The Association Women Sport Culture Mediterranean was the initiative behind the creation of similar associations in Mediterranean countries, thus creating an informal network that stimulates exchanges and reflections on these issues.
- with the aim of sustaining the final Resolution adopted following the first Antibes conference in November 2000 on “women and sport in the Mediterranean”.
- following the Antibes working seminar in May 2001, which brought together several correspondents from Mediterranean countries, and the youth meeting in December 2003 on “equal opportunities in Mediterranean sports life”.
- in continuation of the work of the Hammamet seminar on “sports coeducation in the Mediterranean” in September 2005.
This fourth meeting in many ways seems likely to contribute to establishing a tradition of exchange in the Mediterranean, integrating the international strategic approach outlined by the Brighton Declaration on women and sport, calling to “promote the creation of opportunities for girls and women to participate in sport and physical activity worldwide”.
To this founding act, it is appropriate to provide a specifically Mediterranean response that does not overlook local expressions, given the diverse situations of women in terms of practice, as well as the organization and management of sport in the Mediterranean countries.
Two types of problems can be encountered:
- Common problems shared by all Mediterranean women during their involvement in sports.
- Specific problems related to belonging to a culture (or even a country) or a social category.
It is now essential during this seminar to formalize this partnership and its objectives in preparation for a 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Women and Sport conference to be formalized in the near future.
The 2000s were favorable to the emergence in Europe of issues concerning equal opportunities for women and men regarding access to physical and sports activities.
Since then, various meetings have highlighted numerous difficulties and even forms of regression in terms of access to practices for young girls.
Thus, during the seminar, it will be about measuring the progress made over the span of six years in terms of the active participation of women in the field of physical and expressive sports activities, their representativeness within sports authorities, identifying new problems related to women’s access to the world of sport, and finally considering measures capable of influencing key decision-makers in the sports field towards better participation of Mediterranean women in sport, around these approaches:
• Gender and sport in the Mediterranean
• High-level athletes: what challenge to culture?
• New forms of sports practice
• Traditional practices
• Mediterranean sportswomen and health
• Sports responsibilities in the Mediterranean
• The challenge of gender equality in Mediterranean sports
• Gender parity in sports media
