To mark the 2017 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, the Commonwealth Secretariat convened thesecond Commonwealth Debate on Sport and Sustainable Development.
Prof Cora Burnett, from the Department of Sports and Movement Studies within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), was a panellist at the second Commonwealth Debate on Sport and Sustainable Development and a contributor to the 2017 Commonwealth Sport Policy Expert Roundtable, held in London in April.
The debate focused on sport integrity, development and peace policy coherence. The outcomes will contribute to policy recommendations to be produced for Commonwealth governments ahead of the International Conference of Ministers for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS VI) in July, 2017, and the 9th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in April, 2018.
Two teams of experts argued for and against the motion: ‘Corruption in elite sport undermines the potential to promote development and peace through community sports.’
Prof Burnett, a Research Professor and Director of Olympic Studies Centre rounded out the panel of industry experts.
“Building on the first Debate held in 2016, we are confident the format will offer an engaging and innovative way to address this topic. The inaugural debate on ‘sport for health’ was very successful, both as an awareness raising activity and as a catalyst for further policy dialogue”, said Prof Burnett.
The primary objective was to identify opportunities to strengthen policy coherence, with a view to ensure that the potential of sport to contribute to sustainable development is fully realised. To achieve this objective, the roundtable brought together government and intergovernmental officials, researchers and experts.
“Working together is so important as we need to combine our efforts, and this was a fantastic platform for that,” added Prof Burnett.
Commonwealth expert roundtables provide an output platform for research and an opportunity to promote emerging good practice in policy development and implementation. Participants in Commonwealth expert roundtables are formally credited in Commonwealth Secretariat publications disseminated to policy makers and senior officials in Commonwealth member countries.
Listen to the debate as it happened: http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/podcast-debate-corruption-elite-sport-and-its-impact-development#sthash.vDGpAo0P.gbpl
