Vietnamese taekwondo martial artist Chau Tuyet Van along with nine other prominent athletes and sports officials in ASEAN have been appointed as ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors.

Vietnamese taekwondo martial artist Chau Tuyet Van (centre) (Photo: VNA)

This initiative is part of the Japan-funded ASEAN #WeScore Campaign.

The ambassadors will use their influence to promote gender equality and women empowerment through sports, across the region and spread encouraging messages to the ASEAN Community.

Together with Van, other ambassadors are Princess ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah (polo athlete) of Brunei, Sokha Pov (traditional martial arts athlete) of Cambodia, Leani Ratri Oktila (para-badminton athlete) of Indonesia, and Soulamphone Kerdla (head coach of Lao national swimming team).

Malaysian gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Myanmar taekwondo athlete and referee Soe Soe Myar, Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, Singaporean fencer Amita Berthier, and Thai taekwondo athlete Panikpak Wongpattanakit also made their names onto the list.

They will share their views on women empowerment in an upcoming talk show to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat on December 3, which coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence annual campaign.

The talk show will touch on issues such as gender equality and women’s leadership, safeguarding of women and girls in sports, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities through sports, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on sports and how to address it.

ASEAN #WeScore campaign forms part of the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports, a project under the ASEAN Plus Japan Senior Officials Meeting on Sports (SOMS+Japan) funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund.

The campaign contributes to the implementation of ASEAN Work Plan on Sports 2021-2025 and is in line with ASEAN Vision 2025 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

Source: VNA