Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) CABOS Annual Meeting Chair s Statement 18 th 19 th The Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) met in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom on 18 th and 19 th. The 14-member group, appointed by the Commonwealth Secretary- General, advises Commonwealth governments and the Commonwealth Secretariat on sport policy, particularly with respect to Sport for Development and Peace (SDP). The focus of this meeting was on areas highlighted for CABOS attention by Commonwealth Sports Ministers, namely efforts to advance SDP in the Commonwealth and issues of integrity in sport. Commonwealth Deputy-Secretary General Deodat Maharaj opened the meeting by thanking the CABOS members for giving their time and significant expertise on a voluntary basis. The Deputy- Secretary General recognized that sport brings people together in a way that few other things can, and that it has an integral role to play in development across a range of areas. The first day of the CABOS meeting benefitted from the input of additional experts and partner organisations. These included representatives of the host Scottish and UK Governments, as well as UNESCO, UNICEF, the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada, the International University Sports Federation and Quest Global (on behalf of the International Centre for Sport Security). CABOS emphasised that the Commonwealth can be a sector leader on sports related issues. The Commonwealth has a strong sporting identity, in part linked to the continuing success of the Commonwealth Games. The diverse nature of the countries making up the Commonwealth s membership means that it is able to recognise and support the differing contexts in which sport operates in these countries, whilst remaining cohesive enough to reach meaningful consensus. CABOS calls on member governments to ensure this leading role can be delivered, by supporting and investing in the Commonwealth Secretariat s sports related activities, including SDP programming, and support for CABOS and the Commonwealth Youth SDP working group (CYSDP). Observations and Recommendations CABOS makes the following observations and recommendations to the Commonwealth Secretary- General and Commonwealth member governments.
Sport for Development and Peace 1. Working with the Commonwealth Secretariat CABOS welcomes the emphasis that the Commonwealth Secretariat is giving to SDP, and its commitment to establishing permanent specialist staff positions for the first time to undertake this work. CABOS also commends the contribution of resources by the Governments of the United Kingdom and India, and the Scottish Government, to support the Secretariat s capacity to deliver. CABOS looks forward to continued collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat to build on the good work already in place in SDP such as the three SDP publications that have been produced in the past three years - by identifying short-term quick wins and longer-term strategic action that will ensure that the full potential of SDP in the Commonwealth is realised. 2. Ensuring SDP makes an impact CABOS considered a number of key factors that it recommends should be taken into account when determining this future Commonwealth SDP activity. It is important that SDP activity is sustainable. There are too many examples of sports interventions that are not sustainable. However, as long as sufficient planning is undertaken, sport is well suited to sustainability being designed in. For instance, it is possible to make use of cost effective techniques such as building the capacity of coaches and sports officials to cascade information to sports participants on an on-going basis. CABOS believes that there remains a need for recognition at senior level within governments of the value and power of sport as a development tool. CABOS acknowledges that for advocacy of SDP to be successful, it is important that claims made for SDP are backed by a solid evidence base. It should also be recognised that the benefits achieved through sports interventions are almost always multi-faceted, crossing boundaries such as health, education and economic development. Therefore it is important to supplement cost-benefit analysis of SDP with a rightsbased advocacy approach, highlighting the overall positive benefit of sports participation on individuals and the population as a whole. Advocacy should extend beyond those with a remit for sport, to influence other key decision makers in policy areas such as education, health, youth and finance. CABOS believes that it can support this advocacy effort by contributing to other relevant Commonwealth Ministers Meetings and requests the Secretary-General s assistance in providing this platform. 3. Youth leadership of SDP Since under 30s participate in sport at higher levels than any other age group, and account for more than 60% of the Commonwealth s population, youth leadership stands out as an important principle for consideration in the field of SDP. CABOS welcomes the emphasis given to this by the Commonwealth Secretariat in supporting the creation the Commonwealth Youth SDP working group (CYSDP). CABOS applauds the significant progress that has already been made in a single year by CYSDP, in their priority areas of advocating, educating and demonstrating. CABOS fully endorses the CYSDP s recommendations that: 2
