Fourth International Conference of Ministers and
Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport
MINEPS IV
Athens, Greece, 6-8 December 2004 |
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Recommendations
Commission II
Physical Education and Sport as a key component of quality
Education for All
Aware that public authorities and
sports organizations have complementary responsibilities to combat doping
in sport, notably to ensure the proper conduct, on the basis of the principle
of fair play, of sports events and to protect the health of those that
take part in them,
Stressing therefore the necessity
of ongoing cooperation between governments and the sporting movement in
the fight against doping,
Noting with satisfaction the recent
progress made by governments and sport organizations in anti-doping, in
particular in relation to the formation and work of the World Anti-Doping
Agency and the acceptance of the World Anti-Doping Code,
Recognizing the important contribution
of other intergovernmental cooperation on anti-doping, in particular the
Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention and its Additional Protocol,
Recognizing also the recent progress
made by the sporting movement, in particular the International Olympic
Committee and International Paralympic Committee and those international
federations recognized by them, in the fight against doping,
Noting however the need to maintain
the momentum of progress in the fight against doping in sport,
Recognizing in this regard the
rapid progress made within UNESCO on drafting an International Convention
Against Doping in Sport,
Stressing that the new international
instrument should be in place before the Turin Olympic Winter Games in
February 2006,
Recognizing that there exist unresolved
issues in the preliminary draft of the Convention that must be solved
in order to meet the time-frame for adoption of the Convention by the
General Conference of UNESCO at its 33rd session in 2005,
Participants call upon the Member States
of UNESCO to ensure that the final text of the Convention reflects the
following understandings:
With regard to the ongoing monitoring of the Convention:
Stressing that the Convention must
incorporate a cost-effective monitoring system upon its entry into force,
Noting the respective capacities
and capabilities of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Council of Europe
in the field of anti-doping, and therefore the possibilities for cooperation
with UNESCO, on the monitoring of the Convention,
Noting however that the exact nature
of ongoing monitoring of the Convention will need to be determined by
the Conference of Parties once the Convention has entered into force,
Acknowledging also the different
states of development of sport and anti-doping in countries across the
globe,
Confirming that the World Anti-Doping
Agency has responsibility for monitoring of the World Anti-Doping Code
and the Conference of Parties has responsibility for monitoring of the
Convention,
Recognizing that those States that are Parties to
the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Conventions and to the UNESCO Convention
will perform the monitoring processes of the two Conventions in a coordinated
manner,
- Recommend that a system for monitoring compliance
to the Convention should be based upon a self-assessment process, with
evaluation of such assessments being made by the Conference of Parties
with advice from other independent organizations as appropriate;
- Recommend that those States Parties to the Council
of Europe Convention should be able to continue to be exposed to additional
monitoring processes under the provisions of that Convention; and
- Recommend that the initial monitoring process for
the UNESCO Convention should be able to evolve, as anti-doping systems
develop across the world, to include additional monitoring processes
such as peer review, evaluation visits and the exchange of best practices.
With regard to the application of the Convention within Federal
States and those States with territorial constituents:
Noting that some States have legal
systems that do not permit their governments to force their constituent
jurisdictions to comply with provisions of the Convention for which those
constituents have responsibility,
Welcoming warmly the genuine commitment of those
Member States for which these articles present legal or constitutional
difficulties to make every effort to ensure that the Convention is applied
quickly in all constituencies under their jurisdiction,
- Recommend that it is necessary within the Convention
to take into account the variance in constitutional and international
realities and to therefore include provisions addressing the needs of
those States with federal systems and those with territorial constituents
to facilitate rapid adoption of the Convention;
- Recommend, when developing such provisions, that
inspiration be drawn from similar articles which appear in existing
international conventions; and
- Recommend that the use of this clause does not become
a pretext for States to weaken their commitment to combat doping effectively.
