Celebrating the women strengthening the Olympic values worldwide
To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, stories from four countries illustrate women’s integral role not only in delivering the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), but also in shaping its global growth and long-term legacy.
The impact of OVEP has been felt the world over – and International Women’s Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate the role played by women in spreading its benefits across countries and continents.
Women have become OVEP’s principal architects – embedding it in institutions, translating it into local contexts and carrying it into communities, often resulting in transformational change for young girls in particular. From village classrooms to nationwide educational networks, women are not simply implementing Olympic values education programmes but are taking it to new levels – as these stories illustrate.
Grassroots leadership in India
OVEP has expanded rapidly in India in recent years, reaching more than 12 million children across 65,000 schools in the country since 2024. It has taken root in some of the country’s most localised educational settings, grounded in everyday leadership.
Recently, through the work of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Reliance Foundation, the programme has been embedded within anganwadis, women-run community-based centres that provide early childhood education, nutrition and health support in rural and low-income communities, where women are central to OVEP’s everyday impact.
What makes OVEP powerful is not just the framework or the values it promotes, but the way it creates space for women to lead, to speak and to shape change at grassroots level. Women’s lived understanding of local realities helps OVEP connect meaningfully with communities, making the programme both relevant and deeply impactful in practice.
Anganwadi workers have long been caregivers, but OVEP has strengthened their roles as educators and community leaders, providing adaptable tools to introduce the values of respect, fairness and teamwork. All 120 anganwadis are run solely by women, who between them have delivered over 1,200 OVEP sessions.
For Preeti Namdeo, an anganwadi worker in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, one young girl’s journey stands out as a powerful illustration of OVEP’s impact.
Ruchi, a regular attendee at Preeti’s centre, rarely spoke and struggled to stay engaged. Since Preeti introduced OVEP, Ruchi’s confidence has blossomed, and she now regularly puts herself forward during group activities – a transformation mirrored amongst many of the girls at the centre. “Seeing these young girls grow in confidence has been deeply fulfilling,” said Preeti.
Ruchi’s story is indicative of an impact seen across the country. Through the IOC’s work with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust, founded by Olympic shooting champion and former IOC Athletes’ Commission member Abhinav Bindra, thousands of women are delivering sports and Olympic values-based sessions in schools in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha and Telangana.
Of the OVEP educators across the states, more than 23,000 are women, engaging nearly 250,000 young people. Between 45 and 50 per cent of the students participating in regular sports and values-based learning sessions are girls – with the proportion as high as 65 per cent in some areas.
Empowering women in Saudi Arabia
The programme’s expansion in India is just one demonstration of its scalable impact. A two-day OVEP “Train-the-Trainer” event in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, last year gave the 16 female participants an opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills and develop valuable experience in delivering OVEP sessions, including with people with disabilities. The women have gone on to form a group of OVEP ambassadors, between them implementing five initiatives that all use sport to promote the Olympic values.
Archery, basketball and fencing, amongst other sports, have been used in educational settings to promote fair play and respect, creating spaces that encourage inclusion and empowerment. The initiatives link the Olympic values with Islamic principles and local cultures, ensuring that the messages they impart connect with communities.
We benefitted from learning about the Olympic values, their principles and foundations, and how to activate and promote them within the community. From the beginning, we’ve seen strong community engagement. It’s truly an enjoyable and beautiful experience.
For Areej and her fellow participants, the OVEP programme has proved a catalyst for their own personal development, too. Three have gone on to work for the local Neighbourhood Club, a community sports centre operated by the Saudi Sports for All Federation, while two others went on to obtain dodgeball coaching and refereeing licences. Collectively, they continue to incorporate the Olympic values into their everyday work.
Championing Olympism in Senegal
A continent away, strong female leadership is driving the spread of the Olympic values in Senegal – the host country of this year’s Youth Olympic Games. There, Fanta Diallo, the Engagement and Mobilisation Director for Dakar 2026, is part of a team aiming to introducing OVEP principles to 900,000 young people across the country ahead of the Games, with women playing a central role.
Women are integrated at both governance and operational levels. They are represented within our leadership and delivery teams […] and play an active role in curriculum delivery and mentoring.
Not only are women driving the programme’s delivery, but girls represent almost 50 per cent of the beneficiaries, too – a significant proportion in a country where many young girls face cultural and socio-economic barriers to sporting and educational opportunities. OVEP clubs have been established in many schools, led by mixed-gender committees of students.
In one secondary school, girls at an OVEP club designed and delivered a “values through sport” day, not only organising the event but leading awareness sessions. The knock-on impacts are equally important. Following the event, many of the girls went on to take leadership roles in other school clubs and community initiatives, with their teachers reporting measurable improvements in their public speaking and decision-making skills.
The increased visibility of female community leaders and role models is helping change perceptions, according to Cecile Faye, Director of the National Olympic Academy of Senegal. “What makes female leadership important in society is transmitting values to young girls,” said Faye. “Seeing them become autonomous and reproducing the same behaviours is reassuring.”
National implementation in Italy
For evidence of how the Olympic Games can provide fresh impetus for spreading the Olympic values, Senegal need only look to the most recent Olympic hosts. In Italy, OVEP was integrated into Gen26, the education programme of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, with organisers seeing an opportunity to deliver positive social impact in a structured yet flexible manner.
From project management to content design, women have shaped the programme’s direction. For one, the creation of the programme was supported by the Équipe Formative Territoriali (EFT), a nationwide teachers’ network of the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit, in which around 65 per cent of members are women.
Train-the-trainer sessions delivered by the IOC have created a cascade effect, with female educators mentoring more than 2,000 teachers at schools across the country. An online course on promoting the Olympic and Paralympic values – again designed largely by women – has further expanded reach to a total of over 8,000 teachers. Central to the aims of each initiative are fostering female empowerment, encouraging active participation and challenging gender stereotypes.
Those delivering the programme have reported gradual but meaningful change: more girls leading group reflections and engaging more confidently in discussions around sport.
As a woman, I feel a strong responsibility to convey the idea that sport is open to everyone. I think about how far women have come, from Olympic Games where they were [initially] excluded to the great champions of today. Dreams have no gender, and every talent deserves a place.
About the Olympic Values Education Programme
OVEP consists of a series of free and easily accessible teaching resources that complement school curricula using the context of Olympic sports and the Fundamental Principles of Olympism. OVEP communicates the long-term benefits of sport and physical activity through an understanding of Olympism and its impact on individual health, enjoyment and social interaction. For more information, visit the programme’s website.