The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Kosovo has signed the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration in a historic step for gender equality in sport.
The International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport created the Declaration in 1994 and updated it in 2014 to become the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration. It consists of 10 principles designed to make sport more equal and inclusive.
During a ceremony in Pristina, the NOC of Kosovo and 15 other sport organisations and educational institutions signed the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration. They join more than 600 organisations that have already signed the agreement.
Ms Annamarie Phelps, EOC Executive Committee (ExCom) member, and Chair of the UK Secretariat and Co-Chair of the IWG Global Executive at IWG Women and Sport, attended the signing ceremony.
NOC of Kosovo President Ismet Krasniqi and European Organisation for Grassroots Sports (ENGSO) Equality within Sport Committee Chair Tarja Krum were also in attendance, along with Olympic gold medallist and two-time European Games medallist Nora Gjakova who signed the Declaration on behalf of the Kosovo Judo Federation.
Ms Phelps underlined the importance of sports organisations making tangible progress on promoting gender equality.
“Now is the time to make sports normal for girls, and to make inclusive decisions that take into account their needs and ambitions,” Ms Phelps highlighted.
“In every analysis of future trends in sports that I have read over the past year, three main themes have emerged.
“You may know that women’s sports revenue for 2025 was projected to exceed $1 billion for the first time this year. In fact, it has exceeded those expectations and the growth is accelerating.
“Not only that, but the four billion women on this planet control $31.8 trillion in discretionary spending today.”
President Krasniqi emphasised the significance of signing the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration.
“This is an important moment for the Olympic movement and for Kosovan sport. With this act, we reaffirm our pledge to build an inclusive, fair, and equal sporting system for everyone. Gender equality is not just a moral principle – it is essential for the development of sport,” President Krasniqi said.
The EOC welcomes this historic milestone for the Kosovo NOC, and encourages all NOCs to promote gender equality, in line with the EOC Strategic Agenda 2030.
The EOC is also strongly committed to strengthening gender equality within the organisation. Elections to the EOC ExCom earlier this year saw an equal split of six females and six males, while the EOC EU Office previously implemented the GAMES Project to increase leadership opportunities for women across the Olympic Movement in Europe, supporting eight NOCs in the delivery of structural changes.
For further details on the Kosovo NOC’s signing of the Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, click here.
