MUSCAT: Saada bint Salim al Ismaili, Board member of Oman Olympic Committee and Vice-Chairman of Oman Women’s Sport Committee; won the 2019 IOC Women and Sport for Asia Award. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) celebrated this evening six role models and change-makers in advancing women and girls in and through sport. In partnership with UN Women, a dedicated awards ceremony was held on the sidelines of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA.
The ceremony included distribution of awards to the Five Continental Trophies were awarded to the following people: Winner for Africa: Djatougbe ‘Nathalie’ Noameshie (Togo) who from national athlete to the first fully qualified female international volleyball referee on her continent; Winner for the Americas is the Women and Sport Commission of Costa Rica who has used workshops, group projects, education and sporting activities to encourage the integration of women in sport; Winner for Asia: Saada al Ismaili (Oman), a leading activist for women’s sport in the Gulf region and the Arab world, Al Ismaili has successfully designed and efficiently implemented plans and programmes aimed at promoting girls’ and women’s sport throughout the areas and Governorates of the Sultanate of Oman; Winner for Europe: Morana Palikovic Gruden (Croatia), an experienced multitasking sports official and a leading figure of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Gender Equality in Sport Commission; Winner for Oceania: Vanuatu Volleyball Federation (Vanuatu), who is recognised locally as having paved the way for female participation in sport at grassroots and elite level.
Attendees at the Awards included the likes of IOC President Thomas Bach; UN Women Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Olympian and renowned Brazilian footballer Marta Vieira da Silva, who delivered a very personal speech on the power of sport to change lives; NBC sportscaster Andrea Joyce; IOC Women in Sport Commission Chair Lydia Nsekera; and Olympians and gender equality advocates Kikkan Randall, Benita Fitzgerald Mosely and Donna De Varona, to list but a few.
IOC President Thomas Bach congratulated the winners on their achievements and said: “The Women and Sport Awards are very important because these personalities we are honouring have shown what can be achieved by empowering women and girls through sport. The awardees bring about change not only on the field of play, but also in the workplace, at home, in schools and in other areas of society. Supporting such champions for women’s empowerment is essential in our overall commitment to gender equality. In today’s world, no organisation or country can afford to let half of the population be left behind – either in sport or in society. Advancing women in and through sport is truly a team effort. By joining hands and working together, sport can inspire the necessary change and lead the way.”
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