2012 WOMEN AND SPORT AWARDS PRESENTED AT THE 5TH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN AND SPORT – AND IT’S GREECE THAT TAKES EUROPEAN TROPHY!

21 February 2012

Los Angeles, (California, USA)- 20th February - The three-day conference, the theme of which was "Together Stronger: the Future of Sport," ended with 800 delegates from 135 countries unanimously approving "The Los Angeles Declaration", a series of recommendations aimed at promoting gender equality in sport and using sport as a tool to improve the lives of women around the world, which calls on sports leaders to take a more proactive role in advancing the cause of women in and through sport (the complete text of the Declaration is available at www.olympic.org).

The conference opened with the 2012 Women and Sport Awards ceremony, at which India's Manisha Malhotra was awarded the World Trophy for her work in helping disadvantaged girls through sport. The five continental winners were Peninnah Aligawesa Kabenge (Africa), the Bradesco Sports and Education Progamme and Centre (Americas), Zaiton Othman (Asia), Aikaterini Nafplioti-Panagopoulos (Europe), and Roseline Blake (Oceania).

As Greek ambassador for sport, tolerance and fair play to the Council of Europe, the European winner, Ms Aikaterini Nafplioti-Panagopoulos, was awarded the trophy for her work developing women's participation in sports as athletes and administrators, and what she did as President of the Pan-Hellenic Women's Sport Association in promoting equal participation in sports competition and administration and organizing seminars and conferences to promote gender equality. She also helped establish a grant for the young.

Within the scope of the 5th IOC World Conference, a European conference attended by representatives from 27 NOCs from our continent also took place.

Organised jointly by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, the event covered a range of subjects aimed at strengthening women's representation both on the sports field and in leadership positions. The record number of delegates at this year's conference included well-known figures from the world of sport, as well as representatives of civil society, government and academia.

Held every four years, the aim of the World Conference on Women and Sport is to assess the progress made in advancing the cause of gender equality within the Olympic Movement and to define future priority actions to improve and increase the involvement of girls and women within this framework.