Sport Wales Commits to Equal Opportunities for Women and Girls by Signing the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration

We are delighted to welcome Sport Wales as the latest signatory of the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, joining a growing global movement committed to advancing gender equity in sport and physical activity.

By signing the Declaration, Sport Wales has further demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that women and girls across the nation have equal and equitable opportunities to take part, compete and build careers in sport.

Despite progress in visibility and representation at the elite level, women and girls in Wales remain significantly underrepresented in sport and physical activity. Recent data highlights the scale of the challenge:

• 57% of women in Wales took part in sport or physical activity in the past month, compared to 64% of men. (National Survey for Wales 2022–23)

• Only 35% of women are active 3+ times a week, versus 43% of men. (National Survey for Wales 2022–23)

• 37% of girls aged 7–16 don’t participate in any organised sport outside of PE, compared to 33% of boys. (School Sport Survey 2022)

• Just 10% of women in Wales volunteer in sport, compared to 27% of men. (Wales Activity Tracker April 2025)

A Shared Commitment to Change

Tanni Grey-Thompson, Chair of Sport Wales, reflected on the significance of the signing:

“Progress has been made in some areas during the last couple of decades, certainly in terms of exposure and visibility for women’s elite sport, but participation inequalities still exist. The simple fact is that fewer women and girls participate in sport than men and boys in Wales, and that has been the case forever.

The gender gap begins in childhood so it’s vital that we get more girls engaged in sport and physical activity from a young age and keep them coming back for more. We are fully committed to supporting the work of our partners within the Welsh sport sector to remove barriers and develop cultures in which women’s sport can be on an equal level to men’s sport.”

Lisa O’Keefe MBE, Secretary General of the IWG, added:

“IWG has enjoyed a strong relationship with Sport Wales since the Secretariat moved to the UK back in 2022, so I am delighted we can welcome them as our latest Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration signatories as part of their clear commitment to improving opportunities for women and girls across the country to be more active.

A huge thank you to everyone at Sport Wales for their ongoing support of IWG, and I look forward to us continuing this relationship as we head towards the IWG Global Summit in July 2026.”

By signing the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, Sport Wales has committed to embedding gender equality into decision-making and policy across all areas of Welsh sport. From funding for facilities to supporting elite athletes and developing the next generation of female leaders.

We know this commitment will strengthen their ongoing work with partners across Wales to close the gender gap in participation, encourage government action to engage more young people in sport, and provide research and evidence on female health to better support women and girls throughout their sporting journeys.

We are proud to welcome Sport Wales into the global Brighton plus Helsinki family and look forward to working together to create a sporting landscape in Wales and worldwide, where every woman and girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential.

Find out more about the amazing work already taking place in women’s sport in Wales

Why the Declaration Matters

Created in 1994 by the IWG, the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration is an international treaty that supports the development of fairer and more inclusive systems of sport and physical activity for women and girls. Over the last three decades, more than 600 organisations worldwide have signed the Declaration, using its principles to guide policy and practice in sport.