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Team Up launch across the Pacific a win for Rugby, Women and People with Disability
Wednesday 3 March 2021
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The new phase of the Australian Government’s sport for development program, Team Up, launched in the Pacific this week is a massive boost for the rapidly emerging rugby union nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Working to transform lives through sport, Team Up programs are delivered in partnership with sporting and non-sporting organisations. 

Oceania Rugby, Rugby Australia and Team Up have partnered with Nauru Rugby Union, PNG Rugby Union and the PNG Deaf Association to design and introduce programs that use rugby as a vehicle for driving participation and inclusion of girls and women, and the deaf community in all aspects of rugby.

Launched in Nauru yesterday, the Nauru Rugby Inclusion Impact Program is being delivered by Nauru Rugby Union, Rugby Australia, Oceania Rugby with support from the Australian government’s Team Up program. It is a sport for development initiative focused on rapid and high-quality growth and inclusion of women and girls in all aspects of rugby union.

Nauru Rugby Union Vice President Dagan Kaierua said they welcome the funding and support from Team Up and being able to work closely with Rugby Australia and Oceania Rugby to create more opportunities for rugby in Nauru. 

“As a union we are committed to creating a safe and enriching environment for everyone to learn and enjoy rugby. This program will help fast track our local development, especially in seeing girls and women involved in tag, sevens and 10s rugby, and in leadership roles on and off the field. This will provide invaluable opportunities to girls and women on the island, while strengthening all aspects of rugby in Nauru”, Kaierua added.  

The PNG Rugby Union Inclusion Impact Program, delivered through a partnership between PNG Rugby Union, Papua New Guinea Deaf Association, Rugby Australia, Oceania Rugby and Team Up, also focuses on the inclusion and empowerment of women and girls, it is also the only Team Up initiative with a focus on those who are hard of hearing or deaf.

PNG Rugby Union Chair Syd Yates acknowledged the work of all partners in the development of this program. 

“It is exciting to be able to work so closely with Papua New Guinea Deaf Association, Rugby Australia, Oceania Rugby and Team Up. At PNG Rugby we understand the importance of everyone in our game and want to ensure we are providing the best environment for everyone to succeed in a safe and positive way”, said Yates.

Rugby Australia and Oceania Rugby are proud to be working together in support of initiatives that not only support our game but have such important social development outcomes.  

Bruce Cook, Oceania Rugby’s General Manager, said “The partnerships between Team Up and rugby union in this region are the result of genuine collaboration and a commitment to high quality sport for development program delivery over the past five years. All partners have been working closely over the past few months to design the locally tailored programs that meet the needs in country and deliver transformational outcomes for rugby and its participants regardless of their gender, ability or background.”

Team Up launches taking place this week across six Pacific Island nations leading into International Women's Day (Monday 8 March), reflecting the program’s strong focus on gender equity.

Rugby Union will be supported through Team Up for sport for development programs in four countries, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Samoa, over the next two years.
 
