This week, on the occasion of the Olympic Games, UNESCO will join delegates at the 8th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting (8CSMM) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to look at concrete ways that our two organisations can join forces to better address sport policy issues.
This week, on the occasion of the Olympic Games, UNESCO will join delegates at the 8th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting (8CSMM) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to look at concrete ways that our two organisations can join forces to better address sport policy issues.
In 2013, delegates at the 5th International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS V), approved the
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Together with the Berlin Declaration, this Charter certainly provides a strong background and justification for the implementation of sport policy, but the time has now arrived for us to move from declaration to action.
It is vital that we harness the momentum provided by the Games and this 8CSMM as the catalyst to transform this framework from a solid theoretical basis to tangible, real-world action to ensure the development and implementation of effective sport policy all over the world.
The benefits of ensuring that all children have access to sport are undeniable. At a time when our young people are facing high unemployment rates, conflict, violent extremism, and inactivity, the advancement of the universal framework of values promoted by sport, such as equality, respect, fairness and inclusion, is a vital part of addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues at a systemic, curricula level, now more than ever.
As countries move forward into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the importance of sport-based approaches is also clear, particularly as they apply to Goal 3, Goal 4, Goal 5, Goal 8, Goal 11 and Goal 16.
So as we kick off the 8CSMM and cheer our young women and men on in the weeks thereafter, let us remember that sport is not about pomp and circumstance and certainly not about medals. It is about promoting those values that truly hold the key to unite a fractured world and ensuring that the benefits of sport can be accessed by all, no matter their gender, race or background.
It is essential that as preparations for MINEPS VI in 2017 begin, UNESCO and the Commonwealth continue to work together and engage, beyond the framework, to seek opportunities to strengthen national sport policy and leverage sport to contribute to national development goals.
