ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and sixty-sixth Session 166 EX/42 PARIS, 21 March 2003 Original: English/French Item 3.2.2 of the provisional agenda FOLLOW-UP TO THE ROUND TABLE OF MINISTERS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT (PARIS, 9-10 JANUARY 2003) SUMMARY In accordance with the Declaration of Punta del Este, adopted at the Third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS III Uruguay, December 1999), the Director- General organized a Round Table of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport on 9 and 10 January 2003 at UNESCO Headquarters. The Round Table brought together 103 Member States, 45 of which were represented by a minister, and 20 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. On the proposal of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS), the Director-General selected three items for the Round Table s agenda: (a) (b) (c) reinforcement of physical education and sport within education systems; protection of young athletes; preparation of an international legal instrument relating to the combat against doping. The attention of the Executive Board is drawn to the communiqué adopted by the Round Table, and the Board is called upon to decide on certain proposals, notably the proclamation of an international year for physical education and sport and the preparation by UNESCO of an international anti-doping convention. The present document was delayed so that account could be taken of the results of the World Conference on Doping in Sport, held in Copenhagen from 3 to 5 March 2003 under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Recommendation proposed: paragraph 26.
166 EX/42 Introduction 1. Following consultation with the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) and in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Declaration of Punta del Este, the Director-General decided to convene a Round Table of Ministers of Sport and Physical Education with a view to undertaking an interim review of follow-up action to MINEPS III (Punta del Este, December 1999). On the proposal of CIGEPS, three agenda items were selected concerning: (a) (b) (c) reinforcement of physical education and sport within education systems; protection of young athletes; preparation of an international legal instrument concerning the combat against doping. 2. The Round Table brought together 103 Member States, 20 intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, six United Nations agencies and 14 observers. Of the 360 participants present, 45 were ministers, 29 ambassadors or permanent delegates and 19 presidents or secretariesgeneral of intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations. Key outcomes of the Round Table 3. After a rewarding and harmonious debate, the ministers highlighted the importance of physical education and sport in the process of lifelong education and for personal development, noting that such activities were not an end in themselves but served rather as a key to personal fulfilment, an instrument of education and emancipation and a means of socialization and integration. The ministers noted that physical education and sport were the subject of a growing body of legislative and regulatory measures governing their development and organizing their structures. Very few countries today are devoid of any institutional framework for physical activity and sport. In many countries, the development of physical activities and sports involves cooperation among the branches of various government ministries. 4. Judging by national experience and the conclusions reached at international meetings and forums on physical education and sport, the opportunities for children to participate in physical education and sport have greatly decreased worldwide. Many speakers stressed that physical education was becoming increasingly marginalized, in particular within education systems. Much remains to be done to ensure that the right to physical education and sport can materialize worldwide. This marginalization comes at a time when sport has turned into a major economic activity and is gaining unprecedented popularity everywhere. Reductions in physical education and sport programmes have contributed to an increase in juvenile delinquency and violence and to rising medical and social costs. The participants therefore concluded that it was vital to enhance the status and role of physical education and sport in the education system. In general, sport for all must become a priority for both governmental and voluntary sport organizations. Similarly, since physical education and sport are a vector for cultural expression, traditional games and sports should be integrated into the sport-for-all programme. The participants also stressed the importance of physical education and sport as a key to acquiring skills vital to personal development and social life. 5. The participants all pledged to combat resolutely the marginalization of physical education and sport by work(ing) actively so that the place of physical education and sport within and outside education systems is fully recognized and developed, which means the elaboration of strategies for combating all forms of discrimination linked to gender, income, social origins, location or disability.
