The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has officially launched its Women's Coaching Internship Programme (WCIP), offering participants mentoring, learning and on-the-ground training at the event.

It forms part of the CGF's gender-equality strategy, which they claim is setting the benchmark for standards in international sport.

The coaches from 11 nations due to compete at the Games, scheduled to take place from April 4 to 15, represent 12 sports on the Gold Coast 2018 programme.

Botswana, Canada, England, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand are all represented on the WCIP.

They will participate in regular information sessions, including presentations from established women coaches who will share their stories, while learning from their respective mentors.

All of those who have secured a place on the programme will be housed at the Athletes' Village here.

The CGF claim that the coaching initiative will help ensure Gold Coast 2018 is the "most gender-equal" Commonwealth Games in history.

Gold Coast 2018 will be the first Games with an equal number of medal events for men and women, with 133 each.

As well as a parity in medal events, the CGF have revealed the International Federations for basketball, hockey and swimming have confirmed at least 50 per cent of their technical officials overseeing the action will be women.

"We were delighted to be able to develop the sports programme for Gold Coast 2018 to ensure that women and men competed for an equal number of Commonwealth medals for the first-time ever at a major multi-sports event," CGF vice-president Bruce Robertson, who has overseen the WCIP, said. 

"However, the CGF also sees women's coaching as a vital component of our gender equality strategy. 

"To achieve gender equality in team coaching staff at the Games, women coaches must be provided with opportunities to coach and gain international experience."