First Conference of States Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport

The first Conference of States Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport will take place from 5 to 7 February at UNESCO Headquarters (Room IV, 10 a.m.). Participants will focus, notably, on the creation of a Voluntary Contribution Fund for the elimination of doping in sport; changes to the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); and the establishment of the follow up mechanism for the Convention.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will open the Conference. Participants include: David Howman, Director General of WADA, Jean-François Lamour, French Minister for Youth, Sports and Associations and vice Chair of WADA; Phillip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee; Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan, President of UNESCO’s General Conference; Vyacheslav Fetisov, UNESCO Champion for Sport; and numerous sport ministers. A message by Belgian tennis player Justine Hénin, who is also a UNESCO Champion for the fight against doping in sport, will be screened during the opening.

The States Parties will elect a Bureau and adopt rules of procedure during the Conference. They will also examine the management of the Fund for the elimination of doping in sport which aims to build capacities in developing countries, approve the 2007 list of prohibited substances and methods, and propose a follow-up mechanism for the Convention.

Unanimously adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference on 19 October 2005, the International Convention against Doping in Sport, entered into force on 1 February 2007, after Luxembourg deposited the 30th instrument of ratification on 11 December 2006. This groundbreaking legal instrument in the fight against doping in sport, had been ratified by 41 States as of 31 December 2006. “No international legal instrument developed by UNESCO was ever ratified at such speed,” stressed Mr Matsuura, adding: “Thanks to this Convention, the fight against doping is inscribed for the first time into international law. Governments, sport federations, the Olympic movement and civil society from now on dispose of a veritable, binding international instrument.”

The Conference of States Parties, the sovereign body of the Convention, will meet every two years.

• Author(s):Media Advisory N°2007-06
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 31-01-2007