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Having advanced projects to empower women in the Asia-Pacific region over recent years, Gymnastics Australia is this week launching a new Women’s Leadership project in Samoa.

The Australian Government Pacific Sports Partnerships (PSP) innovation fund initiative is aimed at removing barriers to women participating in sport and taking on leadership opportunities while also offering a new, fun and exciting activity to encourage women to want to get active and improve their fitness.

Launched by Gymnastics Australia Chief Executive Kitty Chiller in Samoa this week, the Building Leadership Capacity of Women In Sport project is a collaboration between Gymnastics Australia, the Samoa Gymnastics Federation (SGF), and the National University Samoa (NUS).

With the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)  recognising sport as an important vehicle to achieving gender equality, this project will use aerobic gymnastics as that vehicle.

Experts from Australia will work with Samoan women with the goal to empower them as leaders in sport and other aspects of their lives with the project evaluated by Melbourne’s Victoria University.

A series of workshops are being conducted this week, leading to a Showcase Performance event in September. Mentoring will be provided to participants in the period immediately following the initial training, aimed at achieving the goals of their individual action plans, providing the support they need in order to reach their own versions of empowerment.

To identify successes, learnings, opportunities and empowerment gained as a result of the activities, Victoria University will compare a series of baseline and post event interviews.

The evaluation will be led by Associate Professor Clare Hanlon, who is recognised for her research expertise in building community capacity to encourage girls and women as leaders and participants in sport.

Image shows Amanda Jewell, Australian Deputy High Commissioner; Kitty Chiller; Puna Muaitau, President, Samoa Gymnastics Federation; Debbs Van Hagen, Gymnastics Australia Aerobic Gymnastics Expert and Brooke Kneebush, Oceana Development Manager, Gymnastics Australia with local participants. 

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