Saudi Ambassador to US Attends Signing of IOC-UN Women Agreement to Promote Gender Equality in Sport

IOC renewed its partnership with UN Women, reaffirming the commitment to use sport to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. SPA
IOC renewed its partnership with UN Women, reaffirming the commitment to use sport to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. SPA
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Saudi Ambassador to US Attends Signing of IOC-UN Women Agreement to Promote Gender Equality in Sport

IOC renewed its partnership with UN Women, reaffirming the commitment to use sport to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. SPA
IOC renewed its partnership with UN Women, reaffirming the commitment to use sport to promote gender equality and empower women and girls. SPA

Saudi Ambassador to the US and member of Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz has attended the signing of an agreement between International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UN Women to promote gender equality in sport.

Under the agreement, IOC renewed its partnership with UN Women, reaffirming the commitment to use sport to promote gender equality and empower women and girls.

The agreement, signed by IOC President Thomas Bach and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous in New York on Tuesday, extends a partnership that began in 2012 and was extended for the first time in 2017.

The two organizations will continue to work together to maximize the value of sport in shaping social norms and achieve sustainable development goals that impact the everyday lives of women and girls.

Bach said that sport has the power to change people’s lives, and "expanding our partnership with UN Women will help us ensure that all women and girls have the opportunity to benefit from this unique power of sport.”

He added that under the new agreement, "we will strengthen our ongoing initiatives to encourage sports participation among girls and achieve equality between men and women.”



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.