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This chapter takes an overview of the progress reported in Chapters 2 and 3, draws some conclusions about the development of the women and sport movement over the last four years, and looks forward to the future conference in Montreal, and beyond. The Windhoek Call for Action Each of the 11 points of Windhoek Call for Action are listed in full and addressed in Chapter 2 of this report. Below is an overview of progress. 1. Rational planning Many organisations have used a rational planning approach to their work, adopting the principles of the Brighton Declaration as a guiding framework. Others such as ICSSPE have focussed specifically on those parts of the Windhoek Call for Action that were most pertinent to their work. The Botswana plan is notable for its clear numerical targets; the SCSA Zone 6 plan for the inclusion of mission, vision, values and a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats); and the CAAWS plan for its focus on outcomes. Among the main lessons learned were the need to ensure plans are adequately resourced with both human and financial resources. Keys to success included the importance of having support for the plan at the highest level in the organisation, combined with an understanding of the situation at the grassroots level. Overall, there are some highly effective examples of planning that should prove useful to those organisations and countries that have not adopted this kind of approach. There is also a continuing need for those organisations with plans to follow up on their planning phases, by monitoring the implementation of their plans, reporting whether or not targets have been met and evaluating the reasons why. 2. Reaching out beyond the sports sector WomenSport International, working in collaboration with the IWG, WSF (USA), CAAWS and ICSSPE, has led the work in reaching out to other sectors at the international level with the United Nations. With the leadership and commitment of Carole Oglesby, there has been an extremely strong follow-up to getting sport put on the women's agenda in Beijing, and ensuring it remained in the language of the Beijing+5 Outcome Document. This is time-consuming work from which the end result is not immediately apparent. The involvement of more individuals and countries in this work is needed to strengthen the case and broaden the reach of our message. Other examples in the report demonstrate the large number of different sectors with whom sports organisations have worked, including health, medicine, human rights, education, community development, environmental protection, the law, the police, the media, equal opportunities commissions, women's commissions and fora, and foreign embassies. Judging by the sheer range and number of examples of reaching out by organisations at all levels, it is clear that the messages from Windhoek were taken to heart and put into action by numerous individuals and organisations. Though it takes time to develop partnerships with agencies outside sport and reach a common understanding, this time is well spent when the agencies recognise the potential of sport as a tool for development. This theme will be further developed at the Montreal Conference, with the Montreal Tool Kit as a resource of practical techniques for cross-sectoral working. 3. Promoting and sharing information Many innovative means have been used effectively to share information and promote women and sport, confirming once again the fundamental importance of reaching out. How each sector or local or international entity achieves this must also be appropriate to the culture, needs and technology available. Examples of successes included newsletters and other publications, use of the Internet, conference presentations, celebrations, awards and special events. Many organisations have capitalised on the power of the Internet to disseminate and share information, and it seems probable that this medium will become increasingly important in terms of strengthening international links, encouraging participation in conferences (and e-conferencing) and supporting advocacy. For example, WSI members with research and writing skills were able to produce advocacy documents to support their work with the UN, and then make those tools accessible via the Web for others to use. WSF (USA) and CAAWS have done a great deal to educate the public about the benefits of sport, and their Web sites are excellent resources for those working in this field all over the world. Like WSI, they have used research findings to make their case. It remains just as important, however, to continue to get the message across directly to athletes and people at local level, as at the international level. In the two examples cited, the High Performance Committee in Singapore engaged directly with athletes, and the Oulu "Ladies in Sport" network in Finland influenced the City of Oulu to make better provisions for sport for the benefit of the whole community. 4. Build the capacity of leaders and decision makers and ensure women play meaningful and visible roles Mentoring and apprenticeships are acknowledged in several examples as effective ways of capacity building and supporting women's leadership development. At the national level, Australia, Canada and Finland describe programs that have been successfully tried and tested. The lessons learned from the Australian program remind us of the importance of a personal approach, where women are encouraged to take up opportunities rather than simply being expected to turn up. Capitalising on an international event, CONFEJES and the organisers of the Games of La Francophonie organised an exceptionally effective means for women coaches to learn from one other. In terms of coaching, the small proportion of women coaches, particularly in high performance sport, continues to give cause for concern. It seems that as standards of performance rise, more men are appointed to coach women athletes and teams. The Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching is a unique resource, available free of charge on the Internet for those with the responsibility for coach development to gain and share information. In addition to the mentoring and apprenticeship initiatives, the second part of this action point concerned ensuring that young women have a voice in the development of the policies and programs that affect them. There is evidence that this issue has been taken up by countries such as Japan, which regularly sponsors young women to attend international conferences, as well as by IAPESGW and the Commonwealth Sport Development Program. 