Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS)

The role of CABOS is to advise the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth governments on sport policy, particularly with respect to sport for development and peace, and to investigate issues referred to it from time to time by CSMM, the Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting (CYMM) and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The 14-member body is appointed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General. Its members are drawn from every region of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Commonwealth Youth Caucus and the host government of the Commonwealth Games. Members serve four-year terms.

The current chair, Dr Bruce Kidd from Canada, succeeded founding chair Baroness Sue Campbell of the UK in January 2009. Staff support is provided by Swaran Singh Chhabra, Commonwealth Secretariat Sports Development Adviser, who has been seconded from the Government of India, and the Commonwealth Youth Programme.

In carrying out the CABOS work plan, the chair and members have:

• used every opportunity - from the 2009 meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago and the 2010 Mid-term Review Meeting of the Commonwealth Youth Programme by Commonwealth youth ministers in Sri Lanka, to national and international conferences - to make an evidence-based case for the use of sport and physical activity to realise the major tasks of development, especially in education, health, and youth, and to urge governments to mainstream sport and physical activity in all public policy;

• in keeping with the recommendations of the 2008 CYMM and the 2008 CSMM, worked to advance the links between sport and youth policy development;

• worked with the Commonwealth Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Youth Programme to strengthen the capacity for sport policy analysis and advocacy within the Commonwealth Secretariat;

• worked with the Commonwealth Secretary-General to encourage all member states to sign the UNESCO Convention Against Anti-Doping. To date, 38 Commonwealth countries have now endorsed the UNESCO convention; and

• worked to establish collegial relations with the other international bodies working in the field of sport for development and peace, especially the UN Office of Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) and the International Platform on Sport for Development and Peace.

Going forward, CABOS will further this work, and in step with Commonwealth Connects - a new internet gateway that will enable Commonwealth citizens and member states to research, communicate and interact - create an e-repository of policy, programme and ‘best practice’ for sport for development and peace within the Commonwealth.