Olympia - Greece, 2-5 Avril 2000

(Item 1 of the agenda)

2. The session was opened by the outgoing Chairperson of CIGEPS, MrJulio César Maglione, representing Uruguay. Participants then had the opportunity to attend a video presentation of Olympia.

3. The Director of the International Olympic Academy welcomed the members of CIGEPS, the representatives of Member States, the members of the Permanent Consultative Council (CCP) and the observers, drawing attention in his remarks to the importance of the values related to sport and culture, in particular by targeting girls and boys. In his opening address, MrJ.C.Maglione, the outing Chairperson of CIGEPS, highlighted the changes that had led to the renewal of the Committee, to the dynamism of the action which it had initiated and to the successful conclusion of the Third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS III), and outlined what outcomes were expected from the Olympia meeting.

4. The representative of the Director-General of UNESCO, MsK.Savolainen, Director of the Department of Education for a Culture of Peace, began by situating the Organization's current priorities within the framework of the reform at present being carried out by the Director-General. In particular, she stressed the importance of the follow-up to MINEPSIII and the role of CIGEPS and of CCP in that process, which forms part of the reform of the physical education and sport programme undertaken since the adoption by the General Conference of 29C/Resolution19. She thanked the Greek Government for its invitation.

(Item 2 of the agenda)

5. The agenda was adopted.

(Item 3 of the agenda)

6. The report of the extended CIGEPS meeting in Punta del Este was adopted.

(Item 4 of the agenda)

7. In order to enable the new Bureau to be established, the Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, His Excellency MrSyed Muazzem Ali, Ambassador of Bangladesh to France, was elected by acclamation to serve as Chairperson of the session, for the purpose of conducting the elections of Bureau members. These gave the following results:

Chairperson: MrJ.C. Maglione, Uruguay, Latin America and Caribbeanregion

Vice-Chairpersons:

Africa: MrF. Dikoumé, Cameroon

Asia and the Pacific: MrTu-Mingde, China

Arab States: MrK. Guemmar, Algeria

Eastern Europe: MrI. Dobrescu, Romania

Western Europe: MsK. Nedelkos, Greece

NB: Bureau members are elected for a two-year period; the next renewal of the Bureau will not take place until after the 31st session of the General Conference (October-November2001), in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the Statutes of CIGEPS.

8. A number of newly elected members took the floor in order to express their feelings of satisfaction and their resolve to work for the redynamization and reform process initiated to get physical education and sport off to a new start within the context of the mission of UNESCO and CIGEPS.

9. The discussion of amendments to the draft Rules of Procedure of CCP was lively and wide-ranging. Participants were unanimous in calling for a harmonization of the CCP provisions for the sake of greater clarity, and it was urged that an item be included in the agenda of the Bureau's next meeting for the purpose of reconsidering the enrichments to be made by the Secretariat once Bureau members had been consulted.

10. The members of CCP were approved by the Committee. The de facto chairmanship of the Council, exercised from 1998 to 1999 by IOC, was made the subject of a point of order and a decision on the question suspended pending an in-depth examination of the cooperation maintained with IOC's President. This matter will be clarified later, albeit without freezing the activities of CCP, whose members will be closely associated, in accordance with the wishes expressed by several members of the Committee, in the process of appointing its de facto Chairperson.

11. The Secretariat presented the draft Statutes of the International Fund for the Development of Physical Education and Sport (FIDEPS), prepared by the Chief of the Physical Education and Sport Unit, MrH.Oussedik, who outlined its purposes, the nature of its missions, its operating system and its mode of organization, and situated the context of the issues involved in mobilizing funds in order to inject new life into the Fund, in accordance with 29C/Resolution 19 of the General Conference. The discussions led to several delegates expressing the wish that the text be made available for comment in the three working languages.

(Item 5 of the agenda)

12. MrJ.C. Maglione made a short oral presentation of activities undertaken within the framework of CIGEPS, stressing in particular the importance of its meetings, whose objectives made it possible to define the means of carrying through the restructuration of the Committee. MINEPS III, and the adoption of an implementation strategy, are one of the outcomes thereof. He also highlighted the activities undertaken at regional level, the conduct of which was coordinated by several Vice-Chairpersons, while at the same time expressing the wish that such activities be geared down, and be the subject of a wide-ranging information campaign. He then pointed out that awareness of the role and activities of CIGEPS should be strengthened as one of the priorities of regional action, in line with the recommendations of MINEPS III.

