Nguyen Thi Bich Van, deputy head of the international cooperation division at the Vietnam Sports Administration, pointed out the lack of women in the council, executive committee and healthcare committee of the SEAGF. The number of female leaders and managers in the 11 member countries’ national Olympic committees is low, and none have a female president.

Women’s participation in sporting events has been growing, but there is a lack of gender equality in the leadership of sports, she said.

The official stressed that gender equality is a leading priority of the Olympic Movement, and sport is one of the strongest stepping stones for promoting gender equality and female empowerment.

National Olympic committees should take actions to promote gender equality through leadership development and awareness raising campaigns, as well as the appointment of more women to important leadership and management positions, Van recommended.

At the meeting, participants discussed many issues relevant to sports and women in Southeast Asia.

They agreed to ask national Olympic committees to set up female sports committees to increase female membership in the SEAGF to 30 percent. This proposal will be submitted to the SEAGF Council on May 12./.