Bukola Afeni
Leaders from different parts of Africa have highlighted the need to bridge the existing digital gap to ensure equitable women’s access to digital opportunities.
They made the disclosure at the second African LeadHERs’ Forum, organized by Speak Up Africa.
The body organized a series of webinars called “Webinars of equality” held on the sidelines of International Women’s Day on the theme “Digital spaces to achieve gender equality”.
The webinars were aimed to amplify the voices of women from various sectors – from community-based organizations to pan-African sports organizations, inside and outside the continent, to highlight the urgency of reducing gender inequalities around the world.
The webinars brought together a dozen speakers from various sectors, including health, civil society, and sport.
The first one convened the Voix EssentiELLES and was held on the theme “Voix EssentiELLES, all committed to a more inclusive world” while the second focused on “Leadership, Mentorship and Diasporas: the power of sport to achieve gender equality”.
The speakers highlighted the need to address inequalities that prevent women from accessing digital services as well as gender stereotypes that persist in
sport.
The Vice President of the National Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund in Senegal, Lopy Mbaye Ndiaye, said digital space is one of the main factors for women’s empowerment.
” It is a crucial tool to propel the voices of all women to the public sphere on issues that concern them.”
The second webinar convened several sports personalities such as Diandra Tchatchouang Djadjo, former international basketball player, Axel Toupane, International basketball player,
Syra Sylla, President of the association Ladies and Basketball and Marie-Laurence
Archambault, CSR Manager at the African Basketball League.
In many communities, gender norms, social representations and the lack of adequate facilities still prevent girls from accessing certain types of so-called “boys’ sports”.
At the professional level, wage inequalities, the sexualization of women and the invisibilization of their sports performances in the media accentuate the inequalities between men and women. It is estimated, for example, that only 4% of the world’s sports media coverage is dedicated to women’s sports.
There are injustices in sport, especially in women’s sports, that need to be addressed by creating initiatives not only by women but also by men to improve the representation of women in this field on and off the field”, Axel Toupane, professional basketball player.
Initiatives such as “Les prochains leaders” launched by Axel Toupane help to address these challenges.
“Through entrepreneurship and sport, the leadership program helps young girls
from the African diaspora design, develop and implement their projects in France”.
The Take Your Shotinitiative founded by former basketball player Diandra
Tchatchouang Djadjo contributes to raising awareness among young girls from low-income districts in Paris to the practice of sport and to surpass themselves.
Djadjo said the digital space has a role to play in terms of reaching out to the new generation who is very connected.
“It is important for high-profile sportswomen to take the initiative to encourage a change in mentality, and to inspire young girls through digital channels, whether in terms of sports or the sports industry”.
The President of the Ladies and Basketball Association, and Head of Communications at Sports Impact, Syra Sylla, said there is an urgent need to address the narrative around women’s sports, and the representation of women in sports for a fairer and more equitable world.
“Representation in sport is extremely important, as young girls do not imagine themselves in sports careers that they do not see or that are not promoted. Digitalization allows us to facilitate the connection between female sports role models, and young girls but also to
create media and platforms to change the narrative about women in sport.”
Sport brings people together and sport promotes universal values that contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It should be a specific tool to achieve SDG 5 which aims to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.”
The Africa LeaderHER Forum
supports the inclusion of women and girls in public platforms and leadership and aims to encourage women and girls, in all their diversity, to participate
meaningfully in decision-making spaces for better public health.
