ISCA urges members to lobby ministers and promote a cross-sector, integrated approach to physical education and sport

On 28-30 May 2013, ministers and senior officials responsible for physical education and sport will meet in Berlin for the MINEPS V meeting. The meeting aims to facilitate intellectual and technical exchange in the field of physical education and sport, and articulate a coherent international strategy.

ISCA has encouraged all its members to communicate to ministers and ministries recommending that MINEPS and UNESCO prioritise the:

• focus on the design of political programs and policies to support significant improvement of physical education.

• cooperation with relevant sectors’ NGOs to identify and plan actions which can integrate physical activity into everyday life.

ISCA President Mogens Kirkeby comments on the challenges faced in utilising the opportunities MINEPS presents to strengthen and advance the sport and physical education movement:

“Gatherings at this level have the potential to facilitate intellectual and technical exchange in the field of physical education and sport. However, it is very difficult to determine that the MINEPS and its governing institution (UNESCO) have been able to institutionalise a mechanism to articulate a coherent international strategy in this domain. However, ISCA would encourage further concrete actions and commitments from the meeting, consolidating the statements and the declarations from MINEPS. Currently, the group is addressing a number of topics in general terms but the commitments from the Ministers are mostly at the level of ‘goodwill’.

The International Charter of Physical Education and Sport (1978) describes the basic ‘human rights’ according to physical education and sport. It appears to be a ‘one text fits all (countries)’ and maybe it is time to be more specific about the challenges facing the various continents, countries and cultures.

ISCA would encourage further concrete actions and commitments from the meeting, consolidating the statements and the declarations from MINEPS. It appears that the MINEPS meeting, as well as the CIGEPS committee (operating committee), lack the instruments and position to follow up on the declarations and in many cases this results in nothing concrete happening.

For example: When it comes to physical education globally we have seen no or very little progress – in fact in many countries we are seeing a decrease in the quantity and quality of physical education over the period of MINEPS’s existence.”

To read ISCA’s full opinion statement on MINEPS, please click here >>>.

Background information on MINEPS

The International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS) gathers key actors who have a significant influence on international sport policy development, including sports-specific representatives, government representatives and organisations affiliated with the United Nations. This year’s conference will be only the fifth time the meeting has been held since it was established by UNESCO in 1976. The last MINEPS conference was held in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

The aim of bringing these influential stakeholders together is to devise a unified international strategy for physical education and sport that takes educational, cultural and social aspects of the field into account.

Find out more information about MINEPS at UNESCO’s website >>>.