5. Physical education and school community programs As with the approach to the UN under Action Point 2, physical education is another area where co-ordinated action at the international level has been led by women. Gudrun Doll-Tepper and Margaret Talbot, President and Vice-President of ICSSPE, were instrumental in the organisation of an international summit to address the "world crisis" in physical education in Berlin in 1999. One of the outcomes of this initiative was a strong advocacy document that was subsequently considered by Ministers and Senior Officials later in the year. The summit also resulted in a Declaration from the 62 member states represented at the event, acknowledging gender issues in physical education and sport and urging action. Much of IAPESGW's work falls into facilitating action in this field. Despite these positive moves at international and ministerial levels, however, concerns remain about the quantity and quality of physical education for girls. Some national organisations have taken action, such as the Women's Forum for Physical Education in Austria and the Hillary Commission in New Zealand. The Sports Council for Wales and non-governmental organisations such as USA Girl Scouts and the WSF (USA) have also begun initiatives at a community level. Nonetheless, there is still little evidence of a real improvement in the situation over the last four years, and disappointingly few examples of the women and sport movement working closely with the physical education profession. There is certainly scope in this area for much closer co-operation and recognition of mutual benefits. 6. The media Portrayal of women's sport in the media also continues to give cause for concern. While sport as a whole commands an ever increasing amount of television time and many sports events are available globally, men's sport - particularly soccer and professional sport - continue to dominate. Efforts have been made to address this issue and bring about change in Australia, Canada and the USA. Media information packages and guidelines have been produced, and workshops and seminars have been held both for the media and for athletes and coaches. Iran has collected statistics on media coverage, and France has awarded prizes to the media as an incentive to give women's sport more and better coverage. There has also been a major breakthrough in Canada, with the launch of WTSN - the world's first 24-hour television network dedicated to women's sports. But despite this and other isolated examples, success stories are few and far between, and much remains to be done. The women and sport movement cannot ignore the increasing commercialisation and globalisation of sport, and the crucial role played by the media in defining the meaning of sport to the general public. 7. Ensure a safe and supportive environment Significant progress has been made on this issue, led collaboratively by a small group of women researchers and activists. WSI has an effective task force on sexual harassment, and its members have published books and research papers on harassment and abuse in sport. The fact that these issues are now firmly entrenched on the agenda of European Ministers of Sport shows what can be achieved. Both the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and CAAWS have taken practical measures to address harassment in sport. CAAWS has a Web site and Harassment and Abuse Prevention Guide, and the ASC has developed a comprehensive strategy including guidelines for coaches, administrators, athletes and officials, as well as a series of educational seminars and skills training courses. To date, it seems that harassment and abuse have only been addressed in a small number of countries. The challenge is to raise the issue in countries that have so far not acknowledged that they occur in sport. The report from Japan demonstrates the sensitivities and difficulties experienced, but much can also be learned from the courage and approach of those women who have dared to speak out. 8. Recognition of diversity This part of the report was disappointingly thin, reflecting the few responses received on this action point. The ASC's approach is exemplary in so far as it addresses a range of diversity issues, including disability, homophobia and indigenous people, in the one Section of the Commission that works with national sporting organisations and the sports industry to make sport more inclusive. IAPESGW has made helping members and potential members from less developed countries part of its strategic mission, and has taken some positive steps to achieve this in their work. WSI has created a Task Force on Active Lifestyles and Older Women. In the USA, the Black Women's Sport Foundation hosted a well-attended national conference, and the Singapore Sports Council has worked to make sport and exercise more accessible. It is difficult to judge whether the scarcity of examples of good practice is indicative of a general apathy towards diversity issues or not. Whatever the case, it appears that the women's sport movement needs to give diversity and inclusion issues greater attention and publicity. 9. Government involvement Responses to this action point were
also somewhat weak, although several examples of effective government
involvement are included in the A-Z section. In many countries
in Africa, it is reported that physical education and sport policies
are complemented with acts of parliament or legal frameworks.
