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WORLD ATHLETICS HUMAN
RIGHTS WORKING GROUP //Executive Summary“The fundamental human rights of everyone affected by or involvedin the delivery of physical education, physical activity and sport must
be protected, respected and fulfilled in accordance with the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”
Kazan Action Plan, July 2017

Introduction //This report summarises the work and findings of the World Athletics Human Rights Working
Group (HRWG), having completed the tasks asked of it by the World Athletics Council in
July 2020. The Report covers the following:• background and context to the Report• findings of the HRWG; and,• recommendations of the HRWG.

Background and Context //The HRWG comprised of eight members appointed by the World Athletics Council. It was
led by an independent chair, Maria Clarke (New Zealand), with members holding various
roles across the sport of Athletics. The members were Stephanie Hightower (USA), Toralf
Nilsson (Sweden), Aisha Praught-Leer (Jamaica), Ximena Restrepo (Colombia), Aleck
Skhosana (South Africa), Adille Sumariwalla (India) and Jinaro Kibet (Kenya). They came fromevery Area of World Athletics and were diverse in their backgrounds, ethnicity and gender.
Members of the HRWG hold positions with member federations, the World Athletics
Athletes’ Commission, the World Athletics Governance Commission, the World Athletics
Development Commission, the World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Executive
Board, including its Risk Committee. The HRWG was supported by independent humanrights experts from the Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR) and Shift. Theseexperts provided advice and guidance to the HRWG throughout this process. However,
the recommendations and views expressed in this report are those of the HRWG alone.
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The vision for World Athletics is to “create a healthier and fitter world” using the power andaccessibility of athletics and the athletes to do so. At the heart of this vision are people,
including athletes. In essence, the vision seeks to improve the health and wellbeing ofindividuals and communities through athletics.
Therefore, how World Athletics looks after people involved in or connected to its sport,
and respects and promotes their human rights is critical to its every-day decisions andoperations.
In simple terms, human rights are the basic rights contained in authoritative international
standards that aim to secure dignity and equality for all.
For decades, World Athletics has recognised the importance of human rights. Since 1962,
the World Athletics Constitution has stated its intolerance for discrimination in Athletics.
In addition, World Athletics has been a leader in global sport with its stand on genderequality both on and off the track. This has included ensuring equal participation of maleand female athletes in the same number of events at World Championships; equal prize
money for athletes in professional events; and since 2016, gender quotas in its Constitution
to ensure 50% of men and women on its Council by 2027.
Further, World Athletics has implemented a number of initiatives to protect and prevent
abuse of athletes. This has included adopting regulations to prevent exploitation andtrafficking of athletes; changes in its governance structure to ensure the voice of athletes
is better represented and heard (including two seats on the Council); research on training

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4and competing in heat, suitable air quality and other environmental issues affecting athletes;and changes to improve the regulatory framework for athletes’ representatives to ensure
athletes are not exploited.
In the last 12 to 18 months, World Athletics has undertaken a number of further steps
relevant to human rights. In particular, it has:
• acknowledged the establishment of an independent athletes’ body seeking to havea greater say in the future of the sport;• commenced the development of a safeguarding policy to commit to its responsibility forcreating a safe and positive environment for all involved with in Athletics, together witha range of specific initiatives and actions to be undertaken by it, its Member Federations
and the Area Associations;• backed the right for athletes to protest in a respectful manner, including on the podium;• amended its bidding process for potential candidate cities and hosts; and,• adopted a Sustainability Strategy 2020-2030 in which two of the six focus areas areglobal equality and diversity, accessibility and wellbeing..
At the 2019 World Athletics Congress in Doha a call was made by the Member Federationsof Sweden and South Africa to examine how World Athletics was addressing human rights.
In response to this call, the World Athletics Council decided to appoint the Human Rights
Working Group (HRWG).
This decision came at a time when World Athletics was responding to a highly publicised
case against it on the application of its regulations governing athletes with differences ofsex development (DSD). It is a case in which both the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the
Swiss Federal Tribunal (on appeal), found in favour of World Athletics ruling that although
the regulations of World Athletics were discriminatory, such discrimination was a necessary,reasonable and proportionate means of it achieving its aim of preserving the integrity offemale athletics in restricted events. However, this case (and the broader operation andimpact of the regulations underlying it), is one about which there are strongly held anddiffering opinions amongst the science community, the medical profession, human rights
experts and sports leaders globally. There is also ongoing litigation pending relating to thiscase.

