{"id":7846,"date":"2025-07-15T23:18:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T13:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwgwomenandsport.org\/?p=7846"},"modified":"2025-07-15T23:18:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T13:18:23","slug":"asean-conference-breaking-barriers-building-champions-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.iwgwomenandsport.org\/ar\/asean-conference-breaking-barriers-building-champions-together\/","title":{"rendered":"ASEAN Conference: Breaking Barriers, Building Champions Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

IWG\u2019s Secretary General Lisa O\u2019Keefe MBE and Global Executive member Etsuko Ogasawara were in attendance at the ASEAN conference on gender equity in sports in Penang, Malaysia, at the end of last month, where Lisa also delivered a keynote presentation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As Chair of ASEAN 2025, Malaysia hosted the event under the theme \u2018Breaking Barriers, Building Champions Together\u2019, organised by the Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports to encourage ASEAN member countries to develop or build upon strategies and initiatives for women and girls participation in sports, aligned with the ASEAN Work Plan for Sports (2021-2025) and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/span><\/p>\n

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The event brought together representative from ASEAN member countries to hear from several international experts, share best practice and exchange views on how best to elevate and advance the role of women in sports, with a focus on leadership and coaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lisa spoke on the importance of gender equality and learnings around what works when it comes to making change happen, using examples from signatories to the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration. As part of her presentation, she covered the growth in women\u2019s sport in terms of revenue, investment and fanbase, pointing to the increasing recognition that sport is an essential tool for social change: building skills and experience that are vital throughout women\u2019s lives. From there, she highlighted the contradicting attitudes towards gender equality as Ipsos recently published<\/a> before moving on to focus on the learnings of deliberate action and the importance of fixing the system, not the women \u2013 using examples from Sport Ireland and World Wheelchair Rugby to bring her presentation to life. Lisa finished her keynote by updating the audience on plans for the IWG Global Summit<\/a>, which is taking place in Birmingham next year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to Lisa joining the stage, the event opened with keynote speeches from YB Hannah Yeoh, Minister of Youth and Sports, Malaysia and YBHG Tan Sri Dato\u2019 SRI (Dr) Mohamad Norza Zakaria, Vice President, Olympic Council of Asia.