166 EX/42 page 2 6. The Round Table participants also examined the question of the protection of young athletes, a protection which includes safeguarding against such dangers as child labour, violence, doping, early specialization, over-training and exploitative forms of commercialization as well as less visible threats and deprivations such as the premature severance of family bonds and the loss of sporting, social and cultural ties. In this field, they pledged to take appropriate measures that address the loss by developing countries of talented young athletes by improving training facilities, including the establishment of high-level regional training centres. 7. Nearly all participants stressed the problem of doping, seemingly the most serious threat to sport activities since it endangers the physical integrity of athletes. Emphasis was laid on the present lack of intergovernmental and universal anti-doping regulations. The International Olympic Charter Against Doping in Sport was adopted by a body which is not a governmental organization and its provisions apply only to Olympic sport. The anti-doping Convention is for the time being an essentially European instrument. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), created on the initiative of the International Olympic Committee, was preparing a world anti-doping code. The full text of the draft code was to be made public for consultation and comments on 20 February 2003. It was examined and submitted for approval by the World Conference on Doping in Sport, which met from 3 to 5 March 2003 in Copenhagen. In that regard the ministers noted that owing to the mixed composition of WADA (half intergovernmental and half voluntary athletic organizations), the world anti-doping code could not be legally binding. 8. The participants also underlined the importance of carrying out a thoroughgoing, international combat against doping through the preparation of an international legal instrument under public law. While stressing the importance of preventive action, through information, education and training for young people worldwide, and following the presentation by the representative of the Council of Europe of a draft international anti-doping convention, prepared by the joint Council of Europe/CIGEPS working group, several ministers and participants pledged to accelerate the preparation of an international convention against doping based on the Council of Europe s Convention against Doping. 9. The participants at the Round Table requested that UNESCO, in cooperation with the United Nations, other competent United Nations system agencies and the Council of Europe, in close collaboration with other concerned bodies such as the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti-Doping in Sport (IICGADS), ( ) coordinate the preparation, if possible before the Summer Olympic Games of 2004, and the adoption, if possible before the Winter Olympic Games of 2006, of a universal international instrument for this purpose. Mr Ogi, Special Adviser to the Secretary- General of the United Nations on Sport for Development and Peace, pledged to support that effort. 10. The full version of the communiqué adopted at the end of the Round Table is given in Annex I. Implications of the Round Table for UNESCO s programme and activities 11. The fundamental conclusion of the Ministerial Round Table was that, although physical education is a vital part of the educational process, its place in the curriculum is becoming smaller in most countries, particularly in terms of time allotted. The Ministers identified the many benefits that physical education and its associated sporting activities bring to young people. For this reason UNESCO has located its work in physical education and sport in the Education Sector within the Division for the Promotion of Quality Education.
166 EX/42 page 3 12. The profile of UNESCO s contribution to the advancement of physical education and sport should reflect this fundamental conclusion. First, the greatest effort should be devoted to helping Member States give physical education an appropriate place within their school systems and curricula because it is a key component of an education of quality. Second, UNESCO s work on sport should be seen primarily in the context of physical education within school systems. It should aim to help Member States use sport in their curricula to inculcate values such as teamwork, fair play and respect for others. 13. In this context UNESCO should play a minor and supporting role in addressing the many issues that arise in competitive and commercial sport at the national and international levels. The Round Table discussed two such issues, the protection of young athletes and the need for an international anti-doping convention. 14. As regards the protection of young athletes, UNESCO can play a normative role consistent with its mandate to promote education as a human right. However, UNESCO is not sufficiently present in the networks of commercial sport to play any operational role in protecting athletes from exploitation on a day-to-day basis. Its role is to advise governments on the principles of behaviour that they should seek to uphold in their national sporting networks. 15. UNESCO s role in preventing doping in sport needs to be very carefully circumscribed. It clearly has the task of addressing, in its work in preventive and health education, issues of drug and substance abuse by young people. If this work is done well and combined with appropriate physical education and sporting activities within the schools, the trend towards the increased use of drugs in sport could be halted. 16. The Ministerial Round Table held a vigorous debate about the need for an international antidoping convention. While this is clearly a question that preoccupies sports ministers, it is a huge and complex task. The General Conference, at its 27th session (1993), in 27 C/Resolution 5.18, concluded that UNESCO should not at present envisage standard-setting activities to combat doping in sport and invited the Director-General to pursue and strengthen the Organization s contribution to the struggle against doping through information and education. As the international context has evolved considerably, it is appropriate to reconsider the issue. 