

equality & SPORT action plan
Led by ENGSO Equality Within Sport (EWS) Committee
ENGSO has been a frontrunner in pushing for equality in and through sport for decades, building networks and projects, and organising events that promote equality and advocate for European sport policy that supports the efforts of the sports movement in reaching equality.
To ensure a strong commitment to reaching these objectives, the Equality Within Sport (EWS) Committee was created as a hub of expertise on equality. The mission of EWS is to activate and inspire European sport organisations to act on equality, through active advocacy work, education and awareness-raising, strengthening cooperation with ENGSO member organisations and other sport bodies. EWS advocates that everyone can (should!) practise sport safely and freely by promoting opportunities in all levels and sectors of sport. Only by reaching equality, we can use the full potential in sport.
With the objective of accomplishing this mission, ENGSO initiated a new Sport and Equality Action Plan. This plan has several phases and will be implemented thanks to the joint effort of all ENGSO bodies and members led by EWS.

2024-25 EWS Committee members

Chair: Tarja Krum,
Finnish Olympic Committee

Sarah Townsend,
European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation

Andreas Katsaros,
Hellenic Paralympic Committee

Rejhan Halili,
Kosovo Olympic Committee

Ivana Samija,
Croatian Olympic Committee

Alessia de Iulis,
ENGSO Youth

Vilja Prinkey,
Finnish Society of Sports Sciences, Co-opted member

Liam Strasser,
100% SPORT – Austrian Center of Excellence for Gender Equality and Safe Sport, Co-opted member
Equality and diversity events calendar
2024 Key actions
MARCH
Online seminar: Every woman is welcome in sport – are they?
The policy-implementation gap. Women are not a homogenous group. And are sport federations ready to change? These were the key takeaways from the “Every woman is welcome in sport webinar – are they” which took place on 4 March 2024.
The webinar also marked the kick off the GAP Women project #Women’s Day campaign, presented the main learnings from EWS 2023 research and shared the “Change readiness” research and good practices from the CHANGE project.
International Women’s Day 2024
ENGSO Office Director Marie Denitton moderating a panel at EPAS Breakfast Roundtable on sport officiating and gender equality: read news.
ENGSO Secretary General Sara Massini at the GAMES project final conference: read news
Online training: “How to write and implement an equality action plan at grassroots level”
APRIL
EWS at the EU Sport Forum
ENGSO and ENGSO Youth attended the event with the aim to advocate for the grassroots sport and initiate a new survey about the impact of the publication from the “High Level Group on Gender Equality on Sport”. EWS researcher conducted interviews with 8 participants as part of the data collection of the ongoing research on the implementation of European Union’s equality and diversity policies in grassroots sport.

UNESCO’s Policy Roundtable “Towards a Safer Playing Field – Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport”
ENGSO EWS Committee member Sarah Townsend participated in the UNESCO Policy Roundtable “Towards a Safer Playing Field – Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport” which took place on 5 April 2024, in Paris, France.
European Summit on Gender Equality and Diversity in Sport
The European Summit on Gender Equality and Diversity in Sport was held in Brussels, on 18 April 2024, organised by the ENGSO member Opes International within the framework of the project Sport and Equality which is co-founded by the European Commission. The main aim of the event was to coordinate the efforts in Europe in the field of gender equality and diversity in sport focusing on the implementation of the EU strategies on LGBTQI+ and gender equality.

MAY
The new research and data collection for gender equality and diversity in sport “Sport and Equality is launched
The investigation is a joint effort with the Sport Unit of the European Commission, with the EPAS of the Council of Europe, and with the Global Observatory on Gender Equality. For this reason, the questionnaire has been jointly agreed upon and also built to complement the work of the questionnaire launched by the joint European Union – Council of Europe project ‘All In Plus: promoting greater gender equality in sport’.
Communication campaign on LQBTIQA+ youth is initiated
New campaign has been launched to further promote gender equality and diversity in sport. Follow ENGSO and ENGSO Youth social media channels to learn more.

JUNE
ENGSO Members Seminar on Equality and Sport
Hosted by Sport Austria, the event aimed to empower national umbrella sports organisations with knowledge and skills on equality in sports and create an active European network of advocates (sport managers, volunteers, representatives) focusing on the intersectionality dimension of equality. This event was possible thanks to the re-granting mechanism of the CERV programme.

EWS member Sarah Townsend participates in a panel “Being an LGBTI+ professional athlete in France, the Netherlands and Europe”
On behalf of ENGSO, EWS member Sarah Townsend accepted the kind invitation from the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to France, H.E Jan Versteeg, in partnership with the NOC*NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee and Sports Federation) to the panel discussion entitled “Being an LGBTI+ professional athlete in France, the Netherlands and Europe”, which was hosted at the Ambassador’s Residence in Paris, France, on Monday 3rd June 2024.

EWS findings presented at the 20th European Conference for the Sociology of Sport
EWS researcher Angelica Saenz took part in the EASS 2024 Conference, in Madrid, Spain, to present the results of the 2023 EWS research on women’s participation in sport, as well as the on-going research on the implementation of equality policies in sport across Europe.
JULY
EWS at the “LGBTQIA+ and Sports – Past, Present, Future” event and Helsinki Pride 2024
EWS Chair Tarja Krum and EWS Committee member Sarah Townsend participated in the “LGBTQIA+ and Sports – Past, Present, Future” event and the Helsinki Pride which took place in Helsinki, Finland, on 27-29 June 2024.
Position paper: Participation of LGBTQI+ Youth in Sport Governance
Youth participation in decision-making processes constitutes a longstanding discussion with the youth sector and revindication amongst young people, who demand the necessary representation in order to effectively and meaningfully fulfil the right to participate in our democratic societies.

