UNESCO, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Team Up For Women’s Leadership Program in India

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced on Tuesday that the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA), organizer of this week’s Bangalore Open, will donate $100,000 to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-Sony Ericsson WTA Tour partnership for gender equality and women’s leadership.

The contribution will enable the establishment of a new partnership program in India, to be selected in the coming months, which will join previously announced programs in Cameroon, Liberia, China, Jordan and the Dominican Republic.

The KSLTA donation marks the single biggest contribution to the partnership since its formation, and will allow for the creation of a new program in the Bangalore region of India that will create real opportunities for women and girls to assume leadership roles as well as to raise awareness and promote the goal of gender equality.

Since the launch over one year ago of the landmark global partnership between UNESCO and the Tour to further gender equality and promote women’s leadership in all spheres of society, a substantial amount of funds have been raised or pledged, a series of programs have been established, a global advertising campaign has been launched, and global “Promoter of Gender Equality” Venus Williams has been joined by Tour stars Tatiana Golovin of France and Zheng Jie of China, with more announcements expected in the coming months.

At the announcement today, Venus Williams, the partnership’s global “Promoter of Gender Equality”, was flanked by Sunder Raju, the tournament director of the Bangalore Open; Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott; and Saniye Gülser Corat, Director of the Division for Gender Equality of the Bureau of Strategic Planning of UNESCO.

“The KSLTA, which operates the Bangalore Open, has been at the forefront of promoting women’s tennis in India,” said Sunder Raju, tournament director of the Bangalore Open.

“This opportunity to partner with UNESCO and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is a moment of immense satisfaction, and it is our hope that this will be a trigger for other partners to come forward and participate in this effort. Venus Williams is a great champion and inspiration to women of all ages, and in her role as UNESCO Promoter of Gender Equality she has added focus and direction to these efforts. We are extremely pleased that this project in this part of the world is being launched by Venus.”

“I am really inspired and motivated by the generous pledge made today by the KSLTA,” said reigning Wimbledon champion and former World No. 1 Venus Williams, who is participating in the Banaglore Open this week.

“These much needed funds will allow for the creation of a program in this region of India that will help form future women leaders in Indian society and beyond. I am really looking forward to coming back to Banaglore to help support this program.”

Key elements of the program include (i) a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour/UNESCO Fund for women and leadership, (ii) a “Promoter of Gender Equality” player program, which involves players as role models at both a global and national level in awareness raising activities as well as direct involvement in specific gender equality and women’s leadership programs throughout the world, (iii) mentoring, scholarship and fellowship programs designed to support women’s individual leadership and provide them with the opportunities to succeed in any and all walks of life, (iv) television and print advertising to raise awareness of and promote the internationally recognized goal of gender equality, and (v) usage of existing UNESCO and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments, social events and conferences as awareness and fundraising platforms.

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