World football governing body FIFA will organise the second edition of its Women’s Football and Leadership conference ahead of the International Women’s Day.

The conference, to be held at the FIFA headquarters on 7 March, aims to expand the support for women’s football while providing a platform for debate on advancing women’s roles in sport and society more generally.

In this year's edition,the conference will comprise three sessions on: the challenges and opportunities relating to the development of women’s football; the promotion of women in positions of leadership in the sports industry; and how FIFA reforms can achieve greater equality and opportunities for women and girls in football.

Guest speakers include Michael Kimmel, a professor of sociology and gender studies and top decision makers within FIFA such as Lydia Nsekera, Sonia Bien-Aime and Moya Dodd.

The conference follows a series of women’s football-focused initiatives organised by FIFA in 2016, such as the 6th Women’s Football Symposium, held during the Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, and the Task Force for Women’s Football meeting in August 2015.

More recently, the promotion of women's football and increasing the role of women in the governance of the game became an integral part of the reform proposals put forward to the FIFA Congress, backed Fare, likeminded NGOs and professional athletes.

Registration is open for the conference until 12 February. Apply here.