Ahead of the International Women’s Day, EPAS of the Council of Europe hosted a Breakfast Roundtable on Women’s Health and Sport on March 7. This event, held in hybrid form in Strasbourg and  online brought together experts, athletes and policymakers to discuss key challenges and solutions for women in sport, with a special focus on health.

The event was opened by Gianluca Esposito, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law at the Council of Europe.

Francine Hetherington Raveney, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) moderated the roundtable.

Baz Moffat, CEO and Co-founder of The Well HQ outlined the main challenges in women’s health and sport. She also opened the questions which health topics need more focus in sports policy, including menstruation, menopause, mental health, overtraining and injury prevention.

Olympic athlete and Sport Social Worker Aauri Lorena Bokesa shared her experience as a top athlete, also reflecting on her experiences with physical and mental health challenges in elite sport.

Martine Duclos, endocrinologist, physiologist, sports doctor, Head of the Sports Medicine Department at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital and President of the French National Observatory of Physical Activity and Sedentary Lifestyles talked about the health benefits of sport for women throughout the different times in their lives.

The first panel “Lived experience and how to overcome health issues” focused on lived experiences and overcoming health issues in sport. Moderated by Liliane Trevisan, Sports journalist and author, the panellists were Liliya Elenkova, Advisor to the Minister of Youth and Sport of Bulgaria, Vice-Chair of the Board of Co-ordination of the Partial Agreement on Youth Mobility, Vice-Chair of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and Chair of the Group of Senior Officials in charge of the preparation of the next Ministerial Conference on Youth Chatilla van Grinsven, TV sports analyst, former professional Basketball player Aauri Lorena Bokesa, Olympic athlete (400m specialist) and Sport Social Worker Frankie Brown, Head of Research & Strategy for Women’s Football, FIFPRO.

Second panel “Raising awareness of women’s health in sport and how to improve the situation at pan-European level” was moderated by Francine Hetherington Raveney, Deputy Executive Secretary of EPAS, Council of Europe. The panellists were Manel Sanchez, Director of the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) Lombe Mwambwa, Research Director, Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport (GO) Carlotta Giussani, Head of Funding, European Olympic Committees (EOC) EU Office Baz Moffat, CEO & Co-founder, The Well HQ Evert Verhagen, Senior Research Expert at UEFA Medical & Anti-doping (joining online).

Concluding remarks were made online by Charlotte Girard-Fabre, Secretary General and CEO of the International Federation for Sports Officials (IFSO), President of the French Association of Multisport Referees (AFCAM) and Chair of the EPAS Consultative Committee. Before the event closed, the final words were done by Sophie Kwasny, Executive Secretary of EPAS and Head of the Sport Division at the Council of Europe.

European University Sports Association (EUSA) is a member of the Consultative Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe (EPAS), and its representatives attended the event online. EUSA started the 2025 celebration of the International Women's Day and focus on gender equality with the EUSA Webinar: Barriers to female officials in sports. Stay tuned for our social media post throughout the month for more insighful and inspiring content!

For more information, please see https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/breakfast-roundtable-2025-speakers