17. There appear to be two main options in response to the recommendations made by the Round Table of Ministers that UNESCO takes the lead in developing an anti-doping convention. 18. A first option would be that the Executive Board and the General Conference decide that UNESCO should accept to take the lead. In such a case, they should declare this to be a new and distinct responsibility and ensure that the significant human and financial resources needed to carry it out are secured. These resources should be sufficient to ensure that work on anti-doping does not displace or hamper UNESCO s more important mission in promoting physical education. 19. The development of an international anti-doping convention is an extremely difficult and complex task. Even with the support of the many key partners including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olympic Committee, the Council of Europe, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development, the International Council for Sports Sciences and Physical Education (ICSSPE) and the Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti- Doping in Sport (IICGADS), UNESCO is currently not equipped to undertake this task and give it the technical or other support that are required of, and expected from, a United Nations organization. The existing staff in the Division for the Promotion of Quality Education must be deployed to undertake the first recommendation of the Round Table, confirming earlier decisions of CIGEPS, the Executive Board and the General Conference and which falls fully within UNESCO s
166 EX/42 page 4 education mandate. The current relevant staff in the Division will be fully employed with these tasks. 20. For UNESCO to undertake this important task of leading the development of an anti-doping convention the following essential human and financial resources need to be identified: (a) (b) One (1) full-time senior professional to work with partners, to represent UNESCO interests in meetings and documents, and to ensure a speedy and smooth flowing process; one (1) full-time secretary/assistant; (c) sufficient budget for all activities ($200,000). 21. These resources are not available under the current biennial exercise. In any scenario envisaged for document 32 C/5, it will not be possible to earmark such resources without severe prejudice to commitments to physical education and, most importantly, to other major initiatives and actions in the field of quality education including some for which UNESCO has a mandated leadership role at the international level (e.g. international decade of education for sustainable development; United Nations inter-agency initiative on education for peace and security). Consequently, should the Executive Board and the General Conference approve this option, they may wish to qualify their approval by insisting that UNESCO shall only proceed when sufficient extrabudgetary resources are made available by donor countries. 22. Alternatively, and as a second option, the Executive Board and the General Conference may wish to confirm that UNESCO should focus its efforts on promoting physical education and sport as part of quality education. Consequently, the development of an international anti-doping convention would lie outside this remit and UNESCO should confine its role to supporting other United Nations and international bodies who may accept to take the lead in this work. 23. Under this second option, UNESCO would reinvigorate its efforts in support of physical education as a key element of quality education, in particular, and continue its work with CIGEPS. It would remain an interested partner in the development of an anti-doping convention and would ensure that the concerns and interests of UNESCO would be properly presented and argued for. It will promote the inclusion of anti-doping in educational and informational programmes. It will also ensure that the forthcoming MINEPS IV gives ample attention to the topic. Follow-up action for the consideration of the Executive Board 24. The Executive Board may wish to include in the agenda of the 32nd session of the General Conference an item relating to the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of an international year for physical education and sport. To inform the General Conference s debate of this matter, the Secretariat will prepare a feasibility study, in cooperation with CIGEPS and the United Nations Task Force on Sports, Peace and Development. 25. Should the Executive Board decide to transmit to the General Conference the proposal that UNESCO takes the lead in preparing an anti-doping convention (option 1 above), the following timetable, which reflects UNESCO s Rules of Procedure, would have to be followed: (a) April 2003: placement of the item on the agenda of the 32nd session of the General Conference;
166 EX/42 page 5 (b) (c) October 2003: decision by the 32nd session of the General Conference, in the light of the preliminary study of the technical and legal aspects of an anti-doping convention, which is annexed to this document (Annex II) together with the Executive Board s comments thereon; If the 32nd session of the General Conference agrees to UNESCO playing a lead role in the development of an anti-doping convention, the Secretariat will immediately initiate the necessary steps to submit a preliminary report and a first draft of the convention for the consideration of the General Conference at its 33rd session in 2005. Recommendation 26. The Executive Board may wish to include in the agenda of the 32nd session of the General Conference an item relating to the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of an international year for physical education and sport. Furthermore, the Board is requested to decide if UNESCO should take the lead in developing an international anti-doping convention or not.