France has recently passed legislation which gives state recognition
and funding only to those sports organisations with equal access
for men and women. Title IX in the USA continues to have a major
impact on the provision of opportunities for girls and young women
in schools and universities. 10. Development assistance The Commonwealth Sport Development Programs have included and/or targeted women in all their programs. Exemplars include the "Aerobics for Pregnant Women" program in Zimbabwe, the "Mathare Youth Sports Association" in Kenya (whose president is a 16 year old girl) and the "Your Life, Your Health" initiative designed to empower young Caribbean Netball players. In addition, the ASC also conducts sport development programs in more than 30 countries, and has adopted an inclusive policy in each case. Yet though these examples are encouraging, they are limited. It would seem there is potential for more development work to take gender issues on board. 11. Research A number of research initiatives and projects at the national level were described. WSI has led the way internationally on a range of important issues, and counts a number of leading academic researchers in their membership. IAPESGW congresses provide excellent opportunities for women researchers to present papers, as do those of the ICHPER.SD. The specialist journal, "Women in Sport and Physical Activity," provides opportunities for publishing papers and sharing knowledge, and the WSF (UK) encourages and recognises student research through its "Dissertation Award."
The A-Z of Worldwide Action outlined in Chapter 3 reinforces the specific examples of work in connection with the 11 action points in the Windhoek Call for Action (detailed in Chapter 2). The contents of Chapter 3 demonstrate the enormous range of proactive work being carried out by different international, regional and national organisations and groups, in virtually every part of the world.
Within the Government sector, several groups of Ministers have included women's equality in sport in their deliberations and declarations. Caribbean Heads of Government have endorsed the Brighton Declaration, and Commonwealth Health Ministers have recognised the connection between physical activity and health and the role that gender plays. The Conference of Youth and Sport Ministers of the States sharing the use of the French language (CONFEJES) has overseen a significant development program for women in connection with their Games, while the Council of Europe's recognition of Harassment and Abuse issues and Zone 6's work in the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa are other noteworthy achievements. Support for the women and sport movement at ministerial level is useful for those working on the ground. By enabling them to call their own governments to account if they are ignoring gender equity in sport, it allows us to turn policy into practice. International Multi-sport organisations and International Federations National Olympic Committees and International Federations often look to the International Olympic Committee for leadership, and there can be little doubt that the setting of universal targets for all NOCs and IFs by the IOC has put the issue of women in sport leadership firmly on the agenda of all these organisations. However, the report from the IOC demonstrates a comprehensive approach to women and sport that is about more than just targets. It also includes policies which place women on the general agenda of the Olympic movement; an increase of women's events and disciplines in the Olympic program, ensuring an increase in women's participation (up 4 percentage points to 38% in the four years between Atlanta and Sydney 2000); a decline in the number of national delegations without women; the suspension of gender verification tests; a continued focus on education and training; and, finally, enhanced communication and information about women and sport. This work has been systematically championed and taken forward by Katia Mascagni, Chief of the Section for Women's Advancement in the IOC. Her section has been assiduous in the difficult task of monitoring and reporting on progress, and the statistical information it has produced has provided extremely valuable evidence of gender representation for those needing to make their case in countries around the world. Their work has also benefited from personal support at the highest level from IOC Presidents Samaranch and Rogge, and Vice-President Anita Defrantz, who Chairs the IOC's Women and Sport Working Group. The International Paralympic Committee's report shows that, in comparison to the Olympics, the Paralympics have a smaller percentage of women's participation (25% in Sydney). The IPC has taken positive action through its technical department, however, as well as in the way that countries applying for financial support are required to ensure that half the beneficiaries are women. The comment by IPC Technical Officer Carol Mushett, that true gender equity will require coordinated and