Gender - Sport, development and gender: expanding the vision of what we can be and do

In this chapter, we reflect on the evolution of the sport for development (SFD) and gender field. Building from an extensive base of research produced over decades, we seek to understand how SFD for girls and women has grown while charting a direction for future research and practice in a world transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic. With a focus on how SFD can work to challenge the inequalities and injustices that harm girls and women worldwide, we critically analyse the so-called ‘girl effect’, the commodification of development work and the imbalance of power between and within Global North and South researchers, practitioners and institutions. Through a human capabilities approach framework, we strive to re-focus on realities and experiences of girls and women in the Global South who are particularly marginalised and propose ideas for additional transformative directions in sport, development and gender.