 
Note to editors:
  • Team Up is one of several programs and activities driving the Australian Government’s implementation of the Sports Diplomacy 2030 strategy that support sporting organisations, athletes and the Pacific community through sport. It delivers on one of the key priorities of the strategy by using sport as a tool to strengthen communities across Asia-Pacific. Team Up works closely with the Australian Government’s elite sports program, PacificAus Sports.
    • Team Up launch activities will take place in each Pacific country this week (1-5 March 2021) with partners showcasing different programs at joint festival-style events, running activities based on the International Women’s Day 2021 theme of #ChooseToChallenge, holding media launches and celebrating women in sport.
    • Follow all the news from Team Up on the program’s new website and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
    • Team Up has five focus areas, with gender and disability being the primary focuses. Programs under Team Up contribute to one or more of these focus areas:
      • Gender: ensuring women and girls enjoy all the benefits of sport
      • Disability: championing a collaborative approach to disability-inclusive sport
      • Leadership: promoting diverse and proactive sport leadership
      • Governance: strengthening and supporting good governance in sport
      • Knowledge: sharing knowledge of best practice in sport for development
    • The first phase of Team Up is centered on six Pacific countries (Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu). Across the Pacific Team Up involves more than 60 partners from sporting and non-sporting organisations, and programs encompass 13 different sports.
  •  Gender and Disability in Nauru:
    • Nearly half (48 per cent) of ever-partnered women who participated in the Nauru Family Health Support Survey in 2014 experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence by a partner at least once in their lifetime.
  • Gender and Disability in Papua New Guinea:
    • Papua New Guinea's ranking in the 2018 Gender Inequality Index (GII) is 161 out of 162 countries. Based on this report, PNG has 0.1 per cent of parliamentary seats held by women, and 9.9 per cent of adult women who have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 15.2 per cent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 215 women die from pregnancy-related causes. Female participation in the labour market is 46 per cent compared to 47.6 per cent for men.
      • 68 per cent of women in Papua New Guinea report experiencing physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence since the age of 15 (based on data from 2019)
      • Around 10 per cent of people in Papua New Guinea are estimated to be living with disabilities (based on data from 2015)
#OceaniaRugby #TeamUpProgram 
 
<ENDS>

For further information please contact: 
Sarah Walker
Oceania Rugby
E: Sarah.Walker@oceaniarugby.com
P: +61 418 678 548

Background
Oceania Rugby: Oceania Rugby is one of six regional associations of World Rugby, responsible for representing the interests of its Members, which includes 14 Member Unions and 2 Associate Member Unions. Oceania Rugby works closely with Member Unions on the development and reach of Rugby in the region to promote the growth of Rugby throughout Oceania. Central to this is a series of tournaments and development programs run and coordinated by Oceania Rugby. Oceania Rugby’s sport for development programs contribute to achieving gender equality, reducing inequality, and ending violence against women and children, and are built around rugby values: respect, integrity, solidarity, discipline and passion.

Rugby Australia: Rugby Australia is the sport's national governing body in Australia and is a member of World Rugby, Oceania Rugby. Australia is regarded as a world powerhouse in men’s and women’s rugby, represented nationally by the Wallabies, Wallaroos (VX-a side) and the AU 7s men and AU 7s women. Domestically, there are over 246,000 active male and female rugby players across nearly 1000 Clubs, with diversity supported through a range of innovative programs and community partnerships.  Rugby Australia has enjoyed a long friendship with our Pacific Rugby neighbours and are proudly supporting Team-Up programs in Fiji, Samoa, PNG and Nauru.
  
Nauru Rugby Union: Nauru Rugby Union (NRU) was established in 2011 and is a member of Oceania Rugby. Rugby was played socially until 2014 when Sevens tournaments were introduced. By 2015, NRU sent its first national Men’s Sevens team to the Pacific Games and Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship. Over the last five years, activities have been delivered across all communities widen participation, with women’s rugby started in 2016, and women’s 7s and men’s XVs also gaining entry to regional competitions. Rugby continues to grow in popularity across social and competitive formats.


Papua New Guinea Rugby Union: The PNG Rugby Union are a member of Oceania Rugby and World Rugby. Whilst their national rugby union team, the Pukpuks, played its first international in 1966, the sport’s growth has been most rapid in recent years, among men, but with a focus on inclusion, also among girls and women and the deaf-community following the introduction of deaf-rugby in 2018.  In 2019, 6660 (3850 boys, 2810 girls) participated in the modified junior (Get into Rugby) program. This, and the performances of the women’s national 7s team at regional tournaments has increased the profile and following among girls and women.

PNG Deaf Association: The PNG Deaf Association is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) started in 2017. Run entirely by volunteers, it provides sign language training and support to deaf community. It has been active in promoting and supporting the participation of members of the deaf community in rugby union since 2018. There are several active deaf-rugby coaches, a solid and competitive player-base and deaf teams frequently participate in mainstream club competitions and Rugby Sevens tournaments, with simple additions to referee communication (use of different coloured) flags, the main practice that enables full-inclusion on the field.
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