ENGSO EWS will support all ENGSO members willing to sign the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration and invite them to save the date for the next IWG Global Summit in Birmingham (9-11 July 2026).

To celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8th), ENGSO EWS organised an online seminar on “Advancing gender equality in sport – Insights from signatories of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration” on March 12 and called sport organisations to express their commitment for gender equality in sport.

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. 

To become signatory, organisations must demonstrate a commitment to upholding some or all of the 10 Principles at the heart of the Declaration (read the 10 principles). If you want to start your signatory journey, contact the IWG Secretariat to receive a Signatory Pack (Abby Burton: [email protected]) and let the ENGSO EWS ([email protected]) know about your interest.

Participants of the online seminar were also inspired by the Finnish Olympic Committee and their “Road to Birmingham” in concentrating their 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. 

Thanks to Lisa O’Keefe MBE, Secretary General of the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport, Kaisa Larjomaa, Public Affairs Manager at the Finnish Olympic Committee – Suomen Olympiakomitea and member of the ENGSO EU Advisory Committee and Maja Peković, Deputy Secretary General of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee and Chair of its Gender Equality Commission, for their contribution during the online seminar.