Draft:International Working Group on Women & Sport

The International Working Group on Women & Sport is an organization. Founded in 1994, IWG Women & Sport is the world's largest network dedicated to advancing gender equality in sport and physical activity. To ensure a global perspective, the IWG Secretariat moves host country every four years following a competitive bid process.

The current host of IWG Women & Sport is the United Kingdom, hosts through until 2026. .

A requirement of hosting IWG is the staging of the IWG Global Summit, the worlds largest gathering on gender equity in sport and physical activity. The event takes place every 4 years. The next IWG Global Summit is due to take place at the ICC, Birmingham, UK on the 9-11 July 2026.

Host Countries
Countries bid to host IWG Women & Sport for a four year period. Since 1994 IWG has been hosted in 7 countries around the globe, with the Global Summit being staged by the host country in the fourth year. The only exception being in 1994 - 1998 when two Summits were held in Brighton (1994) and Windhoek, Namibia (1998).


 * 1994 - 1998 Brighton, United Kingdom
 * 1998 - 2002 Montreal, Canada
 * 2002 - 2006 Kumamoto, Japan
 * 2006 - 2010 Sydney, Australia
 * 2010 - 2014 Helsinki, Finland
 * 2014 - 2018 Gabarone, Botswana
 * 2018 - 2022 Auckland, New Zealand
 * 2022 - 2026 London & Birmingham, United Kingdom

The current UK Secretariat will be staging the 2026 Global Summit in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

A comprehensive evaluation of the work carried out by each Secretariat has been written by Professor Elizabeth Pike, The International Working Group on Women & Sport 1994-2024, The Challenge of Change (2024) and published by Routledge. A free version of the book is available via Open Access through the support of the University of Hertfordshire

The Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration on Women & Sport
IWG developed and remains the guardian of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration. With almost 600 signatories around the globe, the Declaration provides a road map for those organisations seeking to create more gender equal environments.

The Declaration comprises 10 principles:


 * 1) Equity and Equality in Society and Sport
 * 2) Facilities
 * 3) School and Youth Sport
 * 4) Developing Participation
 * 5) High Performance Sport
 * 6) Leadership in Sport
 * 7) Education, Training and Development
 * 8) Sport Information and Research
 * 9) Resources
 * 10) Domestic and International Cooperation

A full list of signatories to the Declaration can be found on the IWG Women & Sport website. New signatories during the UK hosting of IWG Women & Sport include [https://www.lta.org.uk/news/lta-and-itf-sign-international-treaty-to-support-women-and-girls-in-sport/#:~:text=LTA%20and%20ITF%20sign%20international%20treaty%20to%20support%20women%20and%20girls%20in%20sport,-07%2F11%2F22&text=The%20LTA%20and%20International%20Tennis,Sport's%20Brighton%20plus%20Helsinki%20Declaration. The Lawn Tennis Association], World Netball and The World Netball Foundation, World Rowing, England Golf and the Montenegrin Olympic Committee