Tuvalu Commits to Strengthening Safeguarding in Sports

At the invitation of the Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (TASNOC), Team Up, through The Oceania Impact Network, provided safeguarding support through a workshop held in Funafuti. This initiative focused on raising general safeguarding awareness and promoting the socialisation and implementation of TASNOC’s safeguarding policy.

The workshop was attended by educators from the Oceania Sports Education Program (OSEP), representatives from TASNOC's national federations, executive members, and staff.

Alesi Molotii, a development officer at TASNOC and the newly appointed safeguarding focal point, shared her insights: “Through the templates provided by Team Up in the ‘Safeguarding in Sports Community of Practice,’ the TASNOC executive board was able to draft and adopt our safeguarding policy. The next step for us was to create safeguarding awareness among the staff and sporting federations, introduce the policy and develop strategies on the implementation of the policy. Hence, we reached out to Team Up to assist us with this process and invited them to Tuvalu.”

According to one of the participants, Sailoto Leauma, who is the Vice President and a coach with the Tuvalu Powerlifting Federation and also serves as the Secretary for the Tuvalu Weightlifting Federation shared, “This is our first time to hear what safeguarding is and the way Team Up delivered the sessions was interesting. I learnt that we can protect our young children and female athletes in sports. Safeguarding is important for both girls and boys. We know about the code of conduct now and we will go back and draft our code of conduct to make sure it is in line with key safeguarding principles.”

Facilitating the workshop, Team Up's Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Safeguarding Adviser, Roshika Deo, remarked, “It was great to see the high levels of enthusiasm among the sporting association and federation representatives. The participants were introduced to different forms of gender-based violence and child protection issues in sports. Over the course of the four days, there were scenario-based activities to contextualise the different safeguarding elements, and discussions on various strategies to implement the safeguarding policy."

On the final evening of the workshop, a tentative safeguarding action plan was discussed, including proposals to develop a code of conduct, a consent form, and a comprehensive child protection policy. TASNOC remains actively engaged with the Pacific Safeguarding in Sports Community of Practice, which provides access to safeguarding resources and best practices from the region.

The four-day workshop, held from June 4-7 and supported by the International Olympic Committee through their Olympic Solidarity program, was developed and facilitated by Team Up. It continues the momentum from last year’s inaugural Regional Safeguarding Skills Building Workshop in Fiji whereby each National Olympic Committee (NOC) from the Pacific who attended were eligible to apply for Olympic Solidarity funding.  Hosted as well by The Oceania Impact Network, this regional workshop has established itself as a blueprint for promoting a safer and more inclusive sporting environment across the Pacific.