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The decision to appoint the HRWG also came at a time when the world is witnessing a
growing and disturbing number of cases of serious allegations of harm in sport. These
include:• scandals of sexual abuse and harassment;• allegations of racist and homophobic abuse;• challenges to the rights of athletes being entitled to protest, for example at the
Olympic Games; and,• the unlawful detention and, in some egregious cases, torture and execution ofhigh-profile athletes for protesting against the political regimes in their countries.
Not surprisingly intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental bodies, including theUnited Nations Human Rights Council, have urged sports organisations, like World Athletics,
to take greater steps to respect and promote human rights.
It is against this background and context that the HRWG was appointed to:• undertake an assessment of World Athletics operations and rules in terms of humanrights;• develop a human rights framework for World Athletics; and,• report back to the members of World Athletics at the Congress in 2021.
In the time of the HRWG’s mandate, it has only been able to make an initial assessment.
More work is necessary to complete a full and proper assessment of how World Athletics,
and its members, are addressing human rights. Notwithstanding these constraints, the
HRWG has been able to make some clear initial findings based on internal and external
stakeholder input that should inform the next steps for World Athletics on these issues.

HRWG’s Findings //Based on its initial assessment, the HRWG has found that:a. World Athletics has taken a number of significant steps over the years, particularly inrecent years, to seek to respect and promote human rights. It has sought to prevent andaddress harm, which it may cause or contribute to, to people involved in its operations
and the sport of Athletics more generally.
b. While important, these steps have been piecemeal and fragmented, with decisions often
made in response to issues arising, rather than in a planned, holistic or consistent manner.

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c. In addition, although these steps were clearly intended to prevent harm to people(amongst other objectives), they were not developed or implemented using acomprehensive human rights approach and therefore it is not known whether they haveachieved this intended outcome.
d. Given the wider sporting context noted above, it is both timely and necessary for World
Athletics to strengthen and build on its work to date and to embrace a new approachclearly focused on preventing and addressing harm to people. That approach involves
both a change in mind-set and in the processes World Athletics uses to assess and takeaction on risks, which includes an assessment of potential harm to people affected by its
proposed decisions. Currently the approach by World Athletics to risk is largely focusedon an assessment of risk to the organisation or the sport rather than to individuals.
e. In adopting an approach focused on preventing harm to people, World Athletics needs
to embed into its decision-making processes a human rights framework (which applies
the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), so that it:• assesses the possible risks or any actual impacts of harm to people;• takes reasonable steps to prevent or mitigate such harm;• provides a remedy where harm is suffered and World Athletics has caused orcontributed to it.
f. In addition, by applying a human rights framework engagement with external
stakeholders (i.e., people outside of Athletics) and those whose human rights arepotentially affected by a decision (often including athletes) is expected. World Athletics
should undertake this engagement before making decisions in order to assess whether
there are any risks of harm to people, and if so, to seek to mitigate them. This is whereassessment of human rights differs substantially from assessing risks to the organisation(such as legal, operational, financial, and reputational risks).
g. The HRWG has found there is a considerable lack of understanding and awareness of
the application of human rights in sport including in Athletics. In particular, many of thepeople that the HRWG spoke to were unclear about how human rights risks arise, thepotential nature and extent of them, and who has responsibility for them. Significant
work is required to raise awareness and educate everyone in Athletics about humanrights and the steps needed to prevent harm to people within the sport.
h. As a private association, World Athletics does not have the same legal obligations as astate to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. However, in accordance with the UNGPsHUMAN RIGHTS WORKING GROUP REPORT // NOVEMBER 20217

