Ministers to discuss using sport for social and economic development

Australia will officially welcome Commonwealth Sports Ministers to their biennial meeting, which is being held on the margins of the Olympic Games in China next month.

Kate Ellis, at 30 Australia’s youngest government minister, will join 100 other delegates and ministers from across the Commonwealth on 9 August 2008 in Beijing to discuss using sports as a tool for development. Australia is the official host of the meeting.

This meeting is being organised by the Australian Government and will be focusing on the work of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS).

“I am delighted that Kate is going to be there and taking the lead. I know that she is very committed to using sports for development. This agenda is one that she is very passionate about,” said Sue Campbell, Chair of CABOS.

CABOS was established in 2005 following the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Athens, Greece, to promote the value of sport as a tool for social and economic development. It advocates using sports to improve achievement and attainment in school, improve health, create more cohesive communities and tackle inequalities in society.

Sports Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Nick Pink, said: “The focus of the meeting is very much around the aims of CABOS - to get governments to realise and see the power of sport as a tool for development, and to support their health and education objectives too.”

Several case studies will be presented to the sports ministers showing that CABOS’s objectives can and have been achieved across the Commonwealth.

Ms Campbell stated that there are many examples across the Commonwealth where sport is making a big difference to the youth culture. It is helping to empower young women to become community leaders, underpin behaviour strategies in schools and underpin HIV/AIDS strategies.

She hopes that sports ministers will also be encouraged to work with their colleagues in education and health ministries to look at how sport can be used to help them with their respective briefs.

The final report from the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group will also be presented to sports ministers and updates will be given from the Regional Anti-Doping Organisation and the Commonwealth Games Federation who are currently preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Secretariat Links:

• Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS)