Within the framework of the joint UNESCO-ICSS Capacity Building Programme, the ICSS, through ICSS INSIGHT and UNESCO’s Multisectoral Regional Office in Abuja, initiated the Regional Project: “Promoting the values of sport through education, health and governance of sports federations in West Africa” with the aim of implementing the recommendations and objectives of the Kazan Action Plan.
The initiative involves the engagement of several other key organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), WHO, UNODC, UNWOMEN, IOM, West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), French-Speaking World Conference of Ministers for Youth and Sports (CONFEJES), Conference of the Ministers of Education of French-speaking countries (CONFEMEN), FISU and the Ned Nwoko Foundation, and focuses on the following areas of work:
- Promotion the creation of an environment conducive to Quality Physical Education (QPE);
- Promotion of the values of sport in the service of regional integration, peace and peaceful coexistence among peoples;
- Promotion of women’s leadership as a means to achieve better governance of sport;
- The institutionalisation of the fight against doping in sport, including the integrity of sport, and establish a long-lasting regional observatory for prevention and control in West African countries through the development of public authorities’ capacities; and
- Facilitation of access to sport and sports activities through the training of personnel (coaches, teachers, trainers, etc) in physical education and sports.
The project was launched in November 2019 on the occasion of a Regional Conference hosted in Ouagadougou by the Governments of Burkina Faso, which, jointly with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire made a commitment to embrace the project and related pilot initiatives.