– the authoritative global standard that sets out the implications of human rights forprivate organisations like World Athletics - World Athletics should voluntarily recognise
its responsibility to respect, and should also seek to promote, human rights acrossthe spheres of its operation. This includes its operations at headquarters, in its roleoverseeing World Athletics events; and in its governance and development roles forthe sport at large.
i. This also includes taking reasonable steps, (taking into account its capacity andresources to do so), to lead, support and, where appropriate, require Member
Federations and Area Association to respect and promote human rights throughout
the sport.
In short, having undertaken its work, the HRWG has concluded that in order for World
Athletics to achieve its vision, it now has the opportunity to strengthen and build on thesignificant work it has done to date by putting in place systems and processes that focus
on preventing harm to people. To do this, World Athletics needs to voluntarily commit to its
responsibility to respect, and seek to promote, human rights, and apply a human rights lensacross the decisions it makes about the sport and its operations.

HRWG’s Recommendations //In order to seize this opportunity, the HRWG makes six recommendations to Council with20 actions as set out below.
In making these recommendations, the HRWG acknowledges that World Athletics has
already started on a human rights journey. However, it now has a timely and important
opportunity to strengthen and build on this and to take further steps to put in placesystems and processes that focus on preventing harm to people. The recommendations
below provide a framework and concrete steps for World Athletics to take, in order toembrace and embed this new approach, which is clearly focused on preventing andaddressing harm to people. This approach involves both a change in mind-set and in theprocesses World Athletics uses to assess and take action on risks to people.
Taking this new approach will require an ongoing commitment and focus and the actions will
evolve over time. The HRWG does not expect all of its recommendations to be implemented
at once. It acknowledges the need for World Athletics to take into account capacity,
capability and the resources required to implement them.

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Recommendation 1 – A Commitment and Human Rights Policy //World Athletics should make a public commitment to respect and promote internationallyrecognized human rights.
To give effect to this commitment, the HRWG recommends that:a. Council should adopt a Human Rights Policy in which it records its commitment torespect and promote all internationally recognized human rights. This Policy should
record the nature and extent of World Athletics’ responsibility for human rights and thesteps it intends to take over time to embed a human rights approach in World Athletics
and the sport of Athletics as a whole. A draft of this Policy is included with this Report,
for consideration by the relevant Commissions, external stakeholders, input from humanrights expertise (see Recommendation 2) and subsequent approval by Council.
b. Consistent with the HRWG’s terms of reference, a report should be made to the World
Athletics 2021 Congress attended by the Member Federations and Area Associations,on the findings and recommendations of the HRWG and decisions of Council regarding
this Report. The Executive Summary of this Report should be included with the 2021
Congress documentation. The HRWG considers this report is necessary to ensure theundertakings made at the 2019 Congress to complete this work are met, and to start theprocess of improving an understanding of human rights in the Athletics.
c. Immediately following the 2021 Congress meeting, the Executive Summary of thisReport should be made public. This will show World Athletics’ commitment to humanrights and the steps it will take to implement them.
d. The Integrity Code of Conduct, Constitution and other related World Athletics’ Rules
and Regulations should be reviewed in the future, by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU)
and the relevant World Athletics’ Commissions, Council and Congress, to consider:• expanding the standards of conduct to include other human rights; and,• extending the Code, and the jurisdiction of the AIU, to cover conduct of officials ofMember Federations and Area Associations, to ensure they comply with the standards
set out in the Code.

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Recommendation 2 – Human Rights Expertise //World Athletics should have human rights expertise embedded in the organisation to
support the development and implementation of all the recommendations in this Report.
To give effect to this recommendation, the HRWG recommends that:a. person/s should be employed by or appointed to engage with World Athletics who havesignificant human rights expertise (including familiarity with the relevant international
standards such as the UNGPs);b. person/s with human rights expertise should be part of or support the Risk Committee;
c. the human rights responsibilities of these person/s should be integrated into otherrelated responsibilities within World Athletics (for example, risk management), so thathuman rights become part and parcel of the decision making at World Athletics.

