Lausanne, Switzerland, March 9, 2020: Skateistan - a non-profit organisation that uses skateboarding and education to empower children, especially girls, in Afghanistan and other countries – has won the World Trophy in the IOC Women and Sport Awards 2020.
The IOC makes these awards annually, with one world winner and five continental winners, to recognise the remarkable contributions to the development, encouragement and reinforcement of women’s and girls’ participation in sport.
Two athletes from Afghanistan, one female and one male, together with a coach, took part in the OCA’s Skateboarding Youth Camp in Nanjing, China last summer and featured prominently in the OCA’s official magazine, Sporting Asia.
Founded in 2008 in Kabul, Afghanistan, and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Skateistan has developed several programmes that reach more than 2,500 children, aged between 5 and 17, also in Cambodia and South Africa.
The organisation uses skateboarding to create safe environments where girls can overcome barriers and gain access to sport and education.
Earlier this year, the documentary Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl), which follows the progress of a group of girls at Skateistan in Kabul, was awarded the BAFTA for Best British Short Film (Documentary) and an Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject).
The winner for Asia was Kim Jin-Ho of the Republic of Korea.
Olympic medallist Kim is a former international archery champion who is currently a professor at the Korea National Sport University and a board member of the Korean Archery Association.
She has successfully advocated for increased female representation within national governing bodies, as a director of the Women’s Sport Association of Korea from 1990 to 1998 and a member of the Women’s Sport Commission of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) from 2009 to 2013.
She also founded the Myeong-goong Council, which provides free archery lessons and scholarships to children, particularly girls. The KSOC honoured Kim with the Korea Sports Hero award in 2018.
The other regional winners were: Africa, Salima Souakri (Algeria); Americas, Guylaine Demers (Canada); Europe, Else Trangbæk (Denmark); Oceania: Kitty Chiller (Australia).
Commenting on the IOC’s March 6 announcement, two days ahead of International Women’s Day, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Congratulations to the six winners of this year’s edition of the IOC Women and Sport Awards. Each project is a lifelong commitment to advancing gender equality on and off the field of play. Each winner demonstrates the power of sport to make gender equality a reality.”
He continued: “We are celebrating their great contributions in a year in which the Olympic Games will be gender balanced for the first time, with equal numbers of male and female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.”
All six winners will officially receive their awards at a ceremony to be held later on this year.
The winners were selected from among 30 shortlisted candidates by the IOC Women in Sport Commission.
Lydia Nsekera, Chair of the IOC Women in Sport Commission, said: “Over the last 20 years, the IOC Women and Sport Awards have represented an opportunity to celebrate change-makers and show the important role that sport can play in addressing gender equality issues.
“Choosing six winners out of the impressive applications that we received has been a challenge, and I am really proud of the quality of the projects that will be honoured.”
Since 2000, there have been 122 recipients from 65 countries across the world.
Source: www.olympic.org