Seminar spurs Arab women sports

The Arab League is launching an effort to get girls interested in athletics.

By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 03/12/10

Arab countries are determined to encourage women's participation in sports. A recent Arab League conference in Hammamet took the first steps towards developing a unified Arab strategy.

At the November 26th opening of the 6th Arab Conference on Women in Sport, Arab League representative Khaled Louhichi discussed "the need to develop legislation in the field of sports to support the presence of women as well as to promote an enabling environment for women".

The forum was organized by the Tunisian Ministry of Youth, Sports and Physical Education in collaboration with the Arab League's Council of Ministers of Youth and Sports and the Arab Women Sports League.

Participants from 17 Arab countries stressed in the conference's final statement "the need to strengthen the position of women in the Arab sports system, and the application of the role of the Arab sports structures and the components of civil society to attract the female element and increase the presence of women in decision-making in sports and updating legal texts relating to women".

"The recommendations will be presented to the Council of Ministers of Arab Youth and Sports of the League of Arab States, notably the development of binding legislation for the Arab governments to promote the representation of women in sports activity, because it is by legislation that women's presence becomes compulsory," said Egyptian media professor Sahar Haoueri.

Lebanese sports reporter Iman Aliuoun said that there are no sports without media and called for women "to seek more media coverage".

The closing statement included a proposal from Tunisian first lady Leila Ben Ali calling for "considering physical education as a teaching subject like the other educational subjects, disseminating its teaching for both sexes in various stages of education, and developing scientific programs targeted to explore women's sports talents and develop their capacities, and follow-up their activities in clubs and women's national teams".

"We women are in need for such proposals, and sports education from an early age is a good thing, it always has, always will be. Sport must start from childhood in order to become effective sportswomen in this field," said Mauritanian sports professor Aminato Hanana.

Dounia Hijab, Vice-President of the Arab Women Sports League, believed that the proposals could give a new momentum to the innovation of women's sports.

"Governments need to adopt the subject of sports in the educational curriculum like the rest of the other subjects," Lebanese Youth and Sports Minister Andree Nasour said.

The summit also called for spreading awareness and sports culture among all segments of society and within all institutions, including government and private sector to ensure the effective participation of women in sports in a safe and encouraging environment, and the representation of women in decision-making and their participation in the formulation of policies for women's sports.

In his closing speech, Tunisian Youth and Sports Minister Samir Labidi stressed that his country was contemplating that this conference would pave the way to a new stage on the path of innovation of Arab women's sports.

"The application of women's practice of sports is important for the balance of societies," Labidi said.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/03/feature-03.