6 March 2026 | Lausanne, Switzerland
This International Women’s Day, the Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport (GO) highlights the critical role of robust evidence in advancing gender equality in and through sport.
This year’s United Nations theme – “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” – speaks directly to the structural inequalities that continue to shape participation, leadership, and safety across physical education, physical activity, and sport. Meaningful progress depends not only on political will, but on the quality and accessibility of the evidence that informs decisions.
The global picture remains stark. According to UN Women, women currently hold just 64 per cent of the legal rights of men worldwide. At the current rate of progress, it will take 286 years to close legal protection gaps. In nearly 70 per cent of surveyed countries, women face greater barriers than men in accessing justice. These inequalities are reflected within sport systems, from governance and leadership to safeguarding and access, underscoring the need for rights-based, evidence-informed policy and practice.
“Rights and justice in sport are not optional,” said Dr Lombe Mwambwa, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport. “They require urgent, deliberate, and concrete, evidence-based action. Without reliable data based on shared indicators, we cannot identify where gaps exist, hold institutions to account, demonstrate what is working, or measure whether change is happening. That is precisely the role the GO was established to play.”
As a knowledge and research organisation, the GO serves as a global convenor and trusted repository of expertise. Its Knowledge Hub, a centralised platform consolidating research, data, good practices and governance frameworks, makes evidence accessible and usable for policymakers, practitioners and sport leaders.
Among its current resources, the GO’s Policy Mapping initiative tracks national legislation, policies, strategies and action plans related to gender equality in physical education, physical activity and sport across 40 countries. Complementing this, its work on sport and gender-based violence: policy and legislation provides a focused evidence base across 12 countries, examining how national laws define and address gender-based violence, whether sport is explicitly covered, who is protected, and how national frameworks, which are key pillars for access to justice, align with international standards. The GO recognises the organisations taking action around the world, this is documented on the Knowledge Hub as a Directory of Women and Sport Organisations.Together, these initiatives reflect the GO’s mandate to advance data and collective action for impact for gender equality in sport.
The urgency of this work is reflected in the wider policy landscape. In February 2026, United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders called on states and international sporting bodies to ground eligibility regulations in robust, sport-specific evidence and to develop them through transparent, participatory processes as a means of safeguarding the wellbeing of sport participants especially women and girls. For the GO, this reinforces a core principle: evidence-based sports governance is a technical and political exercise that operationalises human rights imperatives.
Looking ahead, the GO will convene its Annual Conference on 29 September 2026 under the theme Measure to Matter. Bringing together governments, UN agencies, international federations, researchers and civil society, the conference will examine how improved measurement can strengthen governance for gender equality in sport.
On this International Women’s Day, the GO reaffirms its commitment to working with its global network of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to ensure that progress towards gender equality in sport is measurable, evidence-based and accountable.