Laurel Black lead the introduction of the Women in Sport Leadership Summit, which will take place on April 10 2023 ©FISU

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) celebrated International Women's Day by hosting a webinar alongside its Gender Equality Commission to find the best ways to close the gap between men and women in sports.

Leonz Eder, the FISU Acting President, talked about the issue of gender inequality.

"The question of gender equality still preoccupies most Government, companies, and organisations," said Eder.

"This alone shows there is still a lot of work to be done with this issue."

 FISU committee chair Rosaura Mendez Gamboa also added her opinions on the matter.

"Today it’s important to build a world with more opportunities for everybody, where nobody is left behind, where inclusion is the key for new fights," said Gamboa.

"FISU is [seeking] new proposals that allow our organisation to take forth to open more spaces and opportunities."

Students from Georgia, university representatives, and Georgian sport federations participated in the webinar, a project presented by University Sport Federation of Georgia representative Nika Tikanashvili, where female volunteers and their importance in the development of sport was highlighted.

Nika Tikanashvili explained the new project launched to increase gender equality in Georgia ©FISU
Nika Tikanashvili explained the new project launched to increase gender equality in Georgia ©FISU

The Women in Sport Leadership Summit, which will be taking place on April 10 in North Carolina, United States, was mentioned in the webinar.

This aims to help students choose career paths and plans, with topics such as empowerment and self-confidence going into the field, how to advocate for yourself and others, how to network and mental health and how it manifests in the female body.

Laurel Black, a FISU student ambassador who introduced the summit, talked about their approach to the event.

“We are taking the approach of providing role models and representation for women by inviting guest speakers to come and speak on their experiences and provide those role models for our student-athletes and those studying sport management," said Black.

The summit is due to take place at the North Carolina State University campus, which is also a venue for the FISU Summer World University Games 2029.

The committee also announced the FISU Gender Equality Awards, which will have a new category called the Extraordinary Award, joining the Gender Equality Project Award and the Gender Equality Champion Award.

The nominations from National University Sports Federations will be open until June 1 2023.