Sri Lanka’s Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala has been named as Asia’s Winner of the 2023 IOC Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Champions Award.
IOC Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Champions 2023
World winner: Katrina Adams (USA)
Winner for Africa: Irene Limika (Kenya)
Winner for the Americas: Marialoreto González Jaque (Chile)
Winner for Asia: Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala (Sri Lanka)
Winner for Europe: Aurélie Bresson (France)
Winner for Oceania: Patrick Johnson (Australia)
Winner for Asia – Jayanthi Kuru-utumpala
A renowned mountaineer and gender equality activist, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala is a role model for many women in Asia. In 2016, Jayanthi became the first Sri Lankan to scale Mount Everest, making Sri Lanka only the fourth country in the world for which a woman has summited Everest before a man. As the inaugural Chairperson of the Complaints Committee of the Safe Sports Policy in Sri Lanka, Jayanthi actively combats gender-based violence in sport, ensuring a safe environment for athletes. She is also the co-creator of Delete Nothing – a local web-based initiative aimed at addressing online gender-based violence in Sri Lanka.
Jayanthi has been involved in campaigns to challenge gender stereotypes and push women and girls to reach their full potential. These campaigns include the aforementioned #ClimbLikeAGirl campaign around her most recent, successful ascent of the Matterhorn to challenge the notion that playing sports ‘like a girl’ is something to be ashamed of; the campaign by Sri Lankan non-profit Hashtag Generation to challenge ideas of gender determining one’s career choices; and the #SheTakesOnTheWorld campaign by Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka to encourage young girls to not be held back by stereotypical gender norms.
In March 2019, she was selected by the Sri Lankan Parliament as one of the 12 ‘Women Change Makers of Sri Lanka’ (Sports category), as part of a campaign initiated by the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Women and Gender and USAID’s Governance and Accountability project.
(NOCSL)