Karate’s initiative against Gender-Based Violence, the Guardian Girls Karate Project, was honoured Tuesday by the High Council of Sports of Spain. The programme was bestowed with the recognition from Spain’s main sports officials at the International Conference on Gender Equality in Sport in Madrid.

The award was received by WKF CEO Sara Wolff and handed out by Spain’s acting Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta. The event also had the President of Spain’s High Council of Sports, Victor Francos in attendance, along with the top officials in the country in matters of sports and gender equality, as well as representatives of the European Union institutions.

Hosted in Madrid (Spain) on the occasion of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the conference aimed at analysing the current situation and future challenges of gender equality in sport. With this distinction, Spain’s main sports governing body recognised the efforts and development of gender equality in the sport achieved by the Guardian Girls Global Karate Project.

The Guardian Girls Global Karate Project is a far-reaching initiative aiming to promote gender equality and empower women and girls through Karate. This programme was created by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Koyamada International Foundation (KIF) and the World Karate Federation (WKF).

WKF CEO Sara Wolff said:

“The Guardian Girls Karate Project is one of our most ambitious initiatives and the perfect showcase of the many values of our sport. Established since January 2023, we have successfully introduced the programme in all our major Karate events that have been held this year on three continents, thus demonstrating the tremendous contribution of Karate to society. Among these events, I would like to point out the success of the presentation of the programme at the European Senior Championships in Guadalajara (Spain), where we had the excellent cooperation of the Spanish Karate Federation and Spain’s High Council of Sports. Now we are ready to initiate the second stage of the project, in which we will prepare female instructors to develop the programme around the world through our 200 National Federations. This distinction helps us continue our efforts to fight gender-based violence through the sporting practice of Karate, a discipline that provides women with invaluable tools to face, in the best possible conditions, all kinds of situations of violence.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Guardian Girls Karate Project.

(Picture: WKF CEO Sara Wolff (right) with Spain’s acting Minister of Culture and Sport Miquel Iceta. Picture: CSD)