Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but imperative for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Supported by partners such as UNICEF, UN Women, U.S. Embassy, FIFA Foundation, Barça Foundation and RYTHM Foundation, ASA Foundation has been introducing community coherence, women empowerment, tolerance & prevention of violent extremism awareness and education development methodologies as one of the sustainable strategies to enhance the capacity of vulnerable male and female adults and youth in developing countries.
We have been successful in reaching our programming objectives by addressing and transforming education and sports issues through Training of Trainer (ToT) and Youth Development (YD) participatory learning workshops, digital online learning platforms and inclusive Edu-Sports coaching development modules to vulnerable male and female youth together with young adult teacher and community member beneficiaries. Working across Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with groups of talented female youth, teachers and community members regularly sent overseas to the UK, Europe and the United States for scholarship programs, our innovative and unique learning approach not only addresses the need for education and sports development in schools and communities but also raises important peace, tolerance, and gender equality issues by attracting female youth to sports development activities.
Our programs build an understanding of women’s diverse roles in violent extremism, including as promoters or preventers. Through sustainable grass roots programming activities, we work with women and girls at local school and community levels to support their empowerment as a key strategy for building social cohesion. Our programs have directly contributed to increasing women’s understanding of the problem of violent extremism and their confidence to participate in initiatives to prevent it. Furthermore, we teach both men and women to recognize that economic empowerment of women decreases tensions within family and community environments, and, thereby, contributes to more peaceful and resilient societies.
Since 2009, we have been sending groups of talented female beneficiaries from Indonesia and Cambodia to the United States for the U.S. Embassy supported U.S. Sports Visitors program.
Furthermore, Jessica Wu from the ASA Foundation Conflict Resolution & Gender Equality Education Development program in Mindanao, Philippines was selected by the U.S. Embassy as 1 of 15 talented trainers worldwide to participate in the Female Sports Mentoring 2016 program. The inspiring programs involve a series of education workshops, training development clinics and empowerment seminars with top lecturers, coaches and educators from universities and sports clubs.
