Initiative

The English Football Association, Team GB and England Netball are among major organisations to back the Equal Sport Project – a new initiative aimed at improving equality and making the UK world leaders for women and girls’ sport.

Recent research by Sporting Insights found that fewer than 1% of women working in sport believe gender equality has been achieved across the industry, while more than half believe they are paid less than men for carrying out the same role.

Consequently, the Equal Sport Project has identified five areas where improved leadership, investment and action will have the greatest impact in bringing equality for women and men across sport. These are:

Several organisations have already made pledges based on the above, including Aquatics GB and the FA prioritising female leadership programmes, while Sport England and UK Sport have committed to working with their funding partners to ensure their governance is designed by men and women, for men and women.

The Youth Sport Trust, meanwhile, has committed to support schools in recognising and challenging stereotypes as well as develop male allies to champion gender equality in PE, school sport and physical activity.

The project is also backed by the UK government, with sports minister Stephanie Peacock saying: “We have seen progress in women and girls’ sport, but there is still a long way to go.

“Like the Equal Sport Project, this 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 £400m in grassroots sport facilities, doubling priority access to football pitches for women and girls and chairing the Women’s Sport Taskforce.

“We will work closely with the Equal Sport Project and encourage all organisations to get involved. Together we can make the UK a world leader in women and girls’ sport.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday directed the federal government to bolster federal research into women’s health, a move pushed by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.

The Republican president signed an executive order that creates a new women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House task force to focus on the issue. That panel was set to hold its first meeting Monday after the Trumps held a Rose Garden signing ceremony.

“Beginning today we will change the reality of women’s health,” Melania Trump said. “Previous generations fought for women’s rights. Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest.”

The president, who spoke after his wife, said the order will “promote new research and really go after the understudied diseases affecting women.” The order is also intended to promote diagnostic technology and improve treatment.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently completed treatment for breast cancer, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the White House task force. Donald Trump said the task force will coordinate with various federal agencies and programs. The order does not include specific funding goals.

The initiative comes after a series of meetings the first lady had with federal health officials.

The president called it a “historic action” and praised the first lady’s work.

“She’s accomplished so much,” he said before pivoting into unscripted commentary on White House renovations, including the patio stone that now covers what was once the Rose Garden lawn.

Shifting back to women’s health, the president expressed surprise that some of the order’s requirements had not already been imposed.

“Who the hell wouldn’t have a women’s health division?” he said, after recalling that he’d asked Melania Trump, “Are you sure they don’t have that?”

The executive order calls for targeting maternal health, mental health and endometriosis. It also mentions other health concerns and diseases, including Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke.

Melania Trump helped shape the order and the task force in consultation with physicians, White House officials, Kennedy and the Republican president. The initiative adds a new dimension to her policy portfolio as first lady.

In Donald Trump’s second term, the first lady has focused on improving foster care systems and expanding technology and artificial-intelligence access in education. In Trump’s first presidency, the first lady’s signature initiative, Be Best, focused on child well-being, safe social media use and reducing drug abuse.

The White House ceremony comes weeks before Nov. 3 elections and as Donald Trump’s job approval ratings have declined, including among women.

About 4 in 10 independent women supported Trump during the 2024 election against Democrat Kamala Harris and in the pre-presidency period, according to AP-NORC polls. That dropped to around a quarter in the opening months of this midterm election year, the period marked by Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown in U.S. cities and the opening weeks of the Iran war.

Barrow writes for the Associated Press.