Ministers hail sport and physical education commitments agreed between India and Lesotho, Jamaica and South Africa, at Commonwealth meeting
Ministers hail sport and physical education commitments agreed between India and Lesotho, Jamaica and South Africa, at Commonwealth meeting.
Bilateral agreements signed after the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, will bolster investment in sports and physical education in Commonwealth member countries.
Agreements were sealed following the ministerial gathering on 21 July 2014 between the governments of India and Lesotho, as well as South Africa and Jamaica. The deals will strengthen sports recreation and elite sports programmes for athletes and citizens in these nations.
Lesotho’s Minister of Gender and Youth, Sport and Recreation, Thesele ‘Maseribane, hailed the bilateral accord with Mr Ajit M Sharan, Secretary of India’s Ministry of Sports, as “a big opportunity that we took at the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting”.
The India-Lesotho deal will fund 40 scholarships for Lesotho students in sports science and medicine, sports management and sports journalism. Further, it will support the establishment of a high altitude training centre and sports academy, and see Lesotho develop physical education programmes, to be piloted in the academy as well as the country’s police training institute.
“The most important thing that we have in the memorandum of understanding is to introduce physical education,” Mr ‘Maseribane said. “Lesotho will benefit in terms of capacity building, education and new skills.
“To lower the health budgets in our countries, we have to use sports. To make peace in our countries, we have to use sports. To fight HIV and AIDS, we have to use sports… to send out messages,” he said.
“We would like to have more of these Sports Ministers Meetings, because there is so much that we have to do,” Mr ‘Maseribane added.
The agreement between Jamaica and South Africa, also signed in the wings of the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting, will similarly result in the strengthening of bilateral relations in sports policy.
The memorandum will involve exchange of information, training and technical knowledge and facilitate cooperation in sport science, anti-doping and sport medicine. It was formalised by Natalie Neita Headley, Jamaica’s Minister with Responsibility for Sport, and Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s Minister of Sport and Recreation.
“The signing of this bilateral agreement,” said Minister Neita Headley,” is a remarkable symbol of our shared vision for sport. I welcome this partnership, which will allow our countries to share with and learn from each other as we seek to utilise sport as a tool for economic and social development.”
During their meeting, Commonwealth sports ministers and senior officials called for “the power of sport” to be recognised as an important driver for social and economic development, especially in the post 2015 global development framework.
Ministers reiterated their collective commitment to combatting match-fixing and other issues affecting integrity in sport, including good governance and safeguards for children and other vulnerable participants. Read the communique.
