Achieving a more equal leadership in sport is the goal
The European Olympic Committees (EOC) Gender Equality Commission, in conjunction with the EU office in Brussels, and eight European National Olympic Committees, including Ireland, is meeting in Dublin on the 27 and 28 September as part of the Guidance to Achieve More Equal Leadership in Sport (GAMES) Transnational Project. The project which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme aims to achieve better gender-balance within the leadership positions in sport.
The meeting will be opened by the Deputy Director of the EOC EU Office, Heidi Pekkola, and Peter Sherrard, CEO of the OFI. Lochlann Walsh, OFI Board member and chair of the OFI Gender Equality Commission which was launched earlier this year will be the lead representative for Ireland. The OFI Commission will be launching their strategic plan in the coming months which will outline the planned work in this area.
Wednesday will see Sarah Keane, President of the OFI speak, sharing her perspectives with the group. Keane was previously the chair of the EOC Gender Equality Commission and was on the EU High Level Committee on Gender Equality in Sport.
Over the coming days the delegates will be provided with a brief update on the GAMES project and will review the emerging results from the questionnaire that was completed by National Olympic Committees and National Federations across Europe. The group will be solution focused with discussion around creating a global pool of actions.
President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sarah Keane said,
“The Olympic movement has done a lot of work internationally on gender equality, most recently through its Agenda 2020+5 strategy. Cooperation across Europe between National Olympic Committees in vital so that we learn from each other and create a suite of targeted policy measures to take this work to the next level.
Lochlann Walsh, Chair of the OFI Gender Equality Commission added,
“This year we launched our own Gender Equality Commission and are in the process of finalising our strategy, much of which will align with the goals of the GAMES project. We know that ensuring gender balance across all areas of sport, and specifically in leadership roles leads to a better balance in participation, opening up sport and opportunities to more people.”
CEO of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Peter Sherrard said,
“We are delighted to host this event, and to bring together European leaders on this topic. It will be a thought provoking few days, with a strong focus on actions.”