ANNEX I 166 EX/42 Annex I COMMUNIQUE issued by the ROUND TABLE OF MINISTERS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT (PARIS, 9-10 JANUARY 2003) 1. At the close of the Round Table on Physical Education and Sport held in Paris on 9 and 10 January 2003 we, the participating and represented ministers and senior officials, arrived, on the basis of our exchanges, at the following joint positions: (a) (b) (c) It is paradoxical that, at a time when sport has become a significant economic activity, has gained an unprecedented prominence and visibility across the world, and is considered as an element of intercultural dialogue, physical education faces in many countries increasing marginalization within education systems even though it is a major tool not only for health and physical development but also for acquiring values necessary for social cohesion and intercultural dialogue. There is a particular challenge in making opportunities for physical education available in less-developed countries. Physical education and sport provide excellent opportunities for young people to learn to communicate, cooperate, work in teams, respect others, acquire discipline and accept defeat all aspects that are becoming daily more important in a world of globalization in which cultural identities are under threat and in which learning to live together in peace and harmony is a prerequisite. Physical education, as a key component of quality education and an integral part of lifelong learning, contributes to the acquisition of ethical values and the encouragement of fair play practices. The protection of young athletes should be understood in the perspective of the principles stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. That is why protection should not be understood solely in terms of health as well as physical and psychological integrity. It also involves quality education that facilitates long-term personal and professional development. To this end, flexible modalities of educational provision should be provided which meet the educational needs of young athletes. Protection also includes safeguarding against such dangers as child labour, violence, doping, early specialization, over-training, and exploitative forms of commercialization as well as less visible threats and deprivations such as the premature severance of family bonds and the loss of sporting, social and cultural ties. Doping, as a breach of sporting ethics and a danger to public health, threatens to kill sport as surely as it kills athletes. In order to combat this risk that is developing among young people, prevention is the best defence. This prevention is conducted through education, information, research and medical follow-up as well as through dissuasion, controls and sanctions. It must be recognized that there is a need for increased coordination of efforts at the international level to facilitate a more effective struggle against this scourge, through the harmonizing of regulations and practices and by securing greater adhesion to these regulations and practices among all concerned stakeholders. The primary responsibility rests with States, some of which need assistance. Hence, the urgency of elaborating an international convention against doping must be underlined, for only an international instrument of this kind will enable the
166 EX/42 Annex I page 2 necessary protective measures and controls to be introduced into national legislation in a consistent manner. 2. Consequently, we the participating and represented ministers and senior officials responsible for physical education and sport commit ourselves to: (a) make further efforts to fulfil the commitments made at the Third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS III); (b) work actively so that the place of physical education and sport within and outside education systems is fully recognized and developed through actions to improve the curriculum, sports facilities and equipment, the status of physical education and the initial and in-service training of teachers and also through the elaboration of strategies for combating all forms of discrimination linked to gender, income, social origins, location or disability; put in place monitoring systems to regularly review the situation of physical education in our respective countries, in particular its role in evaluation systems; strengthen cooperation between different partners (the family, schools, sporting associations and clubs, communities, local and other relevant authorities, public and private sectors) to obtain a synergy that ensures the availability of physical education of good quality for all; support less-developed countries in their efforts to offer more opportunities for physical education and sport to their people; revitalize the practice of traditional sports and games, a key expression of cultural identities, and promote their interaction with modern sports; (c) take appropriate measures, at national and international levels, that address the loss by developing countries of talented young athletes by improving training facilities, including the establishment of high-level regional training centres; provide appropriate information and training to all concerned parties (parents, teachers, coaches, agents, officials of clubs and associations, media, etc.) so that, through guidance and advice, they can help young people make sensible decisions; promote, through UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Committee on Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS), on the basis of existing international normative instruments, the definition of globally acceptable principles which allow talented young people to develop their athletic potential while not denying them their fundamental rights; for this purpose, encourage the professions concerned to develop a code of good practice, in close cooperation with sports movements; (d) strengthen national programmes to combat doping and develop long-term strategies of information and education which engage all concerned stakeholders: students and athletes, parents and teachers, sports officials, doctors and the media; and promote international cooperation and assistance to this end; extend the efforts against doping into recreational and non-competitive areas of sporting activity;
