The Olympic Committee of Israel celebrates International Women's Day as a sign of female leadership in all arenas
The Olympic Committee of Israel marked International Women's Day at a joint conference with the Ministry of Sports held at Intel Israel. During the event significant women from various disciplines participated in the presence of the NOC President Yael Arad and the CEO Gili Lustig, alongside 150 female athletes, coaches, managers, directors and partners from various sports organizations.
While the world celebrates International Women's Day on March 8, in Israel this event takes place in the shadow of the October 7 massacre. In the backdrop of these complex days, points of strength and light – the leadership of women in all disciplines – were emphasized.
In sports in Israel, many processes and programs are carried out to strengthen and enhance gender out of a desire to encourage girls and boys to enter competitive sports and achieve achievements. Israeli sport has set for itself the goal to increase female representation in 2024. Today we see an under-representation of female coaches in Israeli sports, which stands at less than 10%, representative of the global situation requiring in-depth processes to encourage women to develop and advance in this field.
For this purpose, the Olympic Committee of Israel, supported by Olympic Solidarity, has initiated the ‘Coaches of Tomorrow Program’. This program aims to manage the personal growth of accomplished coaches to help them develop into key positions in their professional field in Israeli sports.
Israeli sports monitor and analyze gender data annually in order to bridge gaps and solve problems. At the annual management meeting, the Olympic Committee of Israel's gender equality report was presented. The report shed light on the progress made towards equality between women and men in the field of sports.
Yael Arad, NOC President and IOC Member: "Alongside the preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games, which for the first time in history are supposed to be equal, we are proud to present our progress and commitment to gender equality and inclusion within the sports community. The findings of this report reflect our ongoing efforts to create a more equitable and diverse environment where all sportsmen and women, regardless of gender, can thrive and succeed. The change is the result of all of our intentional actions in the organization to promote and ensure equality.”
Susy Yogev Chair of NOC Gender Equality Commission: “The impressive, heart-brodening and pride-inspiring achievements of Olympic athletes emphasize the need to accelerate the realization of all human potential without gender distinction. It is a non-gendered collective interest. We work to enable equal opportunities, to remove barriers, to develop unique training, to ensure that in all our professional programs an equal number or adequate representation of women is in place and to ensure a safe and protected training and competition environment. The Gender Equality Commission will remain steadfast in its commitment to create a more inclusive and diverse sports community, where every person has the opportunity to reach higher and farther more quickly and more safely."
13.03.2024
