UNESCO For Feminization of Football To Reduce Gender Gap, Shares Success Stories

The recent interactive panel on gender equality in football titled 'Women in Football:#ChangeTheGame' was held at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).

Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, said that a Global Observatory About Women and sport will be set up with the support of Swiss Government.Some of the female footballers shared their success stories-

Nadia Nadim, a professional football player in the Danish National Team and PSG, recounted her experiences of how she learnt to play football hiding in the garden. Her father who was the motivation behind this was killed by the Taliban when she was young. Nadia had to flee with her sister and mother to  Denmark. There she teamed up with other girls near the refugee camp to play football. She encouraged all young girls in the room and beyond to play the game, to become whatever they want to be, and challenged them not to be limited by gender stereotypes.

Houriya Al Taheri, the first female football coach in the Gulf area, became a football coach as girls were unable to play high level football. She chose to become a coach as she wanted and still wants to make a change and empower the next generation.

Candice Prévost, a former professional football player, who played in the national team of France, added that the game is never just football, it goes beyond that and reflects women’s situation in our societies. She co-founded Little Miss Soccer, to highlight the social power of football for girls and women.

Anne-Laure Bonnet shared her experiences of being a female journalist in the sports world, where most of the professional journalists are men. She stressed how important it is for young women and girls to see role models in the media and professional sportswomen and men, no matter what sport.

Sylvère-Henry Cissé, president of Sport & Démocratie, joined the conversation by giving voice to the ideas that football is for both women and men and that there need to be more women in football governance.

In the same line, former professional football player Jean-Marc ‘Jimmy’ Adjovi-Boco emphasized the importance of involving men in the discussion of gender equality. “What needs to change, needs to change with and through men. (…) The problems we are dealing with in our societies must also be seen by the perspective of men. We need to understand these problems and we need to make these problems our problems as well. We need to stand with women, in order to make things change”, he said.

Source: en.unesco.org UNESCO