DUBAI — Tunisian fencer Ines Boubakri, winner of a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and Frenchwoman Laura Georges, one of the top stars of international women’s football, will headline a virtual forum being organized by the Women’s Sports Committee of Dubai Sports Council (DSC) to discuss the challenges being faced by women’s sport in the times of COVID-19.

The “International Forum for Women and Sports” will take place on July 22, between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m., on video conferencing app Zoom, and will feature a number of prominent UAE and regional advocates and officials of women’s sports.

The include Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hasher Al Maktoum, board member of the UAE Volleyball Association, Mouza Ibrahim Mohamed Al Suwaidi, undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of Community Development, and Rawda Al Mahrazi, chairperson of Women’s Sports Committee.

Al Mahrazi will make the opening address before Mouza Al Suwaidi takes centerstage, sharing her insight on the “Impact of COVID-19 on women’s and community sport” in the opening session.

The second session titled “The future of women’s sport in light of the current challenges” will feature Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hasher Al Maktoum alongside Kuwait’s Sheikha Naima Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, head of the Organizing Committee for Women’s Games in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Georges, who is the Secretary General of French Football Federation, and Boubakri, a winner of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Creative Sports Award and an MBR Sports Creativity Ambassador, will then discuss the “Impact of COVID-19 on the performance of sportswomen” in the third session alongside Nadia Khadim, captain of Al Wasl’s women’s volleyball team.

In the fourth session, Nada Askar Al Naqbi, director general of Sharjah Women's Sports, and Dr. Mai Al Jaber, who is a board member of Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, will discuss institutional support for the future of women’s sports programs.

Fouzeya Faridoon, manager of Dubai Sports Council’s Women’s Sports Development section and manager of Women’s Sports Committee, will then bring the curtains down on the forum by enumerating on the conclusions and recommendations made by the panelists. — SG