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Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Chair of the IWG UK Secretariat, was invited to speak at FISU’s (International University Sports Federation) Gender Equality Webinar on Monday, presenting to attendees from their Gender Equality Committee, National and Continental University Sports Federations, and FISU Student Ambassadors. Samar Mousa, winner of FISU’s Gender Equality Champion Award, opened the webinar and spoke about leading the development of Palestine’s first women’s soccer team

IWG is delighted to welcome Rupinder Bains to its UK Steering Committee , which serves to support the implementation of the IWG Strategic Plan 2022-2026 while the Secretariat operates from the UK. As a qualified Solicitor, Rupinder has been practising law for over 24 years and is the Managing Director of Pinder Reaux & Associates – a law firm specialising in commercial and civil litigation, media, sports and matrimonial/family law. Amongst her accolades, Rupinder was jointly

Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe took the opportunity to update The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh on the work of the IWG at an event hosted by IWG UK’s host organisation, Sport and Recreation Alliance, as part of their International Women’s Day Celebrations. As the President of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, The Duke of Edinburgh attended the 2024 Sport and Recreation Alliance Community Sport and Recreation Awards with the Duchess, held at Headingley Stadium, Leeds, on Frid

England Golf is delighted to reveal that it has signed the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport’s Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration . The declaration signifies England Golf’s commitment to the equity for women and girls in sport and physical activity, becoming the first golfing body in the UK to do so. The declaration is an international treaty that has become a road map to support ongoing development of a more fair and equitable system of sport and physical

IWG is pleased to announce the publication of our Year One Report, which reflects a successful first year of the UK IWG Secretariat. Highlights from the report We welcomed new signatories to the Brighton Plus Helsinki declaration, each of whom have committed to working towards the principles of the declaration and a world where women and girls thrive in sport and physical activity. New signatories include: International Tennis Federation Lawn Tennis Association Rugby Football

The International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport met in San José, Costa Rica on Thursday 7 December for the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Global Executive Strategy Session. This was the first AGM led by the UK Secretariat since the IWG moved to the country in 2022 for a four-year period and was generously hosted by Deputy of the Republic and Global Executive Member Rosaura Méndez Gamboa and Donald Rojas Fernandez, President of ICODER (Costa Rican Institute of

This week, the IWG Secretariat is in Costa Rica ahead of the country hosting our 2023 AGM and Global Executive Strategy Session on Thursday this week. Tuesday 4 December started with a visit to the British Embassy for the team, with an opportunity to thank the British Ambassador Benjamin Edward Noel Lyster-Binns for the embassy’s support of IWG’s visit and to explain more about the work of the IWG. This was followed by a visit to ICODER (El Instituto Costarricense del Deporte

On Thursday 30th November 2023, Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe travelled to Kuwait City to speak at the launch of The Safeguarding Alliance ’s ground-breaking women in sport leadership programme. The IWG were proud to support this launch, with Lisa taking to the stage alongside Fatema Hayat, Head of the Women’s Sports – Kuwait to discuss the global challenges in women’s sport and how collaboration can build toward a brighter future. Speaking during the event, Lisa said: “I a

While our Sec Gen Lisa O’Keefe was representing the IWG at the IF Forum in Lausanne , our Chair Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY attended two gender equality events in Madrid. On Monday 13 November, the Equality Within Sport (EWS) Committee from the European Sports NGO (ENGSO) co-ordinated a meeting of European Gender Equality bodies. Attended by representatives from international organisations including Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, International Federatio

IWG Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe was invited to speak at the SportAccord International Federation (IF) Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland earlier this week. Here, she reflects on the opportunity to address the IFs and other key decision makers from the Olympic community. With less than one year to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – the first Games in history to achieve full gender parity amongst athletes – I was invited by colleagues from SportAccord to deliver a keynote

PLEASE NOTE: The Anita White Fund 2024 application window has now closed. The International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport has today launched the Anita White Fund (AWF) to support female leaders in sport around the world, marking the first time financial support has been offered to advance gender equality by the IWG in its 29-year history. A legacy of the Anita White Foundation, the AWF has been established to honour Dr Anita White OBE and Cath Sweet – two leading f

The Montenegrin Olympic Committee (MOC) has become the latest signatory of the IWG’s Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, cementing their commitment to creating more opportunities for women and girls to participate in sport at all levels. The Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration was created in 1994 and consists of 10 Principles  which form an international treaty to support organisations in developing a culture that enables and values women within sport. The Declaration was sign

The International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport has today published the details of the strategy which will guide its operations while the secretariat is in the UK, until 2026. The strategy centres around the IWG’s vision of sport and physical activity contributing to a world where all women and girls thrive, with an emphasis on bringing stakeholders together to make the changes needed to the structures and values of sport around the world. The IWG has set itself thr

Women’s sport to be boosted by new investment scheme Women’s sport investment is set to be boosted by a new scheme launched by the Department for Business and Trade, the Women’s Sport Investment Accelerator. In association with Deloitte’s Sports Business Group. and supported by the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport, the new initiative will run for a year starting from autumn 2023. It will bring UK-based women’s sports rightsholders – leagues, teams, competi

Tuesday 1 st August saw IWG’s Co-Chair Annamarie Phelps and Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe join forces with UK Sport – one of our key partners – to help launch their latest research on Gender Equality in International Sports Leadership. As part of UK Sport’s commitment to achieve equal representation amongst British international postholders, they commissioned research into the pathways that women and men take into international leadership. Tuesday’s event was an opportunity

The RFU will join the International Working Group (IWG), to further focus on advancing gender equality in rugby, in line with the union’s goal to develop the sport for women and girls. The commitment to working jointly saw the RFU come together with IWG to sign the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, an international treaty that has become a road map to support the ongoing development of a fairer and more equitable system of sport and physical activity, fully inclusive of wom

IWG Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe reflects back on her attendance at the global MINEPS VII conference . It was a real privilege to represent IWG Women and Sport last week at UNESCO’s seventh International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport – also known as MINEPS VII. Hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, MINEPS VII brought together sports ministers and stakeholders from over 110 countries to define the future of the sport-for-deve

The International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport has today confirmed the 14 members of the UK Steering Committee who will oversee the creation and implementation of the IWG Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. The IWG was established almost 30 years ago in Brighton and is the world’s largest network dedicated to advancing gender equality in sport and physical activity. The IWG is a truly global organisation, with the secretariat moving country every four years. The UK won th

The LTA and International Tennis Federation (ITF) have joined over 600 global organisations as signatories of the International Working Group on Women and Sport’s Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration. The official signing took place on Sunday 6th November 2022 at the welcome reception for the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals in Glasgow. Created in 1994, the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration comprises 10 Principles designed to help organisations develop a cultur

Pic: Dr Payoshini Mitra, Muditambi Ravele, Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Kereyn Smith CNZM It’s been another day of thought-provoking presentations and discussions at the 8 th IWG World Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. The four-day conference, the largest in the IWG’s 30 year history and the biggest sports conference ever to be staged in Aotearoa New Zealand, winds up tomorrow (Thursday). The 1200 attendees on the ground and 500 beaming in virtually, have been treated to