Fourth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport MINEPS IV Athens, Greece, 6-8 December 2004 |
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