England Golf, the governing body for amateur golf in England, has announced that it has signed the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport’s “Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration.” It is the first golfing body in the U.K. to do so, claims England Golf. The Declaration was signed by England Golf CEO, Jeremy Tomlison, ahead of the England Golf Centenary Dinner & Awards at The Midland Manchester Hotel on Feb. 20.
The original Brighton Declaration, established in 1994, was updated by IWG Women and Sport to become the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration in 2014, to better reflect a changed landscape, including major developments in international policy. The Declaration, which has by now been signed by nearly 600 global organizations, is an international treaty that operates as a roadmap to support the development of a fair and equitable system of sport and physical activity, fully inclusive of women and girls. Endorsing the Declaration means committing to support its ten key principles, aimed at enabling women and girls to freely and safely participate, compete and build careers in sport and physical activity. These ten principles involve 1) equity and equality in society and sport; 2) facilities; 3) school and youth sport; 4) developing participation; 5) high performance sport; 6) leadership in sport; 7) education, training and development; 8) sport information and research; 9) resources; and 10) domestic and international cooperation.
The text of the Declaration and the list of current signatories are available for download from the IWG Women and Sport’s website.