Workshops on “Youth empowerment and the importance of Mental health in sport” at the European University Games
ENGSO Youth and EWS Committee member Alessia De Iulis attended the EUSA European University Games in Hungary. She held 2 workshops on the processes of inclusion of different target groups and the importance of mental health in sport.

EWS at “LGBTIQ+ Sport Conference” during the EuroGames Vienna 2024
EWS Committee member Sarah Townsend and EWS researcher Angelica Saenz, took part in the event to discuss how the existing structures could be challenged to build a more inclusive sports community. They also presented the ongoing EWS research on the implementation at grassroots sport level of European policies on gender equality and diversity.

EWS at IWG “Women & Sport” event at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Leaders from across the sporting sector attended the event which was an opportunity to update the audience on the global impact of the IWG Women & Sport. The EWS Committee represented Europe and shared the on-going activities on equality in sport.

AUGUST
EWS at the Pride House of the 2024 Paris Olympics
EWS researcher Angelica Saenz and EWS member Sarah Townsend were present at the Pride House of the 2024 Paris Olympics to disseminate the results of the 2023 research on women’s participation in sport and to disseminate the 2024 survey on the implementation at grassroots sport level of the European policies on gender equality and diversity.
September
Guidelines: Hosting inclusive events
This document presents guidelines to complement the bid books for the Annual General Assembly, the European Sports Platform and the European Youth and Sport Platform, as well as other ENGSO-sanctioned events. Its aim is to help event planners organise and coordinate the elements and activities necessary in creating events that take place in a welcoming environment for everyone, and that foster an atmosphere that is enriching, impactful, and inclusive for all participants.

Online seminar: Transforming Sports through Accessibility
Within the framework of the 2024 European Week of Sport, ENGSO EWS Committee organised an online seminar, entitled “Transforming Sports through Accessibility”, to present the organisation’s newly published guidelines for inclusive events and discuss accessibility of sport for people with disability, LGBTQI+ community and women.
Nordic Baltic Youth Summit
ENGSO Youth and EWS Committee member Alessia De iulis represented ENGSO in the Nordic Baltic Youth Summit, with the aim of presenting EWS and ENGSO Youth work, activities and strategies. She presented all the projects on inclusion and the educational games used in ENGSO’s trainings. More than 200 young people were present at the event.
EWS at the European Aquatics Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Conference
The EWS Committee took part in this event in Belfast, Northern Ireland to represent ENGSO’s work on equality and network with European sport representatives.
OCTOBER
ENGSO and ENGSO Youth training on “Inclusive & project (digital) communication”
ENGSO and ENGSO Youth staff were trained to communicate in a more inclusive manner, especially digitally, to disseminate the project outputs and embrace its values.

EWS Committee meets in Athens, Greece
EWS Committee members officially appointed at the 2024 ENGSO GA in Vienna, Austria, met on-site for the first time in Athens, Greece. This new and motivated team worked on the implementation of the 2024 activities and started the preparation of the 2025 work plan

EWS at the Gender Equality & Sport+ Conference, organised by the Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport
Sara Massini, ENGSO Secretary General, and Sarah Townsend, EWS member attended the event. During the “Approaches to Enhance Inclusion and Participation” session, the latest work of the EWS Committee was presented, including the survey about the impact of gender equality and LGBTIQ+ strategies in the EU, and the first, preliminary results of that survey.

EWS at the “Moving to LGBTIQ+ Inclusion” Conference, organised by LEAP
In Stirling, Scotland, EWS Committee member Sarah Townsend presented the latest work of the EWS Committee, the survey about the impact of gender equality and LGBTIQ+ strategies, and the first, preliminary results of the 2024 survey.
November
Workshop on Human Rights and Equality at the European Sport Platform 2024
At the occasion of the ESP 2024, the ENGSO EWS Committee organised and moderated a workshop on “Human Rights and Equality”. After a presentation of the EWS work on equality in sport, speakers discussed how human rights are experienced in sport from different perspectives and how to keep promoting them across Europe and beyond.


ENGSO supported and moderated a networking event hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kosovo. It gathered local actors from the Kosovo Women’s Network, UN Women, Culture, Kosovar Center for Gender Studies, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Institution of Democracy – NGO, Special Olympics, and Kosovo Paralympic Committee to share ambitions, goals and challenges, and to establish a united front in moving forward issues of gender equality in sport in Kosovo.

ENGSO EWS Committee meets in Pristina, Kosovo
At the occasion of the ESP 2024, EWS Committee members met in Kosovo to evaluate the ongoing work of ENGSO on equality, to prepare the 2025 work plan and to nominate external experts whose contribution will be valuable in future EWS initiatives.

ENGSO at the V.E.R.A. Project Final Conference
ENGSO Secretary General Sara Massini presented the latest work of the EWS Committee, the survey about the impact of gender equality and LGBTIQ+ strategies, and the first, preliminary results of that survey.
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