Speaking at the opening of the International Working Group (IWG) World Conference on Women and Sport in Helsinki, Finland, he talked about how much had already been done to increase female participation in Parasport since the formation of the IPC Women in Sport Committee in 2002.

"By 2016 around 1,650 women, roughly 38 per cent of all athletes, will compete in the Rio Paralympic Games, more than double the 790 who took part in Atlanta in 1996," Sir Philip explained.

"Women will also compete in 43 per cent of all medal events, a 12 per cent rise on London 2012."

Despite the strides taken by the IPC in recent years, Sir Philip went on to say that it was not as simple as introducing a 50/50 split in participation and events at the next Games and that the move between complete gender parity would take time.

"The growth has to be organic and has to come from the grassroots," he added.

"It is no-use creating more medal events for women if there are not enough athletes to compete at the highest level.

"Increasing participation is not easy, especially in countries where there are cultural barriers to women practicing sport.

"Role models are essential and I am delighted to see so many female Paralympians coming through who can inspire the next generation."

As well as having strong role models competing in sport such as Dutch sprinter Marlou van Rhijn and Iranian Paralympic archery champion Zahra Nemati, Sir Philip also talked of the importance of increasing the number of female coaches in order to inspire women to participate.

Sir Philip Craven mentioned the need for more female coaches in the Paralympic Movement such as David Weir's coach Jenny Archer ©WireImage



"It is important that strategies are implemented to increase the number of female elite coaches who can not only train more women, but also more men," he said.

"Jenny Archer, the coach of Great Britain's David Weir, a six-time Paralympic champion in wheelchair racing, is perfect evidence of how a woman can rise to the top in international coaching and succeed."

This push towards female participation in elite roles outside of the playing of sports was highlighted in the IPC Governing Board elections last year, where just four of 27 candidates seeking election were women.

This is evidence that the Paralympic Movement needs to do more, insisted Sir Philip, who pointed to the Agitos Foundation's WoMentoring project as a possible solution to increasing the figure to 30 per cent in the near future.

"Across the whole IPC membership - covering National Paralympic Committees, International Sport Federations and Organisations and Regional Organisations - just 24 per cent of all key decision making positions are taken by women," he said.

"The mentoring project, which is initially a pilot targeting Europe, involves 32 women from 20 IPC member organisations and the aim is that over the next two years mentees will gain and develop the tools and knowledge to continue to make their mark in sport.

"The mentors are experienced in a wide variety of sports organisations from both within and outside the Paralympic Movement, whilst the mentees are equally as varied, from athletes and coaches to secretaries and even some existing board members.

"If successful, the pilot will be rolled out globally and hopefully soon we can see the same progress off the field of the play as we have seen on it in recent years."

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