13. The Secretariat reported to participants on the key activities carried out during the period under review. Several speakers took the opportunity to stress their satisfaction at theresultsachieved.Application and follow-up of MINEPS III

(Item 6 of the agenda)

14. Participants dwelt at some length upon this item, relating to the application and follow-up of MINEPS III. In this regard, it should be pointed out that two approaches were put forward:

The first, outlined by the Secretariat, aimed to avoid earlier pitfalls, which had all but reduced MINEPS II to a mere expression of pious hopes as a result of the fact that its implementation had failed to measure up to the objectives that had been set. The Physical Education and Sport Unit (ED/ECP/EPS) also made the point that this approach is based on the concern of the Director-General of UNESCO to meet the requests formulated by ministers on the occasion of MINEPS III, namely, that high priority be given to the application and follow-up of the Punta del Este Declaration and the MINEPS III Recommendations, in order to avoid a recurrence of the difficulties encountered by MINEPS II. To that end, the Secretariat reviewed the difficulties that must be faced in regard to the respective roles of CIGEPS and the Secretariat in ensuring the practical implementation of MINEPS III. Among such difficulties, the Secretariat singled out budget constraints and the time allotted for purposes of implementation and follow-up. The overall budget allocated for the application of MINEPSIII falls short of the sum required to ensure its satisfactory execution. Moreover, the mid-term evaluation of the MINEPS III follow-up was set for October2001, on the occasion of the 31stsession of the General Conference, when the Round Table of Ministers for Youth and Sport was scheduled to assess, inter alia, the results achieved by MINEPSIII and to tackle the issue of physical education and sport as one of the priorities of national sports policies together with the question of the funding of such policies.

A second approach (MsK.Savolainen, Director of the Department of Education for a Culture of Peace) consisted in promoting a "minimum programme", advocating for that purpose the maintenance of a low level of available resources, while at the same time excluding de facto the means and resources that might be mobilized or granted under an adjustment arrangement.

15. After expounding the main lines which make up the work plan for the 2000-2001biennium, the Secretariat made it clear that, for lack of appropriate resources, the budget allocation for the follow-up of MINEPSIII in respect of regional activities devolved to CIGEPS will be made available to each of the members of the Bureau on a regional basis. Each Bureau member took full cognizance of this fact.

16. Having been informed thereof, the members of the Bureau agreed to act within the limit of the resources earmarked for the application and regional follow-up of MINEPSIII.

17. Overall, the Chairperson and the Bureau deemed this second approach to be distinctly unrealistic, and its implementation impracticable in the present state of affairs. CIGEPS accordingly decided to set up technical working groups, whose responsibility it would be to define a plan of action for the application and follow-up of MINEPS III. The following working groups were therefore established:

Workinggroupon"Physicaleducationandsportinschool"

Coordination:Vice-Chairperson for Arab States, under the leadership of K. Guemmar, Algeria.

Working group on "Women and sport"

Coordination: Vice-Chairperson for Western Europe, under the leadership of MsK.Nedelkos, Greece.

Working group on "Doping: education and information"

Coordination: Vice-Chairperson for Eastern Europe, MrI.Dobrescu, Secretary of State for Sport, Romania.

Working group on "Traditional games and sports"

Coordination: Vice-Chairperson for Asia and the Pacific, MrTu Mingde in close cooperation with, DrP. Vijaya-Sekere, Sri Lanka.

Working group on "Cooperation with developing countries"

Coordination: Vice-Chairperson for Africa, MrF.Dikoumé, Cameroon.

18. It will be the role of these working groups to define the practical actions to be carried on in the period from October 2000 to October 2001, that is, prior to the Round Table of Ministers for Youth and Sport scheduled for that date. An implementation timetable will therefore be laid down for each of the proposals expected from the working groups, each coordinated by a Vice-Chairperson appointed by CIGEPS and composed of its members and those of CCP, together with leading figures and specialists put forward by the Committee or by CCP. A 21-day consultation period (commencing 7April 2000) was adopted by delegates for making proposals to be forwarded to the UNESCO Secretariat. In the interval, the Vice-Chairpersons were invited to consider what might be the best way of helping to implement MINEPSIII at regional level, and to report thereon to the Secretariat as soon as possible.

Decentralized structure and mechanism for CIGEPS and

(Item 7 of the agenda)

19. For the practical purpose of setting up an operational mechanism designed to promote the application of MINEPSIII and CIGEPS activities in each of the regions concerned, the Chairperson of CIGEPS stressed that Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay would respectively provide geographical cover for the Latin America and Caribbean region. Bureau members were likewise encouraged to work to the same end by devolving responsibilities, by sub-area, to the other two elected members of CIGEPS from their region. The geographical breakdown on the basis of such decentralization in each of the regions would therefore be as follows:

1. Africa:

Vice-Chair: Cameroon

Decentralization: South Africa and Kenya to cover respectively a given sub-area.

2. Asia and the Pacific:

Vice-Chair: China

Decentralization: Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to cover respectively a given sub-area.

3. Arab States:

Vice-Chair: Algeria

Decentralization: Oman and Jordan to cover respectively a given sub-area.

