Commonwealth sports ministers to meet on eve of the Olympics

Patrick Simmons

JULY 18, 2012 - Grenada’s Sports Minister Patrick Simmons will join his Commonwealth colleagues at the 6^th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting to consider policy guidelines aimed at strengthening Sport for Development and Peace.

Sports ministers from Commonwealth countries will meet in London on the eve of the Olympic Games to discuss how sport can contribute to advancing development goals.

The meeting, on July 25, will draw attention to how Sport for Development and Peace can be used in efforts to address social and economic challenges and promote global public health.

Ministers will also review comprehensive policy recommendations developed by the Commonwealth to help governments, sports bodies, intergovernmental organisations and civil society organisations in strengthening sport-based interventions.

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, who oversees the Commonwealth’s work in this area, said: “Sport is not only about competition and elite athletes. It is also not a universal remedy to development challenges, but under the right circumstances, it can convey important democratic principles such as tolerance, solidarity, co-operation and respect. It can also foster inclusion for marginalised people and support vulnerable people, including girls and women, people with a disability, those living in conflict and people recovering from trauma”.

“The recommendations will support governments and sports bodies in member countries and position the Commonwealth as a leading site of progressive sport policy."

Ministers will also discuss how to combat threats to the integrity of sport, including illegal sports betting and match fixing and review preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, which take place in Glasgow, Scotland.

Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting is held every two years on the margins of the Commonwealth Games and the Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games.

The last such meeting (5CSMM) was held in Delhi on October 4 2010, a day after the Opening Ceremony of the IXX Commonwealth Games.