With regard to the matter of reservations on the Convention:
Noting that the Council of Europe Convention on Anti-Doping
in Sport and its Additional Protocol provides a legal framework for anti-doping
for States Parties to that Convention,
Stressing the need to avoid duplication
of effort and to avoid any lack of harmonization in the global approach
to anti-doping,
Wishing to reassert the unambiguous
commitment of governments to the fight against doping in sport,
- Recommend that efforts should be made to ensure that the UNESCO Convention
and the Council of Europe Convention are compatible and complementary,
so as to enable the Convention to be adopted without the express reservations
clause foreseen in the preliminary draft of the Convention.
With regard to the ongoing support of the Convention:
Recognizing that in order to be
effective, there must be certainty in the ongoing administration of the
Convention,
Recognizing the need to develop capacity in Member
States to implement anti-doping systems,
- Urge the Director-General of UNESCO to explore
with Member States the possibility of providing support for the basic
administration of the Convention through the regular budget of UNESCO;
and
- Reaffirm the need for a Voluntary Fund to be
established within the Convention which would serve the purpose of building
anti-doping capacity in those Member States that most need assistance
especially to implement anti-doping education programs.
With regard to the need for education on anti-doping in sport:
Noting the need to ensure that
athletes and their support personnel receive education about the effects
of the consumption of prohibited substances and relevant and timely information
on anti-doping programmes,
Recognizing also the need for the
wider sporting community to be exposed to relevant anti-doping education,
Recognizing that delivery of anti-doping
messages may be conducted through both formal and informal education processes,
- Support the definition of athlete in the preliminary
draft of the Convention as it relates to education and training; and
- Recommend that in particular, the Convention should
contain provisions for educating athletes and their support personnel
on the dangers of doping in sport and should also include the sporting
community in general and that these efforts should be targeted at preventing
doping in sport.
In regard to the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods:
Noting the responsibility of the
World Anti-Doping Agency to update the List annually and on the basis
of need as new substances or methods are discovered,
Noting the potential for the List
to change rapidly in the course of the year,
Recognizing the importance of ensuring that the sporting movement and
governments apply the same List,
- Recommend that it is essential to have a mechanism to update rapidly
the List for the purpose of the Convention; and
- Recommend that such a mechanism will need to be developed within
the framework of the Convention.
In regards to the funding of the World Anti-Doping Agency by public
authorities:
Noting the structure and funding
of WADA is based on an equal cooperation between the sporting movement
and governments,
Valuing this high level of cooperation
between the sporting movement and governments,
Recalling the commitments made
by governments in the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport in
regard to the funding of WADA by the sporting movement and governments:
- Reaffirm the commitment of public authorities to
the principle of equal funding of the approved annual core budget of
WADA by the public authorities and the sporting movement; and
- Recommend the incorporation of this commitment into
the Convention.
Finalization of the Convention and implementation:
Noting that the third session of
the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on the Preliminary Draft of the
International Convention Against Doping in Sport is to be held at UNESCO
Headquarters in Paris from 10 to 15 January 2005,
Noting also that for the Convention to be considered
at the 33rd General Conference of UNESCO in 2005, the Director General
of UNESCO must send out a Final Report to Member States by 3 March 2005,
- Reaffirm their commitment to present a final draft
of the Convention to the General Conference of UNESCO at its 33rd session
in 2005;
Therefore:
- Urge the Member States of UNESCO to attend the third
session of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on the Preliminary
Draft of the International Convention Against Doping in Sport and to
continue to work cooperatively with the goal of agreeing on a completed
text for the Convention by the end of the meeting;
- Call upon Member States of UNESCO to ensure that
their delegates to this meeting are able to reflect a coordinated approach
between relevant agencies responsible for sport and anti-doping in sport
within their jurisdiction, as well as any other relevant agency including
especially that agency responsible for foreign affairs and further that
the delegates have appropriate authority to contribute to collective
decision-making;
Noting also the need for States Parties to ratify rapidly the Convention
once it has been adopted, so that the current momentum in the fight
against doping in sport can be sustained,
- Urge the Member States of UNESCO to make appropriate
political, legal and administrative preparations well in advance of
the General Conference of UNESCO in order to ensure their rapid ratification
of the Convention after its expected adoption.

http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm
Fourth International Conference of Ministers and
Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport MYNEPS IV
Athens, Greece, 6-8 December 2004
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