The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is delighted to see a growing number of women taking up positions of responsibility within their Continental Confederations. They now account for more than 25% of the members of these organisations’ Executive Committees, following elections held at their respective Congresses in March.The increase in female representation at management level in the five Confederations – Africa (CAC), America (COPACI), Asia (ACC), Europe (UEC) and Oceania (OCC) – is consistent with the UCI’s revised Constitution, adopted by its Congress in 2019 with a view to bringing the governance of cycling into line with the latest best practice in international sport. Set out in the section entitled “Support women cycling and the place of women in the cycling family” in the UCI’s strategic roadmap, Agenda 2022, the UCI’s goal was to increase female representation on the Executive Committees of the Continental Confederations to at least 25%. This represents a considerable rise, with the number of women on the Confederations’ executive bodies jumping from two in the period 2017-2021 to 13 in 2021-2025. In accordance with new provisions in the Constitution, the list of each Confederation’s voting delegates at the UCI Congress must include at least 25% of each gender. The UCI is pleased to note that National Federations have, as required, taken steps to ensure the suitable representation of both genders on their management bodies, with a growing number of women having been elected. The UCI also congratulates the OCC on its initiative which imposed the condition on National Federations presenting candidates for election to its Executive Committee to have at least one member of each gender on their own Executive Committees.Giving women a more prominent place in the governance of cycling, at all levels, is one of the priorities of the UCI’s Agenda 2022, along with the promotion of women’s cycling at all levels: its development as a sport, opportunities for women to access management positions, and the protection of athletes.In terms of governance, the UCI appointed a woman, Ms Amina Lanaya, as its first ever female Director General in 2018. In addition to the 2019 review of the UCI Constitution, our Federation has rolled out a programme that aims to make it easier for women to reach positions of responsibility within its administration. Designed to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the workplace, this policy was recognised with EDGE certification in 2019. EDGE is the world-leading certification standard for gender equality in the workplace. Wishing to reinforce its commitment, the UCI has taken the necessary steps to obtain a higher level of certification (EDGE Move).With regard to training, the UCI is developing programmes that make it easier for women to pursue careers in cycling (for example Sport Directors, riders’ agents, Commissaires and mechanics). Every year since 2016, the UCI has been offering scholarships to women with experience in rider management to enable them to attend the Sport Director training course delivered by the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC). Thanks to this scholarship, Beth Duryea of Australia (Canyon//SRAM Racing), Germany’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and Italy’s two-time UCI World Champion Giorgia Bronzini (both Trek - Segafredo) have obtained the UCI Sport Director certification after completing this training course at the UCI WCC. From 2016 to 2020, 21 women have benefitted from training as a Sport Director and six have completed the Riders’ Agent course. As part of the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy High Performance Coaches (WSLA HPC) programme, in partnership with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Solidarity, two female high-performance cycling coaches will come to the UCI WCC at the end of this year to complete the sport-specific part of their training. When it comes to Commissaires, the UCI intends to increase the proportion of women in this role. With this in mind, in 2019 it introduced female quotas for participation in UCI International Commissaire and Elite National Commissaire training.In 2022, the UCI will provide National Federations with training for women looking to take up positions of responsibility (directors, managers and project leaders). We were also pleased to see greater female participation in the online training courses that have been set up since November 2020 in response to the ongoing pandemic. Finally, the UCI WCC aims to increase the proportion of women working with athletes in the Olympic disciplines.“It gives me great pleasure to see more women on the Executive Committees of the Continental Confederations,” said UCI President David Lappartient. “This progress has been made possible by the amending of the UCI Constitution with a view to ensuring a greater balance between men and women in positions of responsibility in our governing bodies. Though there is still much to be done, this redressing of the gender balance, which forms part of the wider development of women’s cycling in line with Agenda 2022, is now well under way, both at a governance level and in terms of the opportunities women now have in reaching executive positions.”Following elections held in March 2021, the composition of the Executive Committees of the Continental Confederations is as follows:Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC)
- Mr Enrico Della Casa (Italy), President- Mr Alexander Gusyatnikov (Russia), Vice President- Mr Henrik Jess Jensen (Denmark), Vice President - Mr Delmino Albano Magalhães Pereira (Portugal), Vice President - Ms Katarina Jakubova (Slovakia)- Ms Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus)- Mr Dragomir Kouzov (Bulgaria).Confédération Africaine de Cyclisme (CAC)- Dr Mohamed Wagih Azzam (Egypt), President- Mr Julius Mwangy (Kenya), First Vice President- Mr Yao Jean-Marie Allah-Kouame (Ivory Coast), Second Vice President- Mr Danilo Correira (Mozambique)- Mr Mohammed Bashir (Nigeria) - Ms Aminata Mara (Guinea)- Ms Salma Amarcheine (Mauritania)- Ms Linda Helen Warren (Zimbabwe)- Mr Lahcen Kharsi (Morocco)- Mr Andrew Mkwezalamba (Malawi)- Mr Michel Thioub (Senegal).Confederación Panamericana de Ciclismo (COPACI)- Mr José Manuel Pelaez (Cuba), President- Mr Pierre Laflamme (Canada), Vice President North Zone - Mr Trevor Bailey (St Vincent and the Grenadines), Vice President Caribbean Zone - Mr Jader Antonio Grijalva Hernandez (Nicaragua), Vice President Central Zone - Mr Gabriel Ovidio Curuchet (Argentina), Vice President South Zone - Mr Jorge Blas Diaz Garcia (Dominican Republic)- Ms Monique Leerdam (Aruba)- Ms Elaine Silveira Sirydakis (Brazil)- Ms Sharon Lowe (Anguilla)- Mr Roberto Collazo Carpena (Puerto Rico).Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC)- Mr Osama Ahmed Abdullah Al Shafar (United Arab Emirates), President - Ms Lee Li Chia (Chinese Taipei)- Ms Yuan Yuan (People’s Republic of China)- Mr Asghar Khaleghi (Islamic Republic of Iran)- Mr Tatsuo Hayashi (Japan)- Mr Lee Daehoon (Republic of Korea)- Mr Wong Hang Cheong (Macao, China)- Mr Hing Siong Chen (Singapore)- Mr Dato’ Amarjit Singh Gill Darshan Singh (Malaysia)- Mr Parminder Singh (India)- Mr Raja Sapta Oktohari (Indonesia)- Ms Beatrice Alfred Lajawa (Malaysia)- Gen. Decha Hemkasri (Thailand).Oceania Cycling Confederation (OCC)- Mr Tony Mitchell (New Zealand), President- Ms Tracey Gaudry (Australia)- Mr Patrick Keenan (Fiji)- Mr Eric Tydingco (Guam)- Ms Anne Gripper (Australia).