IPACS PARTICIPATES IN 10TH COMMONWEALTH SPORTS MINISTERS MEETING
IPACS was represented at the 10th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting yesterday, which was aimed at advancing consensus and cooperation on key sports policy issues, and was organised a day before the official start of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The meeting was held under the theme of “Creating an inclusive and resilient sport sector; enhancing the contribution of sport to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, with a focus on proactively responding to sports’ human rights and equality issues as nations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a session devoted to human rights and inclusivity in sport, Jocelyn East, the Chair of IPACS and also representing the Department of Canadian Heritage, outlined the mission and activities of IPACS to eliminate corruption and promote a culture of good governance in sport. During his presentation, he highlighted the advantages of strengthened cooperation between sports organisations and governments in this regard. He said:
“IPACS is very grateful for the opportunity offered to present our work during the 10th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting. We need and welcome the engagement of more governments to help us collectively implement flexible and adaptable tools to prevent corruption in sport. IPACS is perfectly in line with the Commonwealth work in the areas of protecting human rights, the integrity of sports via good governance and the safety of participants in sport. Today, we invited Commonwealth Members Countries to join IPACS by identifying regional or national points of contact to help our collective efforts and to participate in our 2022 annual meeting. We look forward to welcome new partners in protecting sport from corruption.”
IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Pâquerette Girard Zappelli also took part in the meeting on behalf of IPACS. She reiterated the importance of strengthening credibility and good governance across all levels of sport, with collaboration between sports organisations and governments at national level being essential.
In the same session, the Commonwealth Sports Ministers adopted a document entitled “10 Actions. 10 Years. 1 Commonwealth.”, which proposes 10 actions over the next 10 years for states (to be taken individually or collectively by member states or with non-state bodies in sport) in order to respect, protect and promote human rights. The 10 actions come under the three areas of human rights, governance and integrity, and are clearly linked to the corresponding SDGs. The document references IPACS as an example of good practice in terms of fostering good governance in sport through partnerships in the public and private sector to mitigate the risks of corruption in sport.
Click here to learn more about the 10th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting.