By Edwin Mbewe
LILONGWE -(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Paralympic Committee (MPC) received the prestigious 2023 International Women’s Recognition Day Award in the Kingdom of Bahrain (Middle-East) during the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Para Sport Awards ceremony on Friday.
Malawi was honored alongside Malta, Nigeria, and the World Para Ice Hockey for their contributions to the Paralympic movement.
Memory Baluwa, the General Secretary of the Malawi Paralympic Committee, represented Malawi at the ceremony and expressed their excitement about receiving the award.
She stated that this recognition would inspire and motivate them to continue their hard work.
The International Paralympic Committee’s International Women’s Day Recognition Awards, initiated in 2013, primarily aim to acknowledge women within the Paralympic movement who embody the Paralympic ideals and serve as positive role models.
The winners were selected by members of the International Paralympic Committee’s Governing Board, based on nominations from across the Paralympic community.
IPC President Andrew Parsons highlighted that the International Women’s Day Awards have been ongoing for over a decade,.
He said each year the committee is impressed by the quality of the nominations.
He stressed the importance of promoting female representation within the Paralympic movement, citing that the IPC Senior Executive Team now comprises 50% women, and six out of 14 IPC Governing Board members are women.
Parsons congratulated the winners for their well-deserved recognition and thanked all those who participated in the awards.
He expressed his excitement about the increasing number of female advocates worldwide who are making the Paralympic Movement more inclusive and creating new opportunities for women.
The Malawi National Paralympic Committee has been at the forefront of promoting leadership changes and supporting the inclusion and equality of women in sports.
Over the past four years, they have effectively worked to bring about change and promote inclusion.
In 2018, NPC Malawi participated in programs conducted jointly by the IPC and the African Paralympic Committee, focusing on the development of African women in leadership roles.
At that time, the committee had no female representatives on its board, and their efforts were guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goal Number 5 on gender equality, striving for equal opportunities for women and men on their board.
