KWALE, Kenya, Jan 19 – The Government is determined to fast-track implementation of the Gender Welfare in Sports Committee that was launched during “The Agnes Tirop Conference” which brought together stakeholders across various sectors in the country.
Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage Amb. (Dr.) Amina Mohamed in a post-event presser, noted that the essence, going forward, will be to expedite the implementation by ensuring recommendations of the Conference come to fruition.
“In 100 days, we are going to take stock of where we are, to see how far we have come. We will also review any measures that we have; that we need to review and look at how to achieve them within a meaningful timeframe because if it stays for too long, then it will gather dust.” Amina remarked.
CS Amina also congratulated stakeholders for complete and total ownership of the process from the onset adding that “nobody ran away from their responsibilities.”
“We agreed that any recommendations coming out of this process would have to be sustainable, each one of us in this Conference has a responsibility to ensure that that we move from where we are today to the direction that Catherine (Ndereba) has pointed us to. Nobody can escape their responsibilities, not even me, whether am in the office or not.”
“We had every stakeholder that really mattered in Diani. We also had the political leadership led by HE President Kenyatta, who officially opened the conference virtually with very deliberate statement to support the initiative.”
“I think all of you have witnessed how impactful the Conference has been. Each and every athlete has spoken out, the sports federations have also dealt with the issues and the commitments they have made today to just make sure we put an end to the bad behavior, discrimination, abuse, exploitation that was out there. I believe the Conference is a turning point for all of us who believe in equity, who believe in the power of sports to change the world, to unify us to create cohesion in our country and beyond.”
Amina noted that issues of disparities in remuneration between male coaches and female coaches, sportsmen and sportswomen, and male and female referees; gender imbalance in the composition of federations and technical bench of various national teams will be looked into going forward.
She also cited partiality in media coverage with male athletes getting broader coverage compared to their female counterparts; as well as rampant cases of sexual harassment and sexual abuse directed towards sportswomen by sports officials, technical bench, and sportsmen.
Recommendations highlighted in the Catherine Ndereba Report include fairness in remuneration for sportspeople, referees, and team officials, regardless of their gender; observing gender balance in the composition of federations.
Giving opportunity to retired female coaches to mentor and train young female coaches; adequate budgetary support for female athletes.
Broader media coverage for women sports events; development of a gender sensitive Sports Act and Policy; and action against perpetrators of Gender-based Violence.