The publicity Campaign for the planned week -long Women and Sports Festival would kick off today with the launching of the organising Committee of the event.

According to the Executive Director of the Gambia National Olympic Committee [GNOC] Mr. George F. Gomez, the Permanent Secretary at the department of State for Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs Alhagie Tamsir Manga would do the official launching and would be attended by the President of GNOC Alhagie Abu Dandeh Njie, the Chairman of Women Council as well as the Executive Director of Women Bureau.

The week long Women’s Sports Festival is being planned from the 17th to 25th November 2006,and aimed at creating national awareness about the rights of women in participating in sports and inclusion in sporting structures.

The Festival will launch a national platform that will initiate and promote national dialogue, push for policy orientation, and reactivate sports leadership development among women.

This will be done through the following programmes:

1- Weeks –long publicity campaign through Newspaper, TV and Radio Programmes and Panel discussions.

2- Two-day training for Women’s Sports Journalists at the Paradise Suites.

3- A national Forum on Women and sports development.

4- Solidarity March of Women to covey a message of solidarity among women for the promotion of sports and development.

5- Reactivate the Women’s six-aside football competition

6- And Mass Sports for Women which aim to promote sports for all women.

The theme of the Festival is “Mainstreaming Women in Sports - From Rhetoric to Action”.