Recommendation 3 – Awareness, Education and Further Risk Assessment //World Athletics should undertake a further assessment of the human rights risks in World
Athletics’ operations and throughout the sport as a whole, to give it a deeper and morecomprehensive understanding of them, so it can then assess the processes and measures
it should have to prevent and mitigate against them as well as the remedies for any harm
which occurs.
To give effect to this recommendation, the HRWG recommends that:a. A programme to raise awareness and provide education on human rights, should be
developed and rolled-out by World Athletics. In the first instance, this should be forWorld Athletics officials and its staff. Then, the programme should be made available
for those in decision-making roles in Area Associations and Member Federations. The
development by World Athletics of its new e-learning platform could be an effective
mechanism to deliver this education to Area Associations and Member Federations.
Support for this training and education is readily available from the Centre for Sport andHuman Rights (CSHR) and other human rights experts.
b. The assessment of human rights risks, which has been started by the HRWG within World
Athletics, should continue and be expanded to include the sport as a whole. The natureand extent of this risk assessment should be determined with advice and guidance fromhuman rights expertise (see Recommendation 2). It should include assessment from

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internal stakeholders (including athletes, coaches, athlete support personnel, clubs,
athletics organisations, event operators, commercial partners, Member Federations, Area
Associations, World Athletics Council, World Athletics Executive Board, Commission
members and World Athletics staff), and external stakeholders (including independent
organisations). A more comprehensive analysis of the gaps and areas for World Athletics
to prioritise could then be undertaken.

Recommendation 4 – Adopt a Human Rights Framework for Decision Making //World Athletics should adopt a Human Rights Framework to be used by its decision makers
to address human rights risks when making decisions.
To give effect to this recommendation, the HRWG recommends that:a. Council recommend to the Executive Board, that a Human Rights Framework should
be adopted and applied by World Athletics. A draft framework which aligns with the
UNGPs is provided for further development which should occur with advice from humanrights expertise (see Recommendation 2) to ensure this alignment is maintained. This
Framework should include:• the steps and process for including an assessment of human rights risks in decisionsof World Athletics, including decisions made by Congress, Council, the Executive

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Board and the Chief Executive. World Athletics could initially prioritize thosedecisions that are likely to have a significant impact on human rights, but over time,
this Framework should apply across the full range of World Athletics’ decisions,that impact on people involved or connected to its spheres of operation, to ensurethat the organisation is identifying new or unanticipated risks. These steps should
include engagement with external stakeholders whose human rights may be directly
affected by a decision of World Athletics (such as athletes), or those with insight
into such stakeholder perspectives. Ideally this should include a private and trusted
mechanism to enable World Athletics to engage with external stakeholders in a waythat is positive, constructive and enables both it and the external stakeholders to fully
understand each other’s perspectives in addressing human rights risks, before any
public comment is made; and,• the steps and process for resolution and remedy of any adverse human rights
impacts which have occurred.
b. Once finalised and adopted, the Human Rights Framework should be integrated
into World Athletics’ broader risk process (including its ESG (Environmental, Socialand Governance) risk processes) for all decisions that impact on people involved orconnected to its spheres of operation to be made by management, the Risk Committee,
the Executive Board and Council. However, any such integration must recognise thedifferent methodology used in the human rights risk assessment process from that used
to assess organisational risk. For example, a severe or major risk to the organisation isusually measured by the likelihood and impact of the risk on the organisation’s ability
to carry out its activities. Whereas, using a human rights approach, risks to people areassessed by the nature and severity of the potential harm, even if that is only to one
person, as well as their likelihood. Severe risks to people, even if unlikely to occur stillneed to be prioritised for attention. The process for assessing risks to people also
requires input from external stakeholders including those potentially affected by the risk,
which is not always the case for assessing organisational risk.
The Human Rights Framework should apply to all decisions made by World Athletics
which impact on people involved or connected to its spheres of operation, but as aminimum should be used for assessing risks on the following key matters:• bids for World Athletics Series events, including World Championships;• contracts for host cities and local organising committees;• contracts for all commercial partners;• major transactions;

