Caribbean Sport Ministers Urged to Attend Upcoming Council of the Americas Meeting

Ministers of Sport across the Caribbean are being encouraged to attend or send a representative to the upcoming meeting of the Sport Council of the Americas, slated for April 24 and 25 in Washington DC.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, who made the call, underscored the importance of doing so.

“Your participation at the policy level is critical and will help to shape the decisions made at the CONCECADE (Central American and the Caribbean Sport Council) and CADE (Sport Council of the Americas) meetings,” Ms. Grange said, adding that it is an opportunity for the Ministers to share best practices and collaborate with their counterparts.

She was speaking during the third World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Forum for Caribbean Sport Ministers on Tuesday (January 16) at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

WADA’s President, Witold Banka, along with Sport Ministers and representatives from several countries are attending the Forum.

Jamaica now occupies a seat on the WADA Foundation Board following a decision during last year’s meeting of the CADE.

Ms. Grange, who participated for the first time as member of the Foundation Board during its annual meeting in Montreal last November, assured the Ministers that she is committed to ensuring that “whatever information is received with regard to the hosting of these meetings is shared with you”.

She said Jamaica’s selection to the Board is a significant achievement, noting that it is the first time since WADA’s establishment that the English-speaking Caribbean is being represented in the Agency’s governance structure.

“We received the confidence of member countries within the region at the last Council of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia, in May last year and will represent the Council on behalf of the Presidency of CADE for the next three years,” she added.

The Forum is being hosted from January 16 to 17 to review the plan of action for advancing strong anti-doping programmes in the region, inclusive of testing, education and capacity-building.

The meeting is also being held to receive reports from member countries on measures that were taken towards strengthening antidoping programmes in the respective jurisdictions since the second Forum of Caribbean Sport Ministers.