To celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, the European Olympic Committees (EOC) wishes to highlight the role it continues to play in driving gender equality.

Led by the EOC’s Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Commission, the Olympic Movement in Europe has made great strides for both female athletes and for females working within sport.

Each of our events, including the recently finished Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) Friuli Venezia Giulia 2023 and the upcoming European Games Kraków and Małopolska 2023 and Summer EYOF Maribor 2023, now have equal quotas across females and males for all sports.

In the organisation, at least five of the 16 elected members to the EOC Executive Committee (EC) must be from each gender and there are currently seven women sitting on the EC, including Vice President Daina Gudzineviciute, while the EOC head office in Rome has an equal mix of men and women.

There is always more work to be done to ensure that women in sport are fairly represented and treated equally, which is a key part of the EOCs Strategic Agenda 2030.

Led by British Olympic Association Vice Chair Annamarie Phelps, the GEDI Commission will continue to be at the forefront of the EOC’s efforts and while praising the work already done, she emphasised the need to keep pushing for gender equality through every strand of the EOC Strategic Agenda 2030.

Phelps said: “I am proud to see the continued progress we have made when it comes to improving gender equality.

“It is inspiring for women and girls across Europe to see the outstanding achievements of our female athletes and officials over the past 12 months. I find it just as inspiring when I chair a Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion Commission meeting to see the work of the outstanding women – and, importantly, men – working together to accelerate change, and to sit on our Executive Committee that supports and values equal representation and the contribution of our fantastic female members.

“We all know there is a lot more work to be done across Europe to make sure this is reflected in all organisations and in across all sports. I can assure you that the EOC knows this, continues to take it seriously and that in my role, we will never stop the drive to make sure sport is accessible and fair for all.”