Moorosi Tsiane

THE Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC will hold a seminar on gender equality at Aloes Guest House on 18 and 19 November this year in collaboration with the Women in Sport Commission.

LNOC Head of Programmes, Pulumo Nchakha, said the seminar will be facilitated by experts from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sport and Recreation, Women in Law and LNOC.

He said the initiative was part of their efforts to promote gender equality in sports.

“The seminar is tailored for all the stakeholders including sports administrators, athletes’ representatives, coaches, media, and governmental, non-governmental and international organisations in Lesotho,” Nchakha said.

“This intervention comes as part of the LNOC Long Term Strategic Plan (2017-2024) objective of ‘promoting gender equality and zero tolerance to gender based violence using sport as a tool’.

“The IOC Olympic Agenda 2020 advocates for 50 percent female participation in the Olympic Games.  This seminar is geared towards instilling confidence in our local women to take advantage of the available opportunities on the global scale.”

“We will be advocating for increased participation of women in sports as well as the understanding and promotion of gender equality in their different communities and settings.

“We will also exchange ideas on good practices of proactively promoting a sporting environment free of gender stereotypes and one that rejects all forms of violence and abuse,” Nchakha said.