The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and UN Women have renewed a memorandum of understanding to improve gender equality across the Pacific.
Having first joined forces in 2022, the reinvigorated partnership will enable both organisations to tackle gender-based violence and discrimination by empowering women and girls on and off the pitch.
UN Women will support the OFC through the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme, an initiative predominantly resourced by the Australian Government alongside the European Union and organised by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in a strategic partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
UN Women Fiji Country Office Representative, Delphine Serumaga outlined why the UN elected to continue the partnership with the OFC.
In the Pacific Islands, sports play an important role in shaping attitudes, values and behaviours that can promote gender equality and prevent violence against women and girls. UN Women is pleased to support OFC and the member associations in their commitment to make football safe, equal and inclusive,” she said in a press release.
OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo expressed how vital it was to have continued support from UN Women to progress the Confederation’s work.
“Gender equality has taken an even greater focus in our region following the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the first senior FIFA World Cup to be held in Oceania. The development and launch of This Is How We Football as one of our legacy programmes is a testament to this,” he said in a press release.
“Using the power of football to drive gender equality also means continuing to develop women’s football from grassroots to the elite level. Ensuring girls and women have the opportunity to perform on the field is a key part of our work to change attitudes and perceptions.
“We’ve achieved a lot in our partnership with UN Women so far and are excited to continue building on those foundations.”
The This Is How We Football initiative is a Football for Good programme designed to tear down barriers preventing women and girls from playing football. Implemented in eight countries in 2024 (Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledona, Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati), the programme will add a ninth in 2025 with the addition of Papua New Guinea.
In combination with the OFC’s Just Play programme, both initiatives have rapidly improved capacity building for women. Of the 600 participants for volunteer and coaching courses in 2024, 65% were female.
Furthermore, the OFC and UN Women partnership has already achieved a litany of major successes, such as the Gender Equality Playbook 2022, The Power of Football 2023 social responsibility strategy, a localised 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign and a range of regional workshops to support women across the Confederation.
