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The OFC’s commitment to women’s football took another step last night, with the launch of the Gender Equality Playbook. An event held on Auckland’s Viaduct saw the Playbook officially shown to the public after months of research and authorship.
The Playbook is an eight-chapter resource, complete with gender equality checklists, that will help Member Associations (MAs) address gender imbalance and promote football for girls and women in the region. OFC Head of Social Responsibility Michael Armstrong was full of praise for the project, which has been the result of strenuous research and interviews.
“The Playbook sets out some clear actions that we can take as a region. For us, it’s going to be a guidebook and a start of a conversation that we can have with our MAs that can really drive forward some specific actions that we can take to address gender inequality.”
Development of women’s sport requires intentional and strategic action that acknowledges the unique Pasifka context including specific challenges and opportunities. While there has been a great deal of research globally looking at how we can grow women’s sport and promote a more equitable society through sport, there has been little work focussing directly on the Oceania region.
Dr. Johanna Wood, president of NZ Football, said that, “I think gender equality is so important because it provides a platform for being inclusive. If we don’t have equality, we can’t be truly inclusive, in anything we do.”
“So, we need to have some measures. What will equality look like? This gives us a starting point. I think the Playbook will help the OFC region by providing a toolkit that will enable MAs to look at what they’re doing and evaluate what they’re doing, then come up with a plan to address those issues for women and girls in the Pacific.”
The Playbook focuses on these key areas:
- Participation
- Coaching
- Leadership
- Media
- Policy/governance
- Ending violence
The last focus area is of particular importance. Football, and other sports, is seen as a primary way focusing on early education, respectful relationships, and working with men and boys.
“We have a great platform here to change attitudes, behaviours and beliefs across the Pacific,” said Armstrong.
“I’m really pleased we got to this point, the big win tonight is having so many sports and stakeholders in this space. I’m really hoping we can use this opportunity to lay the foundation for further collaboration. I’m really pleased with the conversations that it’s started.”
The Gender Equality Playbook would not have been possible without the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, UN Women Fiji Multi Country Office, the Oceania National Olympic Committees, the Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels and others.
