A new initiative backed by the English Football Association, Team GB and England Netball has launched with the aim of making the United Kingdom a world leader in women and girls' sport. The Equal Sport Project will push for better leadership, investment and action across five priority areas where supporters say change will matter most.

The launch follows research by Sporting Insights which found that fewer than one per cent of women working in sport believe gender equality has been achieved across the industry. More than half of those surveyed believe women are paid less than men carrying out the same role.

Five areas targeted for change

The project has identified five areas where improved leadership, investment and action should have the greatest impact. They are equal access to sport for girls in school; equal relevance, reach and revenue for women's sport; balanced workforces; governance designed by men and women, for men and women; and equal access to facilities.

Several sporting bodies have already made pledges under the project. Aquatics GB and the FA have committed to prioritising female leadership programmes, while Sport England and UK Sport have committed to working with their funding partners to ensure governance is designed by men and women, for men and women. The Youth Sport Trust has pledged to support schools in recognising and challenging stereotypes, and to develop male allies to champion gender equality in physical education, school sport and physical activity.

Government backing and major events

The UK government has backed the initiative. Sports minister Stephanie Peacock said: "We have seen progress in women and girls' sport, but there is still a long way to go." She added that the government is backing women's sport at every level, from hosting the 2027 Tour de France Femmes Grand Depart and bidding to host the 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup, to investing £400 million in grassroots sport facilities, doubling priority access to football pitches for women and girls and chairing the Women's Sport Taskforce.

The project brings together governing bodies, charities and government in a single push, with the backers arguing that progress in women's sport has been real but uneven. Participation has grown and major tournaments have drawn record crowds, yet the research behind the launch suggests many women working inside sport still see a gap between the profile of the women's game and the pay, facilities and leadership opportunities behind it.

What happens next

The Equal Sport Project will now work with sporting organisations to turn its five priorities into action, and the government says it will work closely with the project and encourage other organisations to get involved. For girls in school, the focus is on access to sport and physical activity; for the wider industry, it is on who leads, who is paid fairly and who gets to use the facilities. The test of the launch will be whether the pledges from the FA, Team GB, England Netball and others turn into measurable change in the years ahead.

Source: BBC Sport report via SmartCartly and Archyworldys.