HUMAN RIGHTS WORKING GROUP REPORT // NOVEMBER 202112• all rules and regulations (including amendments to them); and,• the delivery of World Athletics initiatives and programmes.

c. Council should request the Executive Board to review the terms of reference of the Risk
Committee to expressly include human rights risks.
d. The World Athletics Ethical Compliance Officer, management, members of the Risk
Committee, the Executive Board and Council, all of whom are involved in assessing andmanaging risk, should receive training on human rights, and the application of the Human
Rights Framework in practice.
e. Before any new rules and regulations are developed, or existing rules and regulations areamended, the Human Rights Framework should be used to identify and assess risks ofharm to athletes and other people and include measures to minimise them.

Recommendation 5 – Develop a Human Rights Strategy //World Athletics should develop a Human Rights Strategy, which sets out its priorities forhuman rights and the steps to implement them over a specified period. This Strategy should
be monitored and the progress against it, reported annually to the Member Federations.
To give effect to this recommendation, the HRWG recommends that:a. A Human Rights Strategy should be approved by Council (on the recommendation of
the Executive Board). It should be developed with guidance of a person with humanrights expertise (see Recommendation 2) and include goals and steps that are specificand time bound. Once approved, Council should request the Executive Board to approve
the necessary resource requirements to implement this Strategy. This Strategy should:• consider and refer to other strategy and planning documents of World Athletics, sothat human rights is integrated into wider strategic documents, such as the proposed
World Plan for Athletics;• the current World Athletics’ Strategic Plan and the World Athletics 2030

Sustainability Strategy;• include the objective that Area Associations and Member Federations be
supported to adopt the same commitment to human rights as World Athletics,
and to implement procedures to respect and promote human rights using a humanrights approach;

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• when existing rules, regulations and policies of World Athletics are proposed foramendment, to review them, using the Human Rights Framework, and if required, beamended to ensure that these mechanisms do not, and will not, inadvertently cause
or contribute any harm to people within World Athletics’ spheres of operation; and,• incorporate actions on the gaps identified and recommendations made in thisReport.
b. In particular, one of the goals in the Strategy should be to seek approval from theMember Federations at a future Congress to amend the Constitution of World Athletics
to record its commitment to respect and promote all internationally recognised humanrights. The HRWG considers it is premature to do this now while there is ongoing
litigation and until there is improved understanding and buy-in for the proposed humanrights approach throughout World Athletics and its members, and steps have been
undertaken to implement it.
c. Council should undertake a review of its progress against each of the Recommendations
using human rights expertise, and report on such review as part of its Annual Council
Report and to each Congress, commencing in 2023.
d. In recognising the support and expertise of the CSHR, World Athletics should consider
becoming a member of the CSHR Advisory Council so that it joins the global communityof organisations in sport, which are committed to respecting and promoting human rights.
e. World Athletics should continue to call upon the expert advice and guidance of CSHR indeveloping and implementing the Human Rights Strategy, along with other human rights
experts.

Recommendation 6 – Implementation Plan //The recommendations in this Report should be implemented over the next three to five
years taking into account the resources and capacity of World Athletics.
To give effect to this recommendation, the HRWG recommends that Council, together with
the Executive Board, approve an implementation plan which sets out a timetable for the
implementation of each Recommendation taking into account the other priorities of World
Athletics, the costs of the Recommendations and its resources.

