Last week on 13-14 April, representatives from more than 40 organisations from across the globe involved in promoting physical activity gathered in Cologne for the first World Active Summit. The two-day event offered an opportunity to elect World Active’s leadership, foster interaction with industry leaders, as well as present the progress achieved since the launch of the global platform last June. Furthermore, the World Active Charter and the Manifesto towards 2030 were officially presented during the meeting, which will now be organised annually and on a rotating basis across all six continents.
World Active’s inaugural general assembly, held on the first day, led to the election of 7 Council members, representing Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America, Europe, North America, and Oceania. As Chair, Barrie Elvish will be assisted by Amy Boone Thompson, World Active’s Vice-Chair, and Sean Tan, the platform’s Treasurer. One of the main goals will be to strengthen the dialogue with international bodies such as the World Health Organization, which delivered a message of support at the Summit through Dr Fiona Bull, the Head of the Physical Activity Unit in the Health Promotion Department.
Dr Bull recognised the formation of World Active as a milestone for the sector, and an opportunity to enhance collaboration to rebuild the post-pandemic world and gather forces to activate societies worldwide. Based on a similar agenda, and relying on the recommendations of the WHO’s Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030, World Active intends to offer a voice to the fitness and physical activity sector, to exchange best practices across the globe and actively fight against the economic burden caused by alarming inactivity levels.
In line with the vision to « be the worldwide representative voice of the fitness and physical activity sector, working for a physically active, healthier world », World Active’s leadership is committed to ensuring an accountable and transparent platform. Based on these principles and an open-door policy, all organisations in line with the terms of reference are welcome to join the global platform to get « more people, more active, more often ».