The final day of the OFC Women’s Football Conference 2024 in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington focused on the This Is How We Football programme, monitoring and evaluation, and raising the visibility of women’s football.
OFC This Is How We Football technical consultant Matelita Vukaso ran an interactive evaluation session on the This Is How We Football programme, and was followed by OFC media and communications officer Ella Reilly presenting on the importance of storytelling in raising the visibility of the women’s game and This Is How We Football.
OFC Head of Social Responsibility Teeny Aiken then took delegates through a monitoring and evaluation session, before the group participated in a practical This Is How We Football session in the NZCIS’s indoor turf.
New Zealand Football president and FIFA Council Member Dr Johanna Wood closed the conference with reflections on the origins of the All In Strategy guiding women’s football development in Oceania:
“It was a commitment to bring the All In strategy to life, and to provide opportunities for all women across the Pacific to find their place in the world of football. A strategy to increase development, growth, sustainability, and professionalisation of women’s football in Oceania, leading to greater performances on the world stage – and we see that with Fiji going to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup this year, and congratulations to Samoa for qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup next year.
“All In focused on five priority areas: an equal Oceania, which means participation for everyone; a visible Oceania, meaning that we’re more visible as women in the game; a stronger Oceania through education; an elevated Oceania with performances, and an inclusive Oceania with culture, which all enables and empowers us as women to participate in football and lead football.
“If I look at the now, and if we look back over the launch of All In, we can see that the dial has moved. It might not be where we want it to be, but it has moved.”
She implored the participants to reflect on the collaboration opportunities that exist in their newly built networks as a result of the conference.
“It’s about us together with women being visible going forward. No one said it was going to be easy, but it is exciting and it’s very rewarding and now it’s up to us to get the very most out of what we do through collaboration, listening, and staying positive.”
Recap the rest of the OFC Women’s Football Conference 2024: