Women urged to push their agenda in sports

Mosah Mokganedi | Thursday July 3, 2014 07:00

 

He said if women fail to advocate their issues in sports, men should not be blamed. 

Reikeletseng was speaking at a media briefing to announce the relocation of the International Working Group of Women and Sport (IWG) office from Finland to Botswana. Botswana will host the IWG secretariat for the next four years culminating in the IWG conference in 2018. 

The Women and Sports in Botswana (WASBO) will be the main organiser of the IWG conference. Over 150 countries are expected to attend the Gaborone conference. 

Botswana was handed the right to host the secretariat and the conference in Finland last month. 

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Ruth Maphorisa is the IWG chairperson for the next four years. 

“This is the biggest position in sport to ever be held by a Motswana,” Reikeletseng said. BNSC sports development manager, Game Mothibi has been seconded to head the IWG secretariat while the Minister of Trade and Industry and former BNSC chairperson, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu has been appointed the IWG patron. 

It is the first time in 16 years that the IWG secretariat returns to an African country. 

A hosting organisation is elected for each four-year term, which ends with an IWG World Conference on Women and Sport. During its 20-year history, the IWG world conferences have been organised in Brighton, UK (1994), Windhoek, Namibia (1998), Montreal, Canada (2002), Kumamoto, Japan (2006), and Sydney, Australia (2010). 

The sixth IWG World Conference was held in Helsinki, Finland last month. The IWG is an advocacy organisation, which seeks to empower women.