Gymnastics Australia empowering women in Samoa
In recent years, Gymnastics Australia has been leading the way in the empowerment of women in the Asia-Pacific region, and this week CEO, Kitty Chiller, will be in Samoa to launch a Women’s Leadership project.
The Australian Government Pacific Sports Partnerships (PSP) innovation fund initiative is aimed at removing barriers to women participating in sport and taking on leadership opportunities whilst at the same time offering a new, fun and exciting activity to encourage women to want to get active and improve their fitness.
Titled “Building Leadership Capacity of Women In Sport”, the project is a collaboration between Gymnastics Australia (GA), the Samoa Gymnastics Federation (SGF), and the National University Samoa (NUS), and will be evaluated by Victoria University (VU - based in Melbourne, Australia).
UN Women recognise sport as an important vehicle to achieving gender equality and this project will use Aerobic Gymnastics as that vehicle. Experts from Australia will work with Samoan women with the goal to empower them as leaders in sport and other aspects of their lives. A series of workshops will be conducted from June 18-20, 2018, leading to a Showcase Performance event in September. Mentoring will be provided to participants in the period immediately following the initial training, aimed at achieving the goals of their individual action plans, providing the support they need in order to reach their own versions of empowerment.
To identify successes, learnings, opportunities and empowerment gained as a result of the activities, VU will compare a series of baseline and post event interviews. The evaluation will be led by Associate Professor Clare Hanlon, who is recognised for her research expertise in building community capacity to encourage girls and women as leaders and participants in sport.
Featured in the above image:
Amanda Jewell - Deputy High Commissioner and Key Note speaker
Kitty Chiller - CEO, Gymnastics Australia
Puna Muaitau - President, Samoa Gymnastics Federation
Debbs Van Hagen - Gymnastics Australia Aerobic Gymnastics Expert
Brooke Kneebush - Oceania Development Manager, Gymnastics Australia