A record number delegates travelled to Helsinki, Finland for the sixth International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) World Conference on Women and Sport in June 2014. Nearly 900 sports administrators, researchers, government ministers and other sports leaders from 100 countries attended the event, held under the banner of “Lead the Change - Be the Change”.

The four-day conference offered more than 50 sessions, presentations, seminars and workshops – each exploring the topic of gender equality in sport through theory, policy and practice. Held every four years, the 2014 conference programme was put together under five ‘sub-themes’: increasing girls’ participation in sport; leading the change in sport policy; enhancing female leadership and coaching; women’s physical activity and wellbeing; and promoting sport as a safe haven and bastion of human rights.  

PROGRESS REPORT
A further theme of the conference was to encourage decisive measures and firm commitments from delegates to increase gender equality in sport. One of these was the amendments made to the original Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport, adopted at the first IWG Conference in 1994. Despite its standing within the international sport movement – a total of 419 organisations have signed the declaration – it was felt that significant developments in the international policy landscape during the last 20 years demanded an “update” to the document.

The document will now be known as the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration and is designed to take into account and benefit from all national and international charters, laws and regulations introduced since 1994. The new declaration was supported by a comprehensive progress report – entitled From Brighton to Helsinki – intended as a source of inspiration for policy and decision-makers who are working to advance the status of (and opportunities for) girls and women in sport.

Raija Mattila, co-chair of this year’s conference, said: “The conference allowed us to explore the latest knowledge regarding gender equality in sport and to review the impact of the 20-year-old Brighton Declaration. I’d encourage everyone to use the results of the progress report, which also provides examples of initiatives that have been undertaken by Brighton Declaration signatories to further empower women.”

A SOCIAL OCCASION
As well as the 900 delegates, the sessions were streamed live on the internet, attracting thousands of viewers around the world. Social media played a major role at the conference too, with the twitter hashtag #IWGHelsinki being used throughout the four days – and managing to trend globally during the opening ceremony. For those wanting to view keynote sessions, the archive can be accessed through IWG’s youtube channel (youtube.com/user/IWGWomenSportNetwork).

Johanna Adriaanse, IWC co-chair, said the event was a success not only in terms of the number, but also the quality of high profile delegates it attracted. For the first time ever, the presidents of both the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee – Thomas Bach and  Sir Philip Craven – were present in person, while FIFA president Sepp Blatter made an appearance via a video feed.

“The number of people attending the conference was the highest we’ve ever had,” Adriaanse commments. “We were also very happy with the partnerships that we established and the vibe of the conference was great. There was a real inspirational atmosphere throughout the week. What we wanted to provide was an uplifting experience for the delegates and I think we were successful in doing that.”

CONTINUED WORK
The next IWG World Conference is to be held in Botswana in 2018. Marking the second time that the event will be held in Africa and is a sign of how the international movement for women in sport is continuing to grow. According to Adriaanse, IWG has a crucial role in the process of bringing equality to sport.

“Globally, women’s sport can be a very important tool for developing nations. It can empower women not only in physical activity and sport but it can be also used as a vehicle for other sectors in life,” she says. “IWG aims to activate women and empower them to get involved at every level of sport – from taking part at grassroots level to encouraging more women leaders of sport.”

She adds that great progress has been made in recent years – and mentions the London 2012 Olympics as a major step in the right direction. The London Games were the most gender-equal in history, with every single participating nation having female competitors for the very first time. Furthermore, 40 per cent of all athletes were women – a record for the Games.

For Raija Mattila the progress is encouraging, but still remains as progress. “A significant amount of valuable work has been done,” she says. “But more work is required before we can say that we have created a sporting world that treats women and men, girls and boys as equals.”