The Council of Europe’s work on gender mainstreaming in anti-doping has entered a new phase, with the main thematic drafting of a future Recommendation now largely complete.

An update on the work of the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Gender Mainstreaming in Anti-Doping (T-DO GEMA) was presented to the 63rd meeting of the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention on 4 September 2026 in Strasbourg. T-DO GEMA featured under the meeting’s standard-setting agenda.

Established by the Monitoring Group in September 2025, T-DO GEMA held its kick-off meeting in November and has since progressed from evidence gathering and expert consultation to substantive drafting and a consolidated working draft. Five areas now form the core of the emerging framework: Governance and Policy, Operational Measures, Education and Prevention, Access to Justice, and Evidence-informed Policy and Practice, supported by a Monitoring and Reporting Framework intended to connect implementation with existing T-DO mechanisms.

Within GEMA, the work is now moving towards resolving the remaining policy and implementation questions. Outstanding questions concern terminology, the allocation of responsibilities across national anti-doping systems, and the final integration of the monitoring framework. A dedicated GEMA meeting is planned for 1 October to consider consultation responses and take the necessary decisions.

Under the current indicative timetable, a first draft is expected to reach the wider T-DO in mid-December, followed by finalisation in early 2027. Formal consideration and planned adoption are currently envisaged for the 64th T-DO meeting in March 2027.

The progress update was presented by Dr Rufat Efendiyev, Chair of T-DO GEMA and CAHAMA Gender Equality Rapporteur.

From principles to implementation, the process is now moving towards a framework for embedding gender equality more systematically within anti-doping policy and practice.