systematic action by a range of organisations, is well made, and the recently established Women and Sports Commission of the IPC will no doubt make recommendations to support this. Other multi-sport agencies included in this section are the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which has followed a pattern similar to that of the IOC, and the Islamic Countries Women's Sports Solidarity Council, which for cultural reasons has followed a different model. The CGF's Women and Sport Group is focussing on three main areas: the games program, women's participation and women's leadership. The Muslim Women's Games, meanwhile, provide opportunities for Muslim women to participate, coach and officiate in competitive sport in a culturally acceptable, women-only environment. There is no doubt that there is much for other multi-sport organisations to learn from the approaches that have been taken - and the progress that has been made - by the organisations featured in this section of the report. Ten International Sport Federations submitted reports on their activities. Again, there is much that the many other IFs could learn from the methods adopted and progress made by sports such as athletics and field hockey. Netball is also working effectively with women in developing countries, and the example of the Women's Road World Cup in Montreal shows how a major event can be used to effectively promote women's sport. We celebrate the appointment of Else van Breda Vreisman as President of the FIH, as well as Susie Simcock's Presidency of the World Squash Federation - a position that led to her election to the Council of GAISF as the first woman ever to hold the post. International Physical Education and Sports Science Organisations Many physical education and sport science organisations are members of the International Council of Sports Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE). ICSSPE's report shows how it has used the most relevant points from the Windhoek Call for Action both to take direct action itself, and to influence its members to take action. Included as an addendum to the ICSSPE report are reports from nine of its member organisations. The challenge, as with International Federations and multi-games organisations, is to get more organisations to commit to taking action on women and sport issues, based on the example of those whose work is reported. Africa The Africa section of the A-Z chapter contains reports from 26 countries, 7 more than in 1998. Many of these countries have established women's sport organisations or women's committees in their NOCs since the Windhoek Conference, and it is clear from reading the reports that delegates who have attended international conferences have gone back to their countries and taken action. The Brighton Declaration and Windhoek Call for Action have been used as tools to raise awareness and promote commitment to gender equity in sport, while the IOC targets have had a real and significant impact, as evidenced by the number of reports that quote statistics on women in leadership positions. Constitutions and statutes have been amended to increase women's representation. Conferences, seminars, sports festivals and events have been organised. And the popularity and success of women's football is growing in many African countries. The Americas There is also a large increase in the number of reports from the Americas, with 18 countries featured compared to just 9 in 1998. The increase is largely due to the activation of the women and sport movement in South America. Two notable achievements are the building of a sports centre exclusively for women in Ecuador, and Grenada's 50% representation of women on its Olympic Committee. As in Africa, numerous women's committees and women's sports organisations have been formed, and national seminars and conferences run. Canada and the United States have both been working in the women and sport field for some years, and organisations such as the WSF and CAAWS are well established. These countries and organisations continue to develop and lead the way in women's sport development, as evidenced by their work cited in Chapter 2 and the development of the Montreal Tool Kit. Asia and the Middle East Twenty-two countries feature in this report compared with 13 in 1998, again reflecting the growth of the women and sport movement in this region. The Japanese Women and Sport Association and their indefatigable Executive Director, Etsuko Ogasawara, have led much of this development, staging a successful conference in June 2001 that led to the formation of an Asian network, working group and action plan. The country reports from Asia also tell the story of the continuing adoption of the Brighton Declaration (Syria in 1998, Singapore and Chinese Taipei in 1999 and Japan in 2001); the setting up of NOC Commissions and women and sport groups and organisations; and the staging of conferences and festivals. Six thousand women participated in the festival in the Philippines as part of National Women's