Recognising that integrity in sport begins with the youth, the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project (UN-PRAC) produced the Integrity and Sport for Pacific Youth Toolkit to help eradicating corruption in sport.
Sport has been acknowledged as a very powerful tool in the fight against corruption and the pursuit of integrity, justice and sustainable development, and Pacific Sports Ministers have recognised the role that youth sport can play in boosting national governance and integrity.
“Just as the UN Convention against Corruption recognised there can be no universal definition of corruption, youth need to be given the space and learnings so as they can recognise what constitutes corruption and how it can impact integrity in their own countries and provinces – sport is a great vehicle for the youth to engage on this,” said UNODC Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, Marie Pegie Cauchois.
Youth sports officials in Tuvalu acknowledged the role they can play in this regard: “Sport is a very big part of our life in Tuvalu. As Tuvalu youth sports officers and stakeholders, it was important for us to get together in a workshop to discuss integrity issues like using a Code of Conduct. We also discussed other issues such as making sure team selections were based on merit and not nepotism or favouritism. It is important that young people in Tuvalu and throughout the Pacific have the opportunity to explore integrity issues in sport,” said
Tovia Faalo Tovia, Sports Manager, Department of Sports, Ministry of Education Youth and Sports, Tuvalu. Jackie Lauff, CEO of Australian-based NGO Sports Matters, which works extensively in the Pacific, Asia and Africa, endorsed the need for this new youth-focused Toolkit.
“This is the first Toolkit of its kind – designed to educate, inform and empower the Pacific youth to take action against corruption in sport. This Toolkit is an informative guide with practical examples, links to the latest developments, and a call to action for everyone to stand up and stamp out corruption in and through sport,” said Lauff.
At the 2019 Pacific Islands Sports Ministers Meeting on 06 July 2019 in Apia, Samoa, Ministers noted the proposal for a Pacific framework on integrity of sport for the Pacific, considering existing international frameworks and recognizing the Pacific way of promoting, defining and protecting the integrity of sports.
They highlighted the importance of ensuring good governance, autonomy and transparency, and endorsed the need to develop and implement programmes for the youth through sports.
The Integrity and Sport for Pacific Youth Toolkit can be downloaded at: Integrity & Sport for Pacific Youth toolkit and it will be launched at a UNODC – Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists’ Network (PACJN) event in Honiara, Solomon, Islands, on 26 September.
The Toolkit was produced by UNODC and UNDP through the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project (UN PRAC), a joint initiative between UNODC and UNDP, supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme.
For more information, or media interviews please contact: Akara Umapornsakula, Communications Assistant – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, E: akara.umapornsakula@un.org P: (66) 22 88 1906
SOURCE: UNODC/PACNEWS
