Recap of the seminar: Advancing gender equality in sport

Insights from signatories of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration

This online seminar was organised by ENGSO Equality Within Sport (EWS) Committee to celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8th) and moderated by EWS Chair, Tarja Krum. Thanks to the guests who have shared their insights on advancing equality in sport. The event took place on 12 March 2025, in an online format.

Recap:

Lisa O’Keefe MBE

Lisa O’Keefe MBE, Secretary General of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport, for presenting the network, explaining what the Brighton Plus Helsinki declaration is and why it is crucial for advancing gender equality.

Read the 10 principles of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration.
Become a signatory of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration.

Kaisa Larjomaa, Public Affairs Manager at the Finnish Olympic Committee – Suomen Olympiakomitea and member of the ENGSO EU Advisory Committee, for introducing the long-term efforts of the Finnish NOC in improving gender equality at all levels.

Get inspired by the Finnish Olympic Committee and their “Road to Birmingham” in concentrating your effort to send a numerous delegation to the IWG Global Summit on 9 – 11 July 2026 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, West Midland, England.

Sign-up to the IWG newsletter to keep up to date on the latest information about the IWG Global Summit.

Maja Peković, Deputy Secretary General of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee and Chair of its Gender Equality Commission, for presenting the NOC’s reasons for recently signing the declaration and the work ahead to improve gender equality in Montenegro.

Advancing gender equality – insights from the speakers:

Start somewhere. Identify what is important in your reality, focus the resources in this area to create a movement and use the momentum.
This is NOT about fixing women and girls. Look at the system to break down barriers and accept that change is not linear. Falls back can (will) happen.

Evaluate the impact to demonstrate the value of having women and girls in sports.

Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration

Developed and established by the International Working Group IWG Women & Sport in 1994, the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration is an international treaty that has become a roadmap for supporting the ongoing development of a fairer and more equitable system of sport and physical activity, fully inclusive of women and girls.

It has been designed to complement all sporting, local, national, and international charters, laws, codes, rules, and regulations relating to equity in sport and physical activity, whilst also setting an even higher benchmark for the full inclusion of women and girls in all aspects of society.