4. Eastern Europe:

Vice-Chair: Romania

Decentralization: Slovakia and Hungary to cover respectively a given sub-area.

5. Western Europe:

Vice-Chair: Greece

Decentralization: Austria and Finland to cover respectively a given sub-area.

20. On this matter, each Vice-Chairperson was invited to communicate to the Secretariat the subregional geographical breakdown established for decentralization in consultation with the other two elected members of the region considered.

21. The Committee unanimously approved the designation of a Focal Point in each Ministry for Youth and Sport or each government agency responsible for physical education and sport in order to provide the necessary information and back-up regarding its activities.

(Item 8 of the agenda)

22. The Committee decided to defer consideration of this item, subject to an assessment of the findings of the working groups set up for purposes of implementing and following up MINEPSIII.

(Item 9 of the agenda)

23. The Committee was briefed on the convening and organization of the round table "Sport and Daily Peace" scheduled to be held in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. Detailed information together with the relevant documents will be made available to CIGEPS and CCP members in due course. In view of recent political events and of the planned elections, the dates may well be put back.

24. The representative of IOC informed participants about the nature, purpose and organization of the round tables convened by IOC within the context of the World Conference on Education and Sport for a Culture of Peace organized jointly by UNESCO and IOC at UNESCO Headquarters in September 1999.

25. The Chief of the Physical Education and Sport Unit, MrH.Oussedik, reminded members of CIGEPS and participants that, initially, actions launched under the responsibility of CIGEPS and in close cooperation with IOC should be undertaken within the framework of the follow-up of the above-mentioned World Conference, in particular as part of the celebration of the International Year for a Culture of Peace and of the Olympic Truce in 2000. This initiative corresponds to the wishes expressed by participants in the said Conference as reflected in the Paris Declaration relating thereto. Neither CIGEPS nor the Secretariat were associated in the initiative launched by IOC with the NOCs in several regions and countries respectively hosting round tables. The Secretariat nevertheless wished to point out - specifically for purposes of ensuring coherence in cooperation with NGOs, IGOs and IOC - that UNESCO remains the United Nations Focal Point in regard to physical education and sport.

(Item 10 of the agenda)

26. Having regard to the observations formulated by the Secretariat, the Committee decided that a detailed review of cooperation with IOC should be carried out rapidly by the Secretariat. Such a review would aim to give concrete expression to the wish expressed by the IOC President, MrJ.A. Samaranch, at the extended meeting of the Bureau held in Lausanne, from 30June to 2July 1999, at IOC Headquarters, on which occasion the Secretariat had drawn his attention to an already existing series of cooperation agreements with UNESCO that failed to achieve visibility because they were not implemented. It was in that context that CIGEPS urged the need for further clarification in order to strengthen its practical cooperation with IOC, taking equally into account its contribution within the framework of CCP.

(Item 11 of the agenda)

27. Turning their attention to other business, delegates approved, inter alia, the proposal put forward by Greece, following the clarifications provided by the Secretary-General of ICSSPE, MrC.Maillet, that an international network, "Sport and Women", be set up under the auspices of CIGEPS. This initiative will be led by the Vice-Chairperson for Western Europe, coordinator of the working group "Sport and Women" within the framework of the implementation and follow-up of MINEPSIII. ICSSPE and ICHPER-SD have been approached with a view to their providing technical back-up.

28. The representative of Greece, MsK.Nedelkos, Vice-Chairperson of CIGEPS, proposed the candidature of her country to host MINEPSIV on the occasion of the Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Athens in 2004. In the light of the clarifications provided by the Secretariat regarding the initial proposal put forward by the Kingdom of Morocco during MINEPSIIII (to date not confirmed in writing) contained in the Punta del Este Declaration, it was suggested that Greece clarify this matter with Morocco and report on the situation to the next meeting of CIGEPS, in order for it to be reviewed.

29. The next meeting of the Committee will be held in principle in Algeria in October2000; failing that, the meeting could be hosted by Romania. On the assumption that Algeria does host the next CIGEPS meeting, a thematic meeting would nevertheless be organized in Romania at the invitation of the government of that country. The Secretariat has been instructed to clarify these proposals fairly rapidly and to inform the Bureau in writing.

30. Before closing the session, the Chairperson of CIGEPS and the Bureau proposed formally to entrust His Excellency, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to France, MrSyedMuazzem Ali, Permanent Delegate to UNESCO and member of CIGEPS, with the official mission of serving as the Committee's Liaison Officer to the Executive Board and the UNESCO Permanent Delegations. The proposal was approved by acclamation.

31. After the deep gratitude of the delegates had been conveyed to the Greek Government authorities and to MsK. Nedelkos for their hospitality and for the excellent organization of the meeting in Olympia, the meeting was closed.

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