Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has praised Commonwealth governments for their strong display of support for the Commonwealth Secretariat’s work in promoting sport as a tool for development and peace.
Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has praised Commonwealth governments for their strong display of support for the Commonwealth Secretariat’s work in promoting sport as a tool for development and peace.
It is a “reinforcement of the commitment by Commonwealth governments to advance sport for development and peace,” said the Secretary-General, who last week addressed the inaugural Commonwealth Sport Summit in Edmonton, Canada, organised by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
At the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2016, the Government of Australia committed to support a secondment to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Sport for Development and Peace Team. The pledge was made by Sussan Ley, Minister for Health and Aged Care and Minister for Sport, who chaired the meeting.
The secondment will begin in 2017, a year before the country hosts the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Secretary-General Scotland said: “We are delighted that the Government of Australia, in a strong display of its support for the Commonwealth’s work on issues of sport policy and sport integrity, has made this commitment.
“Australia has been a strong advocate for the potential of sport to deliver development outcomes, and I am grateful for their assistance in ensuring that the Commonwealth can continue to provide thought leadership in this space.”
The Commonwealth Secretariat’s Sport for Development and Peace Team assists member countries in developing policies and frameworks that use sport to promote outcomes in areas such as health, education, gender equality and social cohesion.
The new secondment will follow the completion of an agreement with the Scottish Government, which in 2014 hosted the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Under the partnership, Mr Malcolm Dingwall-Smith, previously a Partnerships Manager at Scotland’s national agency for sport, Sport Scotland, joined the Commonwealth Secretariat for two years.
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Mr Malcolm Dingwall-Smith who was seconded from sportscotland to the Commonwealth Secretariat, meets with Mr Paul Kamara, the then Sport Minister of Sierra Leone.
Previously the governments of India and the United Kingdom, while hosting the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, supported similar secondment agreements.
Katherine Ellis, Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Youth Division which includes the Sport for Development and Peace Team, said the secondments provide “extremely valuable support” to member countries.
Ms Ellis said: “Mr Dingwall-Smith contributed significantly to the Commonwealth’s efforts to promote cooperation and consensus on sport policy issues. He led the provision of technical support to the government of Sierra Leone to develop a national SDP strategy, and was involved in the delivery of two Ministerial Meetings.”
Mr Dingwall-Smith has also been credited with helping to position the Commonwealth to produce the first analysis of how sport can contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and coordinating the development of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport’s Policy Guidance on Protecting the Integrity of Sport - launched and endorsed by Ministers at Commonwealth.
“It has been a real privilege to work with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Sport for Development and Peace section,” said Mr Dingwall-Smith. “It is clear that the Commonwealth is and will continue to be a global leader in this field. I hope that I’ll be able to take home some of the learning from the Commonwealth countries I’ve visited to benefit sport and development in Scotland.”
