International Table Tennis Federation joins UN Women’s “Sports for Generation Equality” initiative

Seoul — The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) formalized their commitment to implement the Sports for Generation Equality initiative in the presence of UN Women representatives in the Republic of Korea. Led by UN Women, the Sports for Generation Equality is a global initiative to forge a powerful multi-stakeholder coalition to make gender equality a lived reality in and through sport.

ITTF signed the Letter of Commitment in a meeting with UN Women on 22 February during the ITTF Summit 2024 which took place in the margins of the Table Tennis World Championships Finals 2024 held in Busan, Republic of Korea. By signing the Letter, the federation pledged to contribute to the implementation of the Sports for Generation Equality Principles and committed itself to work collaboratively with their peers and relevant stakeholders to develop, implement, and enhance the gender equality agenda in and through sports.

Explaining the significance of this action, Petra Sörling, ITTF’s first woman president and International Olympic Committee Member, remarked, “Signing this framework is a pivotal moment for us. It provides a framework for measuring our progress as we strive for greater gender equality. While we take pride in our achievement of equal prize money since 2008, there is still much ground to cover and areas where improvement is needed. Our investment in women extends beyond just players to encompass all facets of our organization, including coaches, match officials, elected officials and staff. This commitment serves as our driving force to continuously do better.”

Congratulating the ITTF for signing the framework, Jeongshim Lee, Director of the UN Women Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in the Republic of Korea (Centre) commended Sörling’s leadership and expressed her hopes for future collaboration with ITTF. “I believe ITTF can become a shining example of the Sports for Generation Equality Initiative in action, inspiring other federations to join the cause,” Lee told Sörling.

Prior to the signing meeting, ITTF also hosted the “Sustainability and Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI)” session to discuss its GEDI Action Plan, and invited UN Women to speak. In her address, Lee emphasized that the sports community has an important role to play to tear down gender barriers and discrimination and to empower women and girls, both in the world of sport and beyond. In addition, Ahjung Lee, External Relations Specialist at the Centre, emphasized the need to involve men as allies, “Gender equality is not for women alone. This is for men and women, children and adults alike. We all have a part to play,” she remarked.

The signing lays the foundation for future collaboration between UN Women and ITTF, aimed at leveraging the influence of sports to realize gender equality both within and beyond sporting arenas.

Last year, ITTF developed and released its Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) Action Plan 2025 by following the principles outlined in the framework and UN Women’s Guidelines for Gender-Responsive Sports Organization. The plan spells out how the federation will implement the initiative and measure the progress made in the implementation.