Development

United World Wrestling Supports the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (May 28) -- United World Wrestling (UWW) is pleased to announce its collaboration with the United Nations Human Rights Office to support its campaign for the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Born out of two World Wars, the Declaration is just as relevant today as it was on its first day. To highlight what the Declaration means for people in their everyday lives, the UN Human Rights Office launched a yearlong campaign that will culminate on December 10, 2018 - the actual anniversary date of the adoption of the Declaration.

As a partner in the Olympic Movement, United World Wrestling is committed to improving its anti-discrimination efforts, advancing gender equality and promoting fair play within the sport of wrestling.

UWW’s collaboration with the UN Human Rights Office includes a video interview featuring South African wrestler Ms. Madi MPHO as a Human Rights Champion and a joint call from athletes worldwide to support the #standup4humanrights campaign. A “Wrestling for All” open day event will also be organized in South Africa at the end of the year to mark Human Rights Day.

“We have made substantial progress towards gender equality and fair play in wrestling,” said Nenad LALOVIC, President of United World Wrestling and executive board member of the International Olympic Committee. “Our goal of this collaboration is to demonstrate our determination to continue our effort to enhance the contribution of sport to the sustainable development of society.”

#WrestleParis

Coach Amri on road to Paris 2024 through WISH

By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (March 29) -- Beyond reaching gender parity for athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also aiming to increase the number of female coaches through its Women in Sport High-Performance (WISH) pathway. With six participants of the programme already confirmed as coaches in Paris, Elizabeth PIKE, WISH Project Director, explains how the programme is breaking down barriers to fix the system. Only 13 percent of coaches at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were women.

At the past four editions of the Olympic Games, Marwa AMRI (TUN) represented Tunisia in the women's freestyle wrestling competition, clinching a bronze medal in the 58kg event at Rio 2016. At Paris 2024, she will be bringing all her expertise to Tunisia’s wrestling team as a coach. Although Amri may be outnumbered by her male counterparts at these Games, her very presence indicates a growing number of female coaches.

There are a number of other female coaches still pushing to achieve their Olympic dream, such as Federica TONON, who is currently working with Vanuatu’s beach volleyball team.

Amri and Tonon have something in common – they are both participants of the WISH programme, which is funded by the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme, managed and hosted by the University of Hertfordshire and led by Pike.

The programme got underway in May 2022 after a successful pilot from 2019 to 2021. All four cohorts have now embarked on the 21-month programme, a mix of online learning, group tasks, dual mentoring and a residential, with the first cohort already having graduated in January this year. In total, the WISH programme will equip a total of 123 female coaches from 22 sports and 60 countries with the tools needed to take on roles at the highest level of their sport.

Read the full article on olympics.com.