International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS)

Created in 1976, the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS) is 

• a forum that facilitates intellectual and technical exchange in the field of physical education and sport. 
• an institutional mechanism for a coherent international strategy in this domain.
• the only global platform of its kind, engaging governments, intergovernmental organizations, the sport movement, academia and specialized NGOs. 

Its outcomes and recommendations are continuously strengthening the educational, cultural, and social dimensions of physical education and sport while guiding the implementation of effective policies and practices around the world. 

Six MINEPS Conferences have been organized: Paris - France, 1976; Moscow - Russian Federation, 1988; Punta del Este - Uruguay, 1999; Athens - Greece, 2004; Berlin - Germany, 2013; Kazan - Russian Federation, 2017. 

MINEPS played a major role in the development of the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport (1978) - establishing the practice of physical education and sport as a fundamental right for all - and the creation of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS). It also provided a key platform for the negotiation of the International Convention against Doping in Sport.

Other MINEPS Conferences (I – V)

MINEPS V – Berlin, Germany, May 2013

The Conference was co-organized by UNESCO and the Government of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), with the support of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE).

The following key themes were proposed by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS):

• access to sport as a fundamental right for all (women and girls, inclusion of persons with disabilities)
• promoting investment in sport and PE programmes (quality physical education, sport mega events)
• sport integrity (commitment to the values of sport and the fight against match fixing, illegal betting, doping, and corruption in sport)

Outcomes

More than 600 participants (Ministers, senior government officials, and key sport stakeholders) gathered in Berlin, Germany, in May 2013.

121 represented Member States unanimously adopted the Declaration of Berlin.

This text is the result of an extensive consultation process involving some 100 experts from governments, academia and the sport movement. The over 70 detailed commitments and recommendations call for

• Improved access to physical education and sport, especially for women, girls and people living with a disability.
• Increased investment in physical education and sport, recognizing their socio-economic benefits including impact on public health and social inclusion.
• Measures to safeguard the integrity of sport, notably from the fraudulent manipulation of sport competitions.

UNESCO’s Director-General was invited to present the Declaration and its Annex to the 37th session of the General Conference. A revision of UNESCO’s International Charter of Physical Education and Sport was also recommended.

• Download the Declaration of Berlin
  also available in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, and Portuguese

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MINEPS IV – Athens, Greece, December 2004

• Aimed to respond to the need to give practical expression to the priorities defined by MINEPS III, and by the 2003 Round Table of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport, around the following themes: promotion of universal and ethical values of sport, development of PES in education systems, and the need for equity regarding women in sport.
• As a result of the Conference, preparations for an International Convention against Doping in Sport were put in place.

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MINEPS III – Punta del Este, Uruguay, November – December 1999

• Aimed to translate into action the principles of the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport, the Olympic Charter and other international instruments;
• Topics included the contribution of PES to sustainable economic development, PES as fundamental element of the right to education and the process of lifelong education, and forms of cooperation and consultation in the field of PES at the national, regional, and international levels.

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MINEPS II – Moscow, Russian Federation, November 1988

• Reflected on the importance of challenges and dangers arising from the spectacular development of sport, at national and international levels;
• Focused on issues such as PES in schools and universities, promotion of sport for all, safeguarding sport’s ethical values and countering harmful influences (commercialization, violence and doping), and contribution of sporting values to society, peace, and mutual understanding.

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MINEPS I – Paris, France, April 1976, at UNESCO’s initiative

• Started a process of international cooperation for a strategy on physical education and sport (PES), considered an essential aspect of the right to education, a cultural dimension and a key aspect in the rounded development of individuals.