On the 9th of March, the Gender Equality Committee of the International University Sports Federation - FISU, organized an online webinar on the topic of Gender Equality for Sustainable University Sports.

In the webinar, more than 50 attendees actively participated and discussed the main topic of the webinar which was how to include and encourage more females in university sports and how to build a sustainable gender-equal environment.

The webinar started with the welcoming speech of the FISU Acting President, Mr Leonz Eder who made an essential remark about the importance of women in leadership positions and emphasized that much remains to be done to promote gender equality in the sporting world. 

Following the welcoming speech, Ms Rosaura Mendez Gomboa, a member of the FISU Executive Committee and the FISU Gender Equality Committee Chair gave a short inspirational speech about how important is to take action and include more women in leading positions and in governing bodies. The moderator of the webinar was  Ms Ágnes Ančić-Valkai, Director of International Relations at the Hungarian University Sports Federation (MEFS). She gave a short introduction of the agenda and officially opened the event.

FISU and EUSA as collaborative partners have a strong emphasis on gender quality and inclusion in university sports. Last week an online webinar was held by EUSA - Women in leadership roles and role models to promote the equality and power of women in leadership positions. 

The first presentation was about a current project on female volunteers and their role in sports development was discussed by Mr Nika Tikanashvili, representative of the University Sport Federation of Georgia (USFG), who also highlighted the important role women play in this area. 

The second speaker was Ms Laurel Black, a FISU Student Ambassador, who gave a presentation about the upcoming Women in Sport Leadership Summit. She explained why the event was organized, mainly to provide role models and representation for women by inviting guest speakers to come and speak about their experiences and give those role models for the student-athletes and those who are studying sport management. After both presentations, a group discussion was held.

In conclusion of the webinar, new FISU Extraordinary Award category was introduced as well as the FISU Gender Equality Project Award and FISU Gender Equality Champion Award. The deadline for NUSF nominations is June 1, 2023.

University sports are significant as a foundational element for the growth of societal and community structures. With this profound sense of duty, FISU makes efforts to promote gender equality in its governance, as well as during its sporting and educational events.

For more information, please see www.fisu.net