Image from the Youth Olympic Games. Photo courtesy of IOC.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they have a 60% increase in women members in less than three years. Women now make up over one-third of IOC Commission Members, which is another step in the implementation of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms.

IOC President Thomas Bach announced additional changes to the IOC Commissions for 2016 that include female representation of more than 33%, a historic high. The milestone is a direct result of the reforms in Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, which was approved in December 2014.

There is also further growth in the numbers of members from Africa and Oceania as well as the different stakeholders of the Olympic Movement. In total there are 449 Commission Members in 2016, up from 430 in 2015, of whom 150 are now women.

President Bach said: “For the first time we are beyond 33 per cent women in the IOC Commissions. In less than three years we have increased women’s representation on the IOC’s Commissions by 60 per cent. The new make-up of the Commissions reflects the philosophy initiated by Olympic Agenda 2020 to strengthen the unity in diversity of the Olympic Movement and to encourage more inclusive decision-making.”

A list of all the Commissions can be found here.