Month, and 20,000 in Singapore. Many countries reported statistics on women's representation and participation, and Mongolia and Cambodia both reported the first women on the Executive Board of their NOCs. Iran is one of the few countries to report on the numbers of women coaches and referees trained: 17,000 coaches and 10,000 referees, figures many countries would be proud of. Europe Fifteen country reports were submitted from Europe, down from 23 in 1998. This is surprising given that European Women and Sport is the longest established regional working group or organisation, with 44 country representatives on its mailing list. The leadership of EWS has been with Finland and Germany since 1998, and both have succeeded in developing its work and staging successful European Conferences. France is assuming leadership of the group from April 2002. Adoption of the Brighton Declaration continues (Norway in 1998/9,Croatia in 1999, Portugal in 2001), and the report from Lithuania comments on the way in which its publication has obligated governmental and non-governmental organisations to advance equality for women. As in other parts of the world, many European NOCs have established women's commissions, and increased percentages of women in decision-making positions are reported. Finland, for example, reports 41% women on its Sports Federation Board and 38% on regional boards. Government involvement in the women and sport movement appears stronger in Europe than in some other parts of the world, with both Hungary and France reporting the benefits of government support. Conferences have been held and various kinds of women's groups have been formed. The concept of more informal networking as opposed to formally constituted groups is also an emerging pattern in countries like Finland and France. Norway has done some innovative work on women in top-level sport that will be of interest to many other countries. Oceania Seven countries from Oceania submitted reports, a small but notable increase on the 5 submitted in 1998. Australia has been extremely active in sports development in general, as seen in Chapters 2 and 3 of this report. Not only did Australia stage a very successful Olympic Games in Sydney, where both past and present women athletes were highly visible, but they have also mainstreamed women and sport issues into all their work. The work of the Australian Sports Commission, led by Debbie Simms, along with her willingness to share this work widely, has helped many individuals and organisations in the women and sport movement. The Hillary Commission in New Zealand has also done some excellent work, and the report from Samoa charts significant progress with involvement of government departments and officials.
"How well has the women's sport movement responded to the 11 points in the Windhoek Call for Action?" Judging from the responses received, we can conclude that overall: Good progress has been made in the areas of
Some good work has been done on
More attention needs to be paid to
Much more attention needs to be paid to
In continuing to respond to and implement the Windhoek Call for Action in the future, organisations will need to take into consideration which action points are most relevant to them, and where they can make the most effective contribution. "What conclusions can we draw from the A-Z of worldwide action?" The women and sport movement continues to expand and become stronger at the national, regional and international levels. Significant progress has been made in these areas of:
Regionally, there has also been significant development of the women and sport movement in South America and Asia in the last 4 years Critical Success Factors
The Future The 2002 World Conference on Women and Sport in Montreal focuses on a wide range of factors that affect progress, particularly those areas that need more support and action. The Montreal Tool Kit, produced for conference delegates and to be made available on the Internet after the conference, represents a significant legacy of the IWG's work to date. As a hands-on, practical resource of proven techniques to effect change, the Tool Kit will be invaluable to individuals wishing to make a difference their own area of influence. The IWG hopes that co-ordinated efforts at the international, regional and national levels will be effective in addressing areas highlighted here as needing attention. By transferring this Progress Report to the Internet as a "living document" for updates and additions, we are optimistic that progress in the years ahead will continue to build on the information, lessons and successes captured here, and effectively help to move forward the agenda for women and sport throughout the world. We all share in the responsibility to keep the information up to date, and relevant to our shared purposes. To fill in any omissions, or contribute further progress, success stories and lessons learned to this Women and Sport Progress Report, please contact: IWG Secretariat
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