Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meetings

The 2004 Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Athens, Greece, adopted a Plan of Action which focuses on three main areas: anti-doping in sport, participation of women in sport and the organisation of major sporting events.

Sports Ministers recognised the continuing collective leadership required by member countries to promote women in sport, and undertook to encourage both the full participation of female athletes in their national teams at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and the mainstreaming of gender equality in sport policies and programmes.

Ministers recognised the importance of major sporting events as a means of delivering results in areas including tourism, social inclusion and regeneration. They undertook to identify suitable opportunities for bidding for major events and maximising the use of volunteers. They also requested that the Secretariat ensure the transfer of knowledge between member countries and Commonwealth Games organisers.

The Commonwealth Games will next be held in Melbourne, Australia, from 15 to 26 March 2006. The Secretariat will play an important role in Melbourne, in particular through the Sports Ministers Meeting.

Anti-doping

It was agreed in the Athens Plan of Action that the Secretariat would work with the World Anti-Doping Agency to provide technical assistance to member countries in the implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code.

Under this partnership programme, the Secretariat will supply, through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, technical experts to lead the work of newly established regional anti-doping organisations in the Pacific, Caribbean and East Africa regions. These organisations will develop anti-doping programmes in countries where little or no such control currently exists.

They will develop networks of support and, through the training of doping control officers, ensure that samples are taken from athletes throughout the year, helping to eradicate cheating and set the right example for aspiring competitors. They will also educate athletes, trainers, sports administrators and government officials on all aspects of anti-doping, and carry out wider preventative education work in schools and sports clubs.

Sport and development

The Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport was established, with the endorsement of Sports Ministers, to promote the value of sport as a tool for social and economic development, and to help develop wider governmental linkages in areas such as youth, education, health and gender. Consisting of sports experts from around the Commonwealth, the 12-member group met for the first time in June 2005 in Canada. It decided to focus on four key areas: education through sport; using sport to develop leadership and participation in the community; building inclusive communities through sport; and health benefits of sports participation.