While gender inequalities are still very much present in the world of sport, the Canton of Vaud, the City of Lausanne and the University of Lausanne decided to join forces to change global mindsets back in 2001. On behalf of UNESCO and the Swiss Confederation, they set up an Observatory whose mission is to advance gender equality through physical education, physical activity and sport.

The initiative was developed in collaboration with UNESCO and in line with the Kazan Action Plan presented at UNESCO’s 6th World Conference on Sport, which called for the creation of a global observatory. It also contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the United Nations Agenda 2030: to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

To fulfil its mission, the Observatory focuses on three main areas :

• Guiding governmental and non-governmental actors in the design of action plans enabling them to achieve gender equality;
• Documenting existing research, collecting data on the place and participation of girls and women in sporting culture around the world, drawing up an inventory of best practices, measuring the effectiveness of measures put in place, developing programmes ;
• Connecting the various partners to facilitate coordination and knowledge exchange, and amplifying the impact and dissemination of information relating to gender equality.

The Observatory aims to make the knowledge developed accessible to a wide range of players – researchers, decision-makers, sports organizations – and to support the design of evidence-based policies. In this way, the Observatory acts as a resource centre, a catalyst for change and a reference tool for advancing gender equality in sport, across the world.

The University of Lausanne and the City of Lausanne continue to play a central role in leading the international network of experts, mobilised around the Observatory. Working closely with this network, they are actively contributing to the development of an international database aimed at centralising, structuring and disseminating research and data on gender equality in sport. In doing so, they are working towards the establishment of research data that will make it possible to measure the evolution of gender inequalities in sport.

For further information : https://genderequalitysport.org/about-us/

Header photo: EQUAL STROKES  |   Photographer: Lizaan Smit  |  Country: South Africa 

In-text photo: EMBRACING THE HARDSHIP  |  Photographer: Arpan Basu Chowdhury  |  Country: India