The fourth edition of the Women in Sports Festival organized by the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) will begin today with an opening ceremony at the Djeliba Hotel in Kololi.

The GNOC, which is organising the event through its Women and Sports Commission, said it is in line with its stride to greatly raise women and girls' self-esteem and inspire them to continue to train, compete, and develop specialised skills in governance, coaching and refereeing and with a view to implementing the principle of equality between men and women.

The theme for this year's edition, which will be held over five days, is: 'Promoting Olympic values in sports for women and girls'.

"The festival, to be held from September 29th to 3rd October 2015, will feature a one-day national forum; an Olympic wrestling competition for girls; 3 on 3 Basketball competitions and a tug-of-war competition for girls and women," the NOC said in a statement yesterday.

"The one-day forum to be held at Djeliba Hotel on September 29th, 2015 will bring together 110 sportsmen and women, sports associations, female sports veterans, sports administrators and the media while the sporting activities will target the OlympAfrica Centre 47 affiliated schools."