Functional mechanisms in governmental SDP structures should involve youth in decisionmaking processes; and All SDP organisations and stakeholders throughout the Commonwealth should implement mechanisms to involve youth in decision-making processes. CABOS has itself implemented these recommendations by reserving a place on its membership for the Chair of CYSDP. CABOS considered areas in which CYSDP could make further impact and identified two main opportunities: (i) Engagement with higher education to enhance the Commonwealth s work in SDP. CABOS recommends that CYSDP identifies academic institutions providing SDP courses to develop a network for students on these courses, and accesses advocacy platforms and builds links to students engaged in university sport through the International University Sports Federation (FISU), and (ii) Youth-led / youth-centred research. CABOS recommends that CYSDP collaborates with the Commonwealth Secretariat to explore opportunities for promoting and supporting youth-led research on cutting edge SDP topics, especially as they relate to young people. 4. Post-2015 Development Agenda CABOS believes that sport can play an integral role in the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda, in areas such as health, education, youth empowerment and employment, gender equity, equality, strengthening of communities and peace-building. CABOS recommends that Commonwealth member governments and the Commonwealth Secretariat highlight the power of sport as a tool for both social and economic development in their input to the post-2015 development framework negotiations, with calls for inclusion of targets on participation in sport and physical activity under all relevant goals. CABOS intends to be in a position to respond quickly to the agreement of the post-2015 development framework, by working with the Commonwealth Secretariat and CYSDP to produce an evidence-based analysis of how sport can be used as a tool in the implementation of this agenda. CABOS recommends that, once available, Commonwealth members use this analysis in promoting the role SDP can play in implementing the development agenda, in both national and international forums. CABOS will use this analysis of the post-2015 development agenda to shape its future work programme in the area of SDP. It would welcome input from member governments as to the type of advice and guidance that would most effectively support them to use sport to deliver development goals. 5. Partnerships and influencers of SDP The deliberations of CABOS over the two days was strengthened immeasurably by the input received by a range of other partners, and continued effective engagement with these and other partners is important to the Commonwealth s impact through SDP. An example of where the Commonwealth can act effectively and efficiently on behalf of its members is by engaging with UNESCO in the follow-up process to the MINEPS V Declaration of Berlin. CABOS recommends that the Commonwealth Secretariat leads on this engagement for 3
the Commonwealth. CABOS also discussed the benefits that business can bring to the SDP agenda, and feels that there is real potential in this area. CABOS will support the Commonwealth Secretariat in exploring this issue and examining how relationships with business can best be leveraged to maximise the impact of sport in both social and economic development. CABOS expressed concern that some key players are reported to be backsliding in their commitment or ability to support SDP, and that there is a danger that opportunities for international co-ordination of organisations and experts working in SDP will decrease as a result. CABOS recommends that, if this trend continues, the Commonwealth Secretariat should play a lead role in bringing together existing players in SDP and encouraging co-operation and collaboration. 6. Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games are unique in what they are able to bring to sport in the Commonwealth, and CABOS recognises the unique profile, geographic reach, and impact the Games deliver for sport. For this reason, it is important that the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) are fully involved in shaping the SDP agenda within the Commonwealth. CABOS believes that not only can the CGF support SDP and affirm the role of sport for good, but also that investment in SDP programmes indirectly supports elite sport by widening the talent pool at a grassroots level. CABOS commends the approach taken by the Scottish Government to creating a legacy from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. In particular, the commitment to purposeful planning many years ahead of the Games was noted, as was the commitment to on-going honest evaluation for several years following the Games. The identification of four strands of this legacy work ( flourishing, connected, sustainable, and active ) indicates the wide benefits that the Commonwealth Games can achieve and the legacy it can leave behind. CABOS recommends that the CGF makes the delivery of a legacy programme an explicit aspect of future bidding documents. CABOS also heard that the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, by working with UNICEF, will have an impact on development across the Commonwealth. CABOS is encouraged that this partnership shows progress by the CGF in delivering on requests from Commonwealth Heads of Government and Sports Ministers that CGF should increase its contributions to SDP. CABOS recommends that the Commonwealth Secretariat be asked to open a dialogue with the CGF and UNICEF to examine how the current grassroots SDP programming partnership can dovetail with the SDP policy work undertaken by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Finally in the area of SDP, CABOS recognises that programme design should not be limited only to wide-scale global sports. The sports chosen for any programme need to reflect the local environment in which that programme is being delivered. There are a number of traditional and indigenous games which are highly popular in certain member countries (e.g. kabaddi, Australian Rules football, sepak takraw) and these may in some contexts be a better way to engage local young people in SDP programmes than global sports such as football. The Commonwealth Games is again well placed to lead by example by considering whether there are opportunities for local traditional and indigenous sports to be included in future Games programmes. 4