166 EX/42 Annex I page 3 encourage Member States to attend the World Anti-Doping Agency s conference in Copenhagen and support the development of a global anti-doping code, as well as the efforts made by sports movements to develop anti-doping programmes, making use of the decisions made by the International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti- Doping and Sport (IICGADS) in Moscow; work to broaden the number of States Parties to the Council of Europe s Convention against doping; at the same time, accelerate the preparation of an international convention against doping based on the Council of Europe s Convention against doping and request UNESCO, in cooperation with the United Nations, other competent United Nations system agencies and the Council of Europe, in close collaboration with other concerned bodies such as the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and IICGADS, to coordinate the preparation, if possible before the Summer Olympic Games of 2004, and the adoption, if possible before the Winter Olympic Games of 2006, of a universal international instrument for this purpose. 3. We request, therefore, the Director-General of UNESCO: (a) (b) (c) to transmit this communiqué for follow-up action to UNESCO s Member States, to the Intergovernmental Committee on Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) at its meeting in spring 2003, to the General Conference of UNESCO at its 32nd session in October 2003, and to the Fourth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS IV) in August 2004; to transmit to the General Conference of UNESCO at its 32nd session the proposal that an international year for physical education and sport be proclaimed for submission to the United Nations General Assembly; bring the conclusions of this Round Table to the knowledge of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, drawing his particular attention to the importance of physical education and sport, the desirability of debating this topic in the General Assembly, and asking for the collaboration of the United Nations and other competent United Nations system agencies in the elaboration of an international convention on doping in sport. 4. We welcome the holding of the Fourth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS IV) in Athens in August 2004, on the eve of the Olympic Games, during which we will continue to advance the agenda on the three themes considered by the present Round Table. UNESCO Headquarters, 10 January 2003
ANNEX II 166 EX/42 Annex II PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE TECHNICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF AN ANTI-DOPING CONVENTION The Ministers emphasize the ethical values of sport and urge all countries, both developed and developing, to work together to combat unethical behaviour, including doping in sport. They appreciate the initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in establishing the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and emphasize the important role of all governments in WADA and in eliminating doping in sport in general. They further encourage this agency to assist developing countries in their efforts to fight against doping in sport. UNESCO s role in this field should concentrate on information and education in particular (cf. Declaration of Punta del Este, adopted by the Third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport of UNESCO (MINEPS III), held in Uruguay in December 1999). Doping: definition and effects 1. It is difficult to provide a precise definition of doping. The factors involved are too numerous and too open to a variety of individual interpretations. The legal definition of doping is restricted to the use of banned products or methods designed to enhance by artificial means an athlete s performance in his or her chosen sport. Thus, the ingestion of products that stimulate or artificially modify physical capacities outside the context of federated sport does not qualify as doping. 2. Nevertheless, the term doping in common parlance refers to any use of stimulants, whether by professional athletes or schoolchildren. In this definition, it can be considered to be an abuse of pharmacological products for the purpose of enhancing a person s physical capacities. Used to improve one s chances of defeating one s opponents in an organized sporting event, doping is unfair. It thus undermines the very concept of sport and ethics, as well as the health of the person concerned. Doping is considered to be the number one problem in the world of sport, but it is also a sociological phenomenon in industrial societies, where physical appearance has become increasingly important. The practice of doping is not restricted to an elite group of top-level athletes but is affecting younger and younger children, who follow the example of their elders. 3. In the 1960s, television coverage of major athletic events made public the first sports accidents caused by doping. Since 1988, a year particularly marked by doping incidents, there has been a broad mobilization within the world of sports and by governments to take action which is aimed at prohibiting doping, or at least at limiting it. The attention of international organizations has focused on three basic principles: protection of athletes health, respect for the ethics of sport and equal chances for all in sporting contests. Development of national and international measures 4. A number of countries primarily European have been prompted to adopt anti-doping legislation: Belgium and France in 1965, Turkey and Italy in 1971 and Greece in 1965. In 1984 the Council of Europe adopted the European Anti-Doping Charter for Sport, recommending that Member States and national sporting institutions develop anti-doping regulations, educational programmes and analysis and research laboratories. 5. The Canadian Government hosted the first Permanent World Conference on Anti-Doping in Sport in June 1988 in Ottawa, which led to the drafting and adoption of an International Charter on
