St. Kitts and Nevis has secured support from UNESCO’s Fund for the Elimination of Doping In Sport to further propel its anti-doping in sport program. The USD$30,000 contribution comes after months of dialogue between UNESCO and the local anti-doping team to craft the ‘Closing the Gap: Moving to Full Compliance with ADiS’ (Anti-Doping in Sport) project.
The project will address 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.
It will also spearhead the roll-out a series of local awareness-raising activities, events and training on the virtues of anti-doping in sport directed at youth, schools, sport clubs, sport monitors across the Federation.
Shawn Seabrookes, the Focal Point for the National Compliance Platform, says the financial support from UNESCO will buttress the local sporting program, specifically the doping in sport channel.
“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,” Seabrookes noted.
Seabrookes explained that the move to full compliance comes through cooperation with UNESCO and the Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO) to guide the St. Kitts and Nevis sport and medical stakeholders. It is only through these collaborative efforts can targeted improvements in relation to Prohibited Substances and Methods, Athlete Support Personnel, Nutritional Supplements and Cooperation in Doping Control be attained.
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador to UNESCO, H.E. David Doyle and Marcellin Dally, Executive Secretary of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, Chief (Section for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, Social and Human Sciences Sector, based at UNESCO HQ in Paris), met last week to finalize the terms of UNESCO’s assistance.
“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,” Dally stated.
“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,” the UNESCO Executive added.
“This anti-doping in sport technical assistance is closely aligned with the recent development of a National Sport 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,” Ambassador Doyle revealed.
Glenn Quinlan, Chairman of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Sport Council welcomed UNESCO’S support for the local doping in sport program.
“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 Sport 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,” Quinlan noted.
The Secretary General to the St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, 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.
Among the critical players in securing the support of UNESCO for the project are Michelle Sutton, Health and Wellness Coordinator in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Dwain Archibald, Dr. Carlton Williams, Lonzo Wilkinson, Leroy Greene, Virgil Hodge and St. Clair Hodge.
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