Integrity in Sport Following the request made by Ministers at 6CSMM, CABOS considered issues that impact on the integrity in sport. An significant consideration for this was that if the integrity of sport is undermined, it will have a severe negative impact on the ability of the SDP sector to achieve buy-in for using sport for positive outcomes. 7. Framework of Commonwealth Consensus CABOS has undertaken work towards developing a framework of Commonwealth consensus on integrity in sport, as requested by Ministers at the 6 th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting (6CSMM) in 2012. This will be a framework of high level principles that all member governments can endorse and adopt. CABOS re-affirms its commitment to fulfilling the request, and believes this is achievable by 8CSMM in 2016. CABOS intends to consult with member governments ahead of 8CSMM to ensure that the framework is applicable to the range of countries that make up the Commonwealth, and in order to ascertain that what is proposed at 8CSMM can fairly be described as reflecting a consensus. CABOS will also take a cross-divisional approach to Commonwealth Secretariat input into this framework, as has already happened with the Secretariat s Human Rights Division s input into the safeguarding of participants theme. In addition to the views of governments, CABOS will also seek to engage with relevant sporting organisations, including the CGF and CGAs, to ensure that the framework meets the needs of both government and sport. Further consideration is required as to whether the framework should be solely for adoption by Ministers or whether it should also be designed as something that could be adopted by the CGF and/ or individual CGAs. 6CSMM considered three aspects of integrity that it wanted to be included in the Framework governance, safeguarding, and match-fixing. Progress has been made in all these areas and initial findings are taking shape. 8. Good governance In the area of good governance, CABOS agreed the fit between this issue and overall Commonwealth values. The Commonwealth is also well positioned to develop an integrity framework due to the diversity and geographic spread of its members. No other organisation could provide the required widespread, principled leadership in this area. However, CABOS recognises that whilst governance failures in sport are often highlighted when a crisis occurs, wide awareness of the importance of good governance in sport remains a challenge. Participation in governance can be an effective education about citizenship, and the Commonwealth values of democracy, development and diversity. CABOS therefore recommends that governance structures include representation of young people and athletes, who are generally sporting organisations key stakeholders. CABOS strongly believes there is a need to ensure an ethos of shared collective responsibility between governments and sporting organisations, rather than a narrow and dogmatic assertion of the autonomy of sport or the right of governments to intervene. CABOS recognises that the balance of this collective responsibility will depend on the stage of development of the country 5
concerned, and a mutual understanding of the importance of clear accountabilities and responsibilities. 9. Safeguarding of sporting participants In the area of safeguarding of participants, whether children or vulnerable adults, CABOS has begun to identify potential principles to include in the framework of Commonwealth consensus. These were included in the papers sent to Ministers in advance of 7CSMM. Following discussion of the issues, CABOS feels able to recommend that two of these points be accepted by Ministers at 7CSMM in 2014, rather than waiting for the full consensus framework to be presented at 8CSMM: Establishment of National Safeguarding in Sport policy instruments. Establishment of National Safeguarding in Sport systems. CABOS and the Commonwealth Secretariat will continue to engage with the International Safeguarding Children in Sport Working Group, to ensure the framework principles are in line with international best practice. 10. Addressing Match-fixing CABOS emphasises that the manipulation of sporting competition in connection with gambling is often a cross border issue and one that impacts across the globe. CABOS therefore notes the recommendations made in UNESCO s Declaration of Berlin and the draft Council of Europe Convention on the issue, and the guiding principles developed by the Sorbonne and the International Centre for Sport Security. CABOS will support member governments by continuing to engage with other international organisations on this issue to ensure the framework reflects cutting edge best practice. The Government of Australia representation on CABOS has led this area of work. CABOS commends the templates developed for national and sporting organisation policies on the manipulation of sporting competition, and the supporting documents produced. CABOS notes with appreciation that versions of the policies have been developed that can be adjusted to the national context depending on whether betting is legal or illegal in that country. These documents and the flexibility they provide have been welcomed by those they have been shared with so far. 11. Other areas of integrity in sport In addition to the three themes proposed at 6CSMM and detailed above, CABOS has identified two other themes that it believes should be included in the final framework on Commonwealth consensus equity and anti-doping. (i) (ii) Equity in sport must be achieved for all, including women and girls, and marginalised groups such as those identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), if sport is to reach its full potential. CABOS believes discrimination on any grounds is unacceptable and protections must be provided for vulnerable groups. CABOS calls for equity in all aspects of sport, from participation, to leadership, to coverage in the mass media. Anti-doping has been on the agenda of Ministers Meetings previously and is recognised as an important aspect of integrity in sport. For this reason it should be included in the final framework of Commonwealth consensus on integrity in sport, with the principles linking back to the decisions made by Ministers previously. 6
Louise Martin CBE Chair, Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) 19 Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom 7