The IWG UK Secretariat spent the week at the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, which took place at the ICC in Birmingham, UK, earlier this week.
Secretary General Lisa O’Keefe and Chair Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY were in attendance at the event, which enables global business leaders and host cities to connect with International Federations and their stakeholders. Attendance at SportAccord presented the IWG with an invaluable opportunity to create awareness of the network amongst these senior leaders and to highlight how the network can best support organisations around the world with their push towards gender equality.
While at the event, Annamarie also joined a round table discussion on ‘enhancing sport performance of female athletes’. The conversation centred around the big issues facing women in sport, shining a particular light on reproductive health issues, while also acknowledging the progress being made in the area.
Reflecting on the week, Lisa said: “This has been a brilliant week for the IWG, both in terms of raising awareness within International Federations but also in terms of preparations for our own Global Conference, happening in the same venue on 9 – 11 July 2026.
“With huge thanks to the West Midlands Growth Company, we were able to showcase the IWG within the exhibition hall, which enabled some fantastic conversations with a number of International Federations and National Governing Bodies who either wanted to learn more about our work or who were almost in a position to sign the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration.
“The event itself was hugely successful, engaging and well-attended, giving the team plenty of inspiration ahead of our Global Summit. I had the privilege of sitting on the Executive Steering Group for the event and saw first hand the passion and commitment the West Midlands region has for making everyone feel welcome in sport. The ICC proved to be a world-class venue and Birmingham will undoubtedly be the perfect host location for our event. We look forward to announcing more information on our Global Summit soon.”
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