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THE Female Sport Leaders Mobility Exchange Programme, run by the African Union Sport Council Region 5, is one of the many programmes affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The programme is held in collaboration with The Association For International Sport for All and funded by the European Union.
Under the programme, 10 carefully selected young women, who are participants in the Region 5 Women Leadership Programme were meant to be starting a two-year exchange programme.
It would have seen them travelling to Europe, Lesotho and back to Europe between March 2020 and October 2021 as part of a leadership mentorship programme.
The plans were to kick-start the programme in March 2020, with the selection of 10 young women, from Region 5 member countries (one from each of the 10 member countries).
However, this process was adversely affected by the impact of the pandemic which led to Governments introducing travel and social distancing restrictions.
The Female Sport Leadership Mobility Exchange programme aims to empower young African and European women in order to equip them with knowledge, skills, competencies and experiences to lead the sport and Sport for All movement.
The programme will not only strengthen employability, but also enhance the selected women’s personal development through time spent in a foreign country.
The project partners include the European Sport Education Network — Austria and Olympic Committee and Association of Sport Federations Slovenia.
In a statement, the AUSC Region 5 chief executive, Stanley Mutoya, said yesterday.
“Given the nature of the programme designed to involve shuttling of participants between Africa and Europe and the fact that Europe has become the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the Region 5, in consultation with TAFISA with concurrence from the EU and the rest of the programme partners, made a conscious decision to defer commencement of the programme until after it is certified safe to proceed.”
TAFISA secretary-general, Baumann Woflgang, concurred with Mutoya.
“We give priority to the value of life and the safety of our participants. As such, the conscious decision to defer commencement of the programme was prudent.
“We will consult with our programme benefactors and partners to explore possibilities of extending the lifespan of the programme in order to attain the anticipated outcomes in a safe and secure environment.”
The Mobility Exchange Programme is meant to build capacity of 20 carefully selected dedicated, committed and passionate young women between the ages of 18 and 30 from Africa and Europe.
These individuals will be prepared to take up leadership in the Global Sport for All Movement through mentorship and job shadowing during a period of two years.
Online Reporter