A/HRC/40/72 18. In response, Mr. Salazar stated that athletes should be activists, as people affected by discrimination (persons with disabilities, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and so on) should lead and be better informed by agendas of their respective affected groups. Athletes’ outstanding visibility enabled them to promote ideals and messages that contributed to reconciliation and human rights. In Colombia, a good Paralympic performance reflected positively in inclusion. Ms. Terho considered that sports should provide a platform for athletes to speak out, but that athletes choosing not to express an opinion should also be respected. Mr. Littlechild noted that since 1990, the North American Indigenous Games had had a mandatory policy for 50 per cent women’s participation and zero tolerance of abuse. The right of adults to participate in sport was a continuation of the right of children to play, and had the potential to promote solidarity. Referring to the boycott of the Montreal games by African countries, Mr. Keino said the episode had frustrated the right of athletes to participate in sports. He insisted that politics should not deny that right. C. Sports and the “equal rights of men and women”? 19. The President of the Finnish Paralympic Committee, Mina Mojtahedi, shared her experience, as a child with disabilities, of not having access to sports, until she began practising wheelchair racing. She was the only woman with disability competing at the elite level in Finland. She competed with men in racing and basketball. It was only later, by working in the disabilities movement, that she realized and regretted the fact that women with disabilities were seen as “persons with disabilities” with no recognition of their needs as women. In the women and sport movement there was a lack of understanding of challenges faced by women with disabilities. It was necessary to recognize the different needs of girls and boys and women and men with disabilities, adapting programmes to promote participation by the most marginalized. To empower future generations, women with disabilities must be encouraged to become role models as coaches and leaders. 20. Noreena Shams, a member of the Equality League in Pakistan and a multi-sport athlete, explained that, because her name meant “no more girls”, she had always questioned why her family did not want more girls. From an early age, she had played cricket with boys. Her mother had stopped her from playing in a female team due to the high incidence of harassment. A coach had recommended that she disguise herself as a boy to be able to play in a boys’ academy. There, she had performed at the same level as the boys. She had then joined a squash team but had continued to face harassment and boycotts. Ms. Shams believed she was making a difference, by being a role model as a successful young woman athlete who shared experiences at the United Nations. That was her way to demonstrate that women and girls could be elite athletes and among the best, making their countries proud. 21. Badamgarav Gangaamaa, a senior mountaineering guide and the first Mongolian woman to successfully climb the seven summits, explained that Mongolian society was open to women’s participation in most sports, but some boundaries still existed due to traditions. Climbing the peak of sacred mountains was once beyond the limits for women. However, it was important to push the boundaries while at the same time honouring traditions. Success in sport should be based on hard work and determination, with complete freedom. She argued that everyone should have the right to participate in sports, irrespective of gender. International solidarity and friendship were the only ways to overcome global challenges relating to poverty and natural disasters. Seven summiteers planned to join forces to save “Mother Earth” for future generations and to promote gender equality. For that, they would hold a United Nations-sponsored meeting in 2020 in Mongolia. 22. During the interactive dialogue, representatives of Human Rights Watch, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Sports Science and Development, the Intertribal Committee, Association Le Pont, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and World Indigenous Nations Sports International, as well as the UNESCO Chair and a professional boxer from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, took the floor. Delegates shared best practices on promoting the participation of young and old women, with or without disabilities, in sports and sports governance. Measures included incentives for mass 7