166 EX/42 Annex II page 2 Anti-Doping in Sport, renamed the International Olympic Charter against Doping in Sport in September 1988. Other initiatives have been taken at the international level. 6. UNESCO highlighted the problem of doping by adopting a recommendation following the Second International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport of UNESCO (MINEPS II) held in Moscow in November 1988. In 25 C/Resolution 1.19, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 25th session in October 1989, the Conference (affirmed) the need for coordinated action by governmental bodies and voluntary sports organizations, particularly the Olympic Movement, in the framework of an international campaign to combat doping. The resolution stressed the importance of intensifying the fight against doping in sport at the national and international level and invited Member States to take into consideration existing international instruments against doping in sport, particularly the provisions of those instruments which relate to the role and responsibilities of governments and public authorities. The Council of Europe adopted on 16 November 1989 an anti-doping Convention to combat this scourge. The principal aim of the Convention is to promote, at the national and international levels, the harmonization of measures against doping. It establishes common standards in application of which all the Parties undertake to adopt legislative, financial, technical and other measures. The Convention entered into force on 1 March 1990, and has been opened to all States for signature. 7. The Third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport of UNESCO (MINEPS III), held in Uruguay in December 1999 adopted recommendations on doping and violence in sport. In the Declaration of Punta del Este, the ministers and senior officials responsible for physical education and sport emphasized the ethical values of sport and urged all countries, both developed and developing, to work together to combat unethical behaviour, including doping in sport. 8. MINEPS III invited the Member States of UNESCO and sports organizations: to enhance systematic education and information concerning doping, especially among young people; to take the necessary measures to protect all those practising sport from doping; to develop and implement national anti-doping policies; to encourage States from all regions to accede to the anti-doping Convention of the Council of Europe; to give full support to the newly established World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and to participate in its activities. 9. Thus far, in addition to some 40 European countries, others, including Australia and Canada, have acceded to the Convention (of the 44 signatories, 39 have ratified it). 10. At the International Drugs in Sport Summit held in November 1999 in Sydney, Australia, 25 countries, the European Commission, and four observers including the International Olympic Committee, decided to establish an International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti- Doping in Sport (IICGADS), which has met several times with a view to: fostering international harmonization of laws and regulations in the anti-doping field;
166 EX/42 Annex II page 3 studying the possibility of a change in the statutes of the World Anti-Doping Agency to improve its operational efficiency (Oslo Declaration, November 2000); studying the concept of an international treaty to facilitate government cooperation in support of the role of WADA (Cape Town Declaration, May 2001). 11. At the initiative of States and of the International Olympic Committee, a World Conference on Doping in Sport was held in Lausanne from 2 to 4 February 1999, and led to the Lausanne Declaration on Doping in Sport. At the Conference, it was decided to create an independent International Anti-Doping Agency which should be fully operational for the games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney. 12. Cooperation among governments, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other international and national sports organizations has become imperative if we wish to eliminate the causes of doping and keep the world of sports free of it. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 13. Under the terms of the Lausanne Declaration, the World Anti-Doping Agency was founded on 10 November 1999 in Lausanne to promote and coordinate, internationally, the fight against doping in sport. WADA was set up as a foundation under Swiss private law on the initiative of IOC with the support and participation of intergovernmental organizations, governments, public authorities and other public and private bodies fighting against doping in sport. As a result of a ballot held in Tallinn, Estonia, in August 2001, the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to move the headquarters to Montreal, Canada. 14. WADA s main thrusts are: anti-doping controls, research, education, the promotion of a world anti-doping code and the development of related legislation. Drawing up an international legal instrument against doping 15. Although a number of instruments have been adopted to combat doping at the national, regional and international levels, none of them has intergovernmental legal force worldwide. The International Olympic Charter against Doping in Sport was adopted by an organization that is not governmental in nature, and it applies only to Olympic sports. It is not legally binding, simply stating and calling for the observance of ethical principles. As for the European Anti-Doping Convention, it is for the moment primarily European in scope. 16. The Anti-Doping Code developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and endorsed by all major sports federations and nearly 80 governments on 5 March 2003 in Copenhagen, is the first international instrument to harmonize rules regarding doping across all sports and nations. It is however based on voluntary adherence, without binding force. The declaration endorsed in Copenhagen by governments and sports federations took due note of the Final Communiqué of the UNESCO Round Table of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (Paris, 9-10 January 2003) which stressed the urgency of elaborating an international convention against doping. At the meeting, the important role of UNESCO as an unbiased, consultative and consensus-building organization, that can play a key role in elaborating this convention was underscored.
166 EX/42 Annex II page 4 17. The existing Council of Europe instrument is well developed and already serves as international law. It is an excellent basis on which to build an international convention, as noted in the above-mentioned Communiqué of the UNESCO Round Table. 18. Should the Executive Board and the General Conference agree that UNESCO takes the lead in preparing this instrument, it would serve when ratified as the legal framework of the agreed-upon anti-doping code.