No.45 September 2005 |
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I had the honour of representing the ITTF at the 3rd Asian Conference on Women and Sport, 11-12 May 2005, held in Sana’a, Yemen, entitled “Empowering Women to Benefit from Sport and Physical Education”. I was invited to speak on the “Importance of Leadership, Training and Promotion of Women’s Competence Programs in Sports”. The Conference was a great success with the participation of delegates from 27 Asian countries. I presented the challenges faced and the achievements made by the ITTF in the past few years on the advancement of women and girls in table tennis. I also showed the film “Breaking Down Barriers in Afghanistan”.
Table Tennis was also well represented at the Conference as the photograph shows:
All speakers without exception stressed the need for promoting and empowering women to benefit from sport and physical education and highlighted the existing barriers and challenges that still needed to be overcome.
The Conference produced a declaration named:
“Recognising and supporting the objectives declared by the United Nations through the International Year for Sport and Physical Education 2005 “for a better understanding of the values of sport and physical education for human development programmes”, with special emphasis on the needs of girls and women,
Delegates from 27 countries and regions participating at the 3rd Asian Conference on Women and Sport emphasise the importance of the following:
1. For the AWG to work in collaboration with the Olympic Council of Asia for the promotion and development of women in sport in Asia, such as co-hosting projects, conferences, workshops, in a spirit of mutual co-operation;
Delegates from 27 countries and regions participating at the 3rd Asian Conference on Women and Sport emphasise the importance of the following:
2. For the AWG to compile information on the current status of women and sport in Asia and to present an evaluation report at the World Conference on Women and Sport in Kumamoto, Japan, May 11-14, 2006.
3. For all sports organisations to actively pursue strategic alliances and partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organisations for the promotion and development of women and sport.
4. For all sports organisations to exceed the IOC target of 20% women representation at all levels of decision making structures, by December 2005.
5. For all Asian governments and NOCs to formulate a national women and sport policy, by the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and to include therein a special chapter on women with disabilities.
6. For all governments and sports organisations to ensure that sport and physical education initiatives are established and implemented within the rebuilding process of tsunami affected countries and those affected by other natural disasters or war.
7. For all governments and sports organisations to reaffirm and continue to implement actively the resolutions of the 2003 Doha Asian Conference on Women and Sport.
All delegates congratulate and thank the President of Yemen H.E. Mr. Ali Abdellah Saleh and his government, the Yemen NOC and in particular the Yemen women and sports group for hosting the 3rd Asian Conference for women and sport and making it such a resounding success.
Following the Conference, I remained in Yemen as the guest of the Yemen Table Tennis Association. I take this opportunity to thank the President, Mr. Nabil Al-Fakih and his colleagues as well as members from the Yemen NOC and Womens Committee, for their wonderful hospitality and friendship extended to me during my stay.
Apart from one or two indispensable visits to the Old City and the suq, I spent two days meeting with officials of the Yemen Table Tennis Association, journalists, and players (many girls and women included). Once upon a time, Yemen table tennis produced Arab champions. But several years of poor management had weakened the structures of the association. However, since 2000, under the leadership of Mr. Nabil Al-Fakih, the Association has been restructuring and striving to make table tennis a prominent sport in Yemen. I had the pleasure of visiting the new hall, reserved entirely for table tennis, being constructed within the NOC complex in Sanaa. A brand new building fully-equipped to host an international event like a Pro Tour which can hold 14 tables, seat 700 spectators and has all the necessary facilities for administration and the Media. The national association is well organized and has its own office situated in the heart of Sanaa. It is in the process of creating its own website. They have also hired a Korean, a Chinese and a female Japanese coach who will be starting work in Yemen soon. The Yemen national association counts approximately 1150 registered players and holds around 24 tournaments in the country per year. Having hosted the 3rd Asian Women and Sport Conference, Yemen is eager to promote the country through other sports and sport related activities.
I was in Yemen to promote women and sport and as such, most of my talks were directed towards the development of womens table tennis. Through discussions with the women present at my talks I was able to see many of the cultural and social barriers that prevented girls and women from doing sport, for example:
There is a need for changing attitudes and beliefs and promoting sport as essential for improving health and well-being not only for females but also for males. The national players present at the meeting raised issues concerning the table tennis clubs in Yemen and pointed out areas where there was room for improvement. Journalists were eager to discuss the role of the media. The Ishraq film was received with enthusiasm and the need to create such grass-root programmes in Yemen was discussed at length.
As explained by Naseem Al Muliki (left on photo), Chairwoman of the NOC Women and Sport Group, at the Conference, in her talk entitled “Sports and Yemeni Women: Between Reality and Ambition”, the Yemeni government has taken some supportive decisions for the promotion of women at all levels of sport. For example, the Yemen Olympic Committee:
The 3rd Asian Conference has asked “For all Asian governments and NOCs to formulate a national women and sport policy, by the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and to include therein a special chapter on women with disabilities”. I suggest that this request should be extended to national associations and that the Yemen Table Tennis Association should give the example to other sports federations and to the Yemeni government, by creating a women and table tennis policy which includes a comprehensive action plan for the next quadrennial.
The Yemeni people are immensely proud of their land and their traditions, which date back to the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba, believed to have originated in the first millennium BC. The capital Sana’a, legend has it, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. It is a maze of towering brick buildings, mosques and well-tended gardens with the suq in the middle of the Old City.
Almost everyone in the Old City wears the impressive Sana’ni dress of white robe, leather belt and large curved dagger hanging prominently at the waist.
The women in the streets are mostly fully veiled and clad in black. I also learnt in Yemen that when we are drinking coffee, we are enjoying a little taste of Yemen.
Thank you to all the beautiful Yemeni people who made my stay an unforgettable one. Lilamani de Soysa Project Manager, International Table Tennis Federation Headquarters Renens/LausanneSwitzerland Idesoysa@ittf.com ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |