally accepted fact that health was a core element in people’s well-being and happiness as well as a major goal of governments and a cornerstone of sustainable development.

She said gender equality has an impact on health and wellbeing, adding that many women worldwide still had little or no access to essential, good-quality health services and education, clean air and water, adequate sanitation and good nutrition.

“All people are entitled to dignity and human rights regardless of sex, gender, age, ethnic background, religion, sexual identity or any other factor. This includes their right to health as signed onto by every country in the world. Many women suffer illness and disability and fail to reach their full potential, resulting in enormous loss and costs for countries both today and for future generations,” she said.

Halonen observed that gender-based violence, sexual harassment and abuse existed in all spheres of society, including sports.

She said online harassment, linked to violence against women, was a new phenomenon that needed serious attention in the field of sport.

“According to a recent UN report, 73 per cent of women had reported experiencing online abuse. More than two thirds of female victims of cyber stalking also experienced at least one form of physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner,” she said.

For her part IWG co-chairperson, Ruth Maphorisa said Botswana was awarded the rights to host the 7th International Working Group on Women and Sport in 2014 at the 6th IWG Conference that was held in Helsinki, Finland.

She was speaking during the official opening of the conference on May 17.

“Supported by the government of the Republic of Botswana, the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) filed a bid for the hosting of this 7th IWG Conference, the implications of which were that Botswana takes over as the IWG co-chairperson and as secretariat for the whole 2014-2018 cycle,” she said.

Maphorisa said the conference was held under the theme: ‘Determine the future, be part of the change.

She said individual and collective efforts should be geared towards determining a common future for the IWG and, by extension, for all women in sport across the globe, a future that would be different from where they were four years ago.

She said following targets set by various hosts in the past, Botswana set an ambitious target of raising the number of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration signatories from 419 that they inherited from Helsinki to 1 200. ENDS