• Sport:
• Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS)

Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS)

Established to promote the value of sport as a tool for social and economic development, CABOS last met in London on 5 & 6 June 2007.

The Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) was established in 2005 following the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Athens. Members of the group are appointed by the Secretary-General and include sports experts from across the Commonwealth. The Chair of CABOS is Sue Campbell CBE, Chair of UK Sport and of the Youth Sport Trust.

The 12-member group, which promotes the value of sport as a tool for social and economic development and helps member countries make the most of sport’s capacity to change lives, met for the third time on 5 & 6 June 2007 in London. This meeting followed on from the presentation of the first CABOS report to the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting (CSMM) in Melbourne in 2006. Ministers endorsed the report as part of the Meeting Communiqué which provides policy recommendations and brings together case studies and examples from throughout the Commonwealth showing how sport can be used to:

• promote health by tackling obesity, increasing awareness of HIV/Aids, and promoting healthy diets, wellbeing and quality life expectancy.
• educate people by raising education standards and aspirations, improving behaviour, literacy and numeracy, and cultivating citizenship and personal responsibility.
• develop leadership and participation in the community by developing coaching, officiating and volunteering skills, and improving school-community links through developing and sustaining club structures.
• build inclusive communities by developing more cohesive communities, promoting community safety and reducing discrimination of marginalised groups and empowering them.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said “CABOS has given some very powerful examples for us to follow. Just look at the way football has been used in the 'Kick Out AIDS' programme in nine countries in Africa; or the way that government and society are using sport to combat obesity in Fiji Islands and Tonga. Or see the way that women are being given a voice through the first National Women's Games in Malaysia; or desperately deprived street kids in Mumbai are getting two hours' of weekly sports coaching and games through the Magic Bus charity. All Commonwealth countries, rich and poor, can learn from these and apply them."

Sue Campbell, Chair of CABOS, said: "This is an exciting time for the role of sport. Sport can inspire, motivate and empower people, and sports initiatives really can change lives, build teams and develop whole communities."

CABOS has continued its advocacy work with member governments on the powerful role that sport can play in development since the publication of its first report. It has addressed Commonwealth Ministerial meetings for Youth, Education and Health in order to help integrate sport and physical activity into wider government policies and develop governmental linkages in these areas

CABOS members are now working with Ministers of Sport in their respective regions to build on the commitments from these meetings and work with their Ministerial colleagues responsible for these areas to strategically develop policies into their national development plans and programmes. Updates reports on this work will be presented to the next CSMM in Beijing on 9 August 2008.