Hon Grant Robertson
Minister for Sport & Recreation
Hon Julie Anne Genter
Minister for Women
7 March 2018
MEDIA STATEMENT
New Zealand to host World Conference on Women in Sport
Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson and Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today welcomed New Zealand’s
successful bid to host the 8th International Working Group on Women in Sport secretariat from 2018 to 2022.
The honour will culminate with New Zealand hosting the 8th World Conference of the International Working Group on Women
in Sport (IWG) in Auckland in 2022. The bid was a joint effort by Sport NZ, Women in Sport Aotearoa (WISPA), the NZ
Olympic Committee and Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development (ATEED).
“The vision of the IWG is sustainable sporting culture that enables and values the full involvement of women in every
aspect of sport – a vision our Government shares,” Grant Robertson says.
“Hosting this influential event will provide an opportunity to connect New Zealand with the global conversation,
highlight our achievements and focus our efforts and aspirations on achieving much more.”
“Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the immense achievements of women, and is a call to
action to accelerate gender equity around the world,” says Julie Anne Genter.
“The hosting of the IWG World Conference and work of the Wonderful Group are reminders of the important role sport can
play in this.”
Grant Robertson was in Auckland today to help launch the newly formed Wonderful Group’s ‘It Takes Two’ mentoring
programme. The programme helps young women with ambitions to work in sport media by drawing on the experience of women
already in the industry, in turn empowering these mentors to strive for leadership roles.
“Increasing the profile, participation and leadership contribution of women across our sporting sector is a key priority
for the Sport and Recreation and Women’s portfolios,” Grant Robertson and Julie Anne Genter say.