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Independent Comment by the Centre for Sport and Human Rights and Shift on theReport by World Athletics’ Human Rights Working Group
14 July 2021
The Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR) is the leading organisation advancing
a world of sport that fully respects and promotes human rights. Shift is the leading nonprofit centre of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Our joint role in this process was to provide expert advice to the Human Rights Working
Group (WG) on relevant human rights standards and their implications for World
Athletics’ operations.
We would like to acknowledge the significant effort made by all the members of the WG
to build their knowledge of human rights over the past several months and apply this todevelop fit-for-purpose recommendations intended to improve and future-proof theirsport. Throughout this process, we have sought to act as ‘critical friends’ to the WG. We
have appreciated the robust, but always constructive, dialogue we have had with the
WG under the leadership of its Chair. In our view, the WG’s final report contains a set of
realistic recommendations that can help WA meet growing stakeholder expectations, aswell as authoritative international standards, on human rights. Our intent in making thisindependent comment is to put particular emphasis on some aspects of the WG’s
recommendations that we believe are fundamental to a credible approach to managing
human rights risks by any sports organization, and which should therefore be at thecore of WA’s implementation efforts. Without them, the overall logic of the WG’s
recommendations would risk being undermined.
Before turning to our specific comments, we want to put them in the context of broader
developments on sport and human rights. There has been a significant and rapid
evolution in the last few years in how sports bodies are expected to manage theirimpacts on people. States, commercial sponsors and broadcasters, fans andconsumers, NGOs, trade unions and – crucially – athletes themselves increasingly
expect sports governing bodies to have robust policies and processes in place toprevent and address harm to people in connection with sport. This is essential if wewant to maximize the promise of positive outcomes for people that sport offers.
Sports bodies need to put these ‘human rights due diligence’ processes in place acrosstheir three main spheres of activity – as employers and procurers of goods andservices, as owners or convenors of major competitions, and in their governance roles
for sport at large. Both Shift and CSHR have practical experience in supporting sports
bodies, and in working together with other stakeholders, to implement these new
expectations. We have seen first hand how the pace of this change can be challenging
for any organization to grapple with. Yet we have also seen that sports bodies that can
get ahead of these evolving expectations are the ones best prepared for futurechallenges.

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Stakeholders already expect sports bodies to meet a higher standard of due diligence in
key areas, including in proactively tackling harassment and other forms of harm toathletes, in building and using leverage to mitigate human rights risks connected to thehosting of major competitions, and in integrating greater athlete voice andrepresentation into their decision-making. The same human rights due diligenceprocesses that sports bodies need to adopt to manage these challenges can also help
inform their approaches to new and emerging human rights issues.
It is in that light that we welcome the WG’s recommendations. They propose a series ofsteps that can help strengthen WA’s existing human rights efforts (which the WG has
described as relatively piecemeal and fragmented to date), and set an appropriate
foundation for recognising and acting on the full scope of WA’s responsibility to respecthuman rights in the future. We recognise that these recommendations rightly leavesome discretion to WA in how to implement them; at the same time, it is important toprotect key elements that will be essential to the credibility of any future approach.
In our view, five elements in the WG’s recommendations that require particularemphasis are:
1. Adopting a clear and unequivocal commitment to recognizing WA’s
responsibility to respect human rights, in line with the authoritative standard of
the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
2. Embedding access to human rights expertise into WA’s own operations(and specifically expertise in the relevant international standards);
3. Carrying out meaningful engagement with stakeholders who are or may beaffected by WA’s decisions, or with credible proxies for their views where direct
engagement is not possible;
4. Prioritizing the most severe risks to people that WA may be connected to forattention and effort, including considering WA’s role in enabling remedy where
harm has occurred;
5. Providing a timeline for, and transparency about, the steps WA is taking tomeet its commitment to respect human rights, including a regular review of its
progress against each of the recommendations, informed by appropriate humanrights expertise.
We hope that Council will welcome the recommendations in their entirety and we lookforward to WA’s next steps on this important agenda.
Rachel Davis

Mary Harvey

Vice President and Co-Founder, Shift

CEO, Centre for Sport and Human Rights

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