ADEA as Guest of Honour of CONFEJES at the International Conference on the Protection of the Integrity of Sport

Published on Thursday, 27 July 2017
Group Picture: Ministers for Sport and Technical partners at the International Conference on the Protection of the Integrity of Sport
Intervention of Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, representing the ADEA Acting Executive Secretary
Conference room view

The French-Speaking World Conference of Ministers for Youth and Sport (CONFEJES) designated ADEA as a guest of honour at the International Conference on the Protection of the Integrity of Sport, which CONFEJES organised on Saturday 22nd July 2017, on the margins of the 8th edition of the Francophone Games, known as Jeux de la Francophonie, held from 21st to 30th July 2017, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The conference was part of the celebrations of the value of sport in promoting the sustainable development of our great continent, and in line with the need to continually provide effective solutions to the concerns relating to phenomena such as doping, corruption and the manipulation of competitions which jeopardise the integrity and ethical values of sport.

Given the importance of the combination of education and sport, CONFEJES took advantage of this international sporting event to invite its partner ADEA to share the recommendations arising from its 2017 Triennale (held from 14th to 17th March 2017, in Diamniadio - Dakar, Senegal) which include the setting up of an African Education Fund (AEF). 

This high-profile meeting – presided over by H.E. Mr. Oswald Homeky, current Chairman of CONFEJES and Minister of Sport of the Republic of Benin; Mr. Bouaramah Ali Harouna, Secretary General of CONFEJES; H.E. Mr. Francois Albert Amichia, Minister of Sport and Recreation of Côte d’Ivoire – was attended by several ministers in charge of sport and representatives of French-speaking countries, as well as technical partners such as ADEA, the Didier Drogba Foundation, la Française des  Jeux, the Mandela Institute and UNESCO.

Representing Mr. Shem Bodo, who is the ADEA Acting Executive Secretary, Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Senior External Relations and Strategic Partnership Officer thanked CONFEJES for designating ADEA as a guest of honour for the conference and giving the Association the opportunity to join this international event to celebrate the value of sport in promoting the sustainable development of our great continent.

On this occasion, ADEA sent out a message to better integrate values in sport because thanks to education, African cultures and values, global citizenship, and universal principles anchored in Africa’s Agenda 2063 such as “good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law”, would be set.

The key word during the discussions and conclusions of the 2017 Triennale was TRANSFORMATION, in other words:

  • Transforming policies that will contribute to the attainment of the goals of universalization, equity and quality of education.
  • Transforming academic knowledge to promote the necessary skills among the youth to enable them live and work in the 21st century.
  • Transforming formal academic knowledge into capacities to develop skills for brainstorming and action, to change the values, attitudes and youth behaviours positively.
  • Transforming the insular nature of the school to make it an inter-generational learning space, a space for fruitful confrontation between endogenous and modern knowledge and experiences as well as local development.
  • Transforming schools to become factors for social cohesion and equity.

However, for such a transformation to take place