22nd May 2023
In recognition of the continued strong support delivered by UNESCO in creating a solid Anti-Doping Programme in St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Shawn Seabrookes, the Federation’s focal contact person overseeing the project, extends his appreciation to UNESCO, noting that the Federation is poised to receive US$30,000 from its Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, “to buttress our sporting programmes”.
In late 2022, following the submission of a project proposal for capacity-building, the Federation was informed that it would receive funding to launch its “Closing the Gap: moving to full compliance with ADIS” project, aimed at delivering two parallel objectives:
- addressing the outstanding areas of non-compliance in terms of the ADiS technical standards, in areas embracing cooperation in doping control, athlete support personnel, professional codes of conduct, cooperation in education & training, and research activities. SKN currently stands at 73.8% compliance
- rolling-out a series of local awareness-raising activities, events and training on the virtues of anti-doping in sports directed at youth, schools, sport clubs, sport monitors across the Federation.
Mr. Seabrookes stated, “It is especially heart-warming to reach this point, after two years of continuous discussions between St. Kitts and Nevis and UNESCO. Now we have secured funding to propel our Anti-Doping Project
“Full compliance to the Doping in Sport Convention is our priority. We are also committed to performing interventions, on behalf of our citizens, young and old, through awareness campaigns, policies and education, to stamp out the use of prohibited substances”.
Mr. Seabrookes explained that in reaching full compliance, the Federation, with the assistance of UNESCO, would work closely with the Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO) to guide St. Kitts and Nevis sport and medical stakeholders to attain the targeted improvements in relation to Prohibited Substances and Methods, Athlete Support Personnel, Nutritional Supplements and Cooperation in Doping Control.
The concomitant second objective of awareness-raising of sport values will seek to boost the knowledge of anti-doping in sport among over 2,000, eleven to fifteen-year-old male and female students over a ten-month period.
St. Kitts and Nevis has attained over 71% compliance with the Convention thanks to past efforts by the Ministries of Sport and is now ranked by UNESCO as one of the better-performing anti-doping in sports states in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
The Federation’s success in securing UNESCO funding was facilitated also by UNESCO’s priority given to SIDS in the Operational Strategy of the Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport for 2020-2025 and further resolutions made in this regard by the Convention’s sovereign body – the Conference of Parties – its Bureau and the Fund’s Approval Committee. COP8 (October 2021) called upon UNESCO to provide further assistance to enhance the institutional capacity to States Parties and Territories encountering difficulties and challenges in the implementation of their Corrective Action Plans. This was the case, in particular, for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), noting that a global ecosystem of clean sport cannot be achieved unless all regions are capacitated.
To finalize the terms of the UNESCO technical assistance and funding to the Federation, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador to UNESCO, H.E. David Doyle, recently met Marcellin Dally, Executive Secretary of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, Chief a.i. Section for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, Social and Human Sciences Sector, based at UNESCO HQ in Paris.
UNESCO’s Marcellin Dally stated, “The Secretariat of UNESCO’s Anti-Doping Convention is delighted to accompany St. Kitts and Nevis in its quest to attain full compliance in the implementation of its obligations under the Convention – through the financial support of the Anti-Doping Fund and the technical expertise of the team”.
“Combined with the awareness-raising and education components designed to educate young people on the risks of doping in sports, we hope that the assistance from the UNESCO Convention and its Fund will lead to an optimal impact on the ground in St. Kitts and Nevis and that the outcomes will serve as model and inspiration to other Caribbean small island developing states”.
Ambassador Doyle noted, “This anti-doping in sport technical assistance is closely aligned with the recent development of a National Sports Policy Framework, initiated by UNESCO and now being implemented in cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat. Both projects are mutually reinforcing and touch on horizontal policy issues associated with youth, health, sport, education and social cohesion”.
Chairman of St. Kitts and Nevis National Sports Council, Mr. Glen Quinlan, stated: “The funding is further proof that the international community and UNESCO, understand that the elimination of doping in sport requires more than conciliatory rhetoric. The National Sports Policy supports efforts to ensure that our athletes compete fairly and are well educated about the harms of doping in sport and their responsibilities in complying with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code”.
The Secretary-General to St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, Ms. Dorothy Warner, is providing administrative oversight of the UNESCO ADiS project. She commends all the St. Kitts and Nevis stakeholders involved in securing the technical assistance funding.
