Conference ‘Gender Equity in Sport for Social Change’
Morocco, CasablancaMay 19-22, 2007
Please note that this is a personal invitation.
It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that we invite you on behalf of Nike, Association Marocaine Sport & Développement (AMSD), Mama Cash, NCDO, SwissAcademy for Development and Women Win to the conference ‘Gender Equity in Sport for Social Change’ on May 19-22, in Casablanca, Morocco. The conference will be held in conjunction with the ‘9 ème édition de la Course Féminine’. With at least 20,000 girls and women participating in this 10k run/walk it is a unique event!
The conference in Casablanca is the second in row aiming to discuss sport as a tool for gender equity. It will consist of workshops and will request your active participation.
Nike ( is an active advocate of women in sport and prioritizes gender equity in its corporate responsibility strategy. Nawal el Moutawakel, the firstNorth African and Muslim woman to win Olympic gold and current member of the IOC, has made part of her post Olympic legacy supporting gender equity and development through sport via her organisation AMSD ( Mama Cash ( the second largest women’s fund in the world, based in the Netherlands, supports the most pioneering and groundbreaking women’s rights initiatives worldwide. Quite recently, and with support from Nike, Mama Cash made sport for gender equity a new focus activity. We are happy and proud that our last year’s meeting found such a positive follow-up thus creating an excellent practical and evidence base for this year’s conference. SAD ( is dedicated to the question of how societies handle social change and cultural diversity. They will focus their efforts within the Casablanca conference at research, M&E, reporting and publishing. Women Win ( is in the process of becoming the first women’s global sport for gender equity fund. NCDO’s ( core goal is to strengthen and highlight public support for international cooperation and sustainable development, and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Within the aim of this conference NCDO’s sportsprogram will help raising awareness on this subject on an international platform.
Why would you come?
The conference “Gender Equity in Sport for Social Change” aims to convene a meeting with practitioners and others who are interested in how sport can further enhance women’s role in society. The conference follows the four platforms structure of the first Casablanca meeting in May 2006:
- Participants will exchange strategies and expertise experiences in the field and in other program areas (Learning Platform)
- Learn more about advocacy and networking (Advocacy & Networking)
- A set of impact measurement tools for sport and gender projects will be introduced (M & E)
- New funding strategies developed (Funding)
The work you do in this field will be a great asset to the overall sharing of knowledge. Simultaneously this will give you a great opportunity to get linked up with a network and learn practical tools to bring back to your own organization.
We are looking forward to meeting you Saturday May 19 in the afternoon at our surprise opening session. This means that you have to arrive Saturday morning. On Sunday morning the complete group will be participating in the unique and amazing “Course Féminine” (no fitness level is required) and after lunch a number of existing gender programs in the field of sport for social change will give a first impression of their work. The conference will continue with sessions on Monday 21st at 9.00 AM and end Tuesday 22nd late in the afternoon.
In the time prior to and during the conference Mr. Vincenzo Maggio will be the general contact person for the conference organization and logistics. Mr. Maggio will approach you soon with details about travel and accommodation arrangements and the final conference programs. Be prepared because some of you will be asked to present your work!
In the meantime, please block the dates in your calendar as we are very much looking forward to seeing you in Casablanca on May 19th. Please note that the conference will be in English, there will be limited French translations available.
We would appreciate if you would let us know before March 21st if you will join us in this next step towards gender equity through sports.
If you have any immediate questions please approach Vincenzo Maggio. His contact details are at the bottom of this invitation.
We hope to see you in Casablanca!
Maria Bobenrieth Nawal El Moutawakel
Nike CR Director EMEA AMSD
General contact person for the conference:
Vincenzo Maggio
Mail:
Mobile: +31 (0)6-21482842
Gender Equity in Sport for Social Change