Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Chair of the IWG UK Secretariat, this week attended the 18th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport in Porto, Portugal, delivering the keynote presentation for the focus session on leadership through gender equality in sport: effective strategies and future direction.
The conference, organised by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) in co-operation with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), centred around collaborative governing and good governance in sport, bringing together representatives from over 40 countries.
Speaking during the focus session on gender equality, Annamarie’s keynote presentation was on the theme of leadership. She began by pointing out there is resistance to change when it comes to leadership across every sector, despite organisations declaring progress is being made, saying “if we, current holders of decision-making posts, do not take deliberate action, our commitments to progress and equality are worthless, we undermine the benefits of women’s leadership, and set the poorest examples for young men and boys.”
From there, Annamarie pointed out what was working, identifying three areas – gender mainstreaming, quotas and male allyship – for consideration when looking at sport policy and funding, and highlighting the role IWG can play in accelerating gender equality changes within sport.
Annamarie then joined a panel discussion on ‘solutions to greater leadership for women in sport: overcoming barriers and building bridges’, alongside Paoline Ekambi, President and Co-founder of Sportail Community and Ex Captain of the French Basketball team, Ticha Penicheiro, former professional player, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and André Seabra, Director of the Portugal Football School.
The keynote presentation and the panel discussion can be viewed here.
Speaking after the conference, Annamarie said: “It was a privilege to speak at the 18th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport.
“I would like to thank Council of Europe, EPAS and the Portuguese Government for providing the platform for IWG to address the Ministers responsible for sports management and policies across Europe. It was positive to hear recognition that there is still much to be done in sport regarding gender equality, with a number of governments actively considering employing effective interventions, including legislation, to accelerate change.”
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