On May 10th, 2023, the Council of Europe (COE) and the European Union (EU) launched gender equality in sports in the framework of a 2-year joint project "All in Plus", that took place in Strasbourg, France. The launch of the project was done within the framework of the Icelandic Presidency of the Council of Europe.

This new “All in Plus” project aims to expand and implement the previous project with more recommendations and action plans on gender equality in sports through these three main pillars: data collection and analysis in six key areas, creation of an online resource centre containing best practice examples; and work with and through the media to ensure greater awareness-raising about gender inequalities in sport.

The launch event was hybrid, allowing participants to join in person or remotely, including representatives of institutions and the sport movement, as well as academicians, journalists, athletes, and experts who presented the situation in their areas of expertise, addressed recurring difficulties and exchanged ideas and solutions for moving things forward. 

The event kicked off with the opening session and discussion about the project’s objectives and main pillars. The speakers included Marja Ruotanen, the Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity, the Council of Europe; followed by Themis Christophidou, the Director General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, the European Commission; João Paulo Correia who is the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, Portugal; and Óskar Þór Ármannsson, the Head of the Sport Unit, Ministry of Education and Children, Iceland, Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.

Following the opening remarks, the first panel discussed the position of women in sports, and how it is developing in the sports field, moderated by Annamarie Phelps, who is the Chair of the Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission of the European Olympic Committees.

The speakers at this panel included Violeta Birzniece, the Policy Officer, Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture, at the European Commission, where she presented the results of the EU High-level Gender Equality Working Group report, which was released in 2022.

Followed by Charlotte Girard-Fabre, the Secretary General of the International Federation of Sports Officials (IFSO), who presented her work on increasing the number of female referees in the sport; Aurélie Bresson, the President of the Alice Milliat Foundation and Founder of Les Sportives; Anne-Flore Marxer, a Film Director, Feminist activist and formal Snowboarding World Champion, who spoke about her lived experience in the professional sports arena; and Caterina Bolognese the Head of Gender Equality Division, Council of Europe.

The second panel discussed the role of the media in sports, which aligned with one of the project’s pillars of using the media to raise awareness about gender inequalities in sports. This panel was moderated by Elsa Arapi, from the European Broadcasting Union. Speakers included Hilmar Björnsson, the Sports Director of the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Followed by Mary Byrne, the Editor in Chief of the Olympic Channel Services, International Olympic Committee (IOC); Mejdaline Mhiri, a Sports commentator, journalist, handball player, and co-director of the French Association of Women in Sports Journalism; Andrew Moger the Director of News Media Coalition discussing the visibility of women’s sports and women’s voices in newsrooms; and Stéphanie Roque a journalist, and co-author and co-director of the documentary "Sur la Touche".

In the afternoon, the third panel highlighted the power of data, aligning with the pillar of data collection and analysis in six key areas, which was moderated by Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, who is a Gender Equality Rapporteur to the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe and opened up the discussion of how data is a powerful tool that can help develop new policies and build support for gender equality.

The speakers during this third panel included Francine Hetherington Raveney, Deputy Executive Secretary, of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), Council of Europe, who presented quantitative research methodology for "All-In" data findings (2018-2019) and updates, and how they plan to implement data collection during this project.

Following her, Lombe Mwambwa, Research Director and Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport (GO) demonstrated her Collaborative global reach of the methodology. Lastly, Carole Gomez, a University Researcher at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), provided data on gender-based violence in sports, focusing on particular policies that have been put in place.

The last panel focused on the best practice examples in sports, which addresses the last pillar for creating an online resource centre containing best practice examples. This panel was moderated by Thorsten Afflerbach, the Head of the Division, Inclusion and Anti-discrimination Programmes division, Council of Europe. The speakers were Jane Dennehy, who is a University Sports Management Lecturer and Gender Equality Expert, and she presented Unconscious Bias and its Role in sports education. Followed by Joëlle Letsch, a Counsellor Gender Equality Expert, and Member of the Executive Board of the National Council of Women of Luxembourg, who spoke on the relevance of the Charter on Equality between Women and Men in Sport.

Then Emma Bârsan, the Women’s Football Development Manager & Press Officer for the Women’s National Team at the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), spoke about women in football in Romania. Lastly, Barbara Schweizer, a Senior Manager, at Olympism365, International Olympic Committee (IOC), discussed the Olympism365 and innovative approaches to advance gender equality in and through sport.

The closing words were from Ms Floor van Houdt, the Head of Sport Unit, Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission and Ms Francine Hetherington Raveney, Deputy Executive Secretary, Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), Council of Europe thanking all participants who contributed to the event and wishing a successful project ahead. 

For more information about All in Plus join EU-CoE project, please see https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/all-in-plus-launch