Day 1 (January 10th)

The first day of the workshop began with an opening speech by Mr. Dang Ha Viet, Chairman of the VietNam Sports Authority of Vietnam, which is the co-host country. Followed by Ms. Aya Noguchi, Deputy Director of the International Research Center for Sport and Gender Equality (SGE) at Seijo University, who is hosting this workshop. Ms. Noguchi expressed her gratitude for making this event possible, saying, “Sports have the potential to overcome gender issues” and informed that they will be discussing how to approach key principles for achieving gender equality in sports through this workshop. She concluded by saying that she wishes this will be a good opportunity to think about what we can do for gender equality in sports. This was then followed by Ms. Larasati Indrawagita, Senior Officer of Education Youth and Sports Division, ASEAN Secretariat, emphasizing that “sports can serve as a powerful platform to promote gender equality and empower women and girls,” opening the workshop with the hope that the good discussions during this workshop would support the formulation of sports policies with a gender perspective in each country.

First session was led by Ms. Aya Noguchi, Lecturer, Faculty of Literature and Arts, Seijo University, on the “Introduction of Gender Mainstreaming & Gender Issues in Sport.” She first went over the background of the 2021-2025 Japan-ASEAN Work Plan and the initiatives taken so far, introduced the current action points of each country in terms of gender-equal sports policies that each country identified at the 2021 workshop, and discussed sports policies. She mentioned that so far there have not been many gender-specific efforts in each country and talked about how we can work on gender mainstreaming to promote gender equality in sports in ASEAN countries - which is the theme of this workshop. She also explained the difference between equality and equity, and since gender issues exist within the structure of the modern society, she emphasized the need for an equity mindset that provides support tailored to each person's situation.

As Ms. Noguchi concluded her first session, she moved onto her next sessions under the theme of “Concept and Framework of Gender Mainstreaming in Sport.” She lectured how thinking about whether each country has a gender master plan, what kind of policy it is linked to, and whether it has an impact on sexual violence and sexual harassment, can identify the problem and take concrete action. She concluded the two morning sessions by conveying the importance of indicators to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of efforts towards achieving gender equality.
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In the afternoon session, each country presented on the “Current Situation on Gender in and through Sport.”Following the presentations, Dr. Lombe Mwambwa, Research Director of the Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport, who served as the Resource Person for this workshop pointed out, “the significance of a multi-sector, broad government policy and commitment to gender equality in general - for all spheres of life. And this will then provide a firm foundation for actions to be delivered and resources to be allocated,” advising everyone to also collaborate with

The last lecture of the first day was on “Media Representation” by Dr. Lombe Mwambwa. She mentioned two issues of unconscious bias in the media: (1) Misrepresentation, where reporting is done inaccurately, and (2) Underrepresentation, which involves unequal coverage. Furthermore explained that in achieving gender mainstreaming in the media, it is necessary to incorporate gender perspectives into all aspects of organizational communication. Which involves considering how the process, decision-making, and communication practices affect gender issues. At the end of the session, with the given information, the participants were divided into groups to discuss practical actions that individuals and stakeholders can take to promote gender equality in the media as they concluded the first day.

Day 2 (January 11th)

This concluded all the lectures planned to provide all the necessary information and tools. The remaining portion of the workshop was dedicated to hold discussions and conduct group work for each country. Each country discussed and presented recommendations regarding priority issues in each country, strategic plans for gender mainstreaming in sports policies, and promotion of sports policies in ASEAN-Japan cooperation. After the presentation, comments by the resource persons included “I was very encouraged” and “The lack of data on gender and the understanding of gender among country representatives was also emphasized, and the plan included collaboration with stakeholders” and “I want ASEAN countries to incorporate a gender perspective, not just sports itself,” as they also recommended each count to summarize the findings of this workshop in a document, so that future collaborative actions can be taken. Furthermore, concluded by suggesting some form of way to continue sharing experiences and results as it relates with each other.

As the two-day workshop come to an end, Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen - Deputy Director of Vietnam Sports Authority, Ms. Aya Noguchi from Seijo University and Mr. Sho Sato - Secretariat of the Sports for Tomorrow Consortium of the Japan Sports Council (JSC) took the stage to close the event. Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen started off by mentioning the role of sports in moving towards gender equality and sustainable development - in the hopes that this workshop provided some insights to the managers and personnel involved. She concluded her speech by expressing her gratitude to all the parties involved. Ms. Noguchi followed, “I hope this workshop will give you some hints on how to approach gender issues,'' and explained the plans for follow-ups and workshops planned in the future while also expressing her gratitude to all the parties involved. Mr. Sato then concluded the two-day workshop by also expressing his gratitude, and stating that Post Sport for Tomorrow is a legacy program that places importance on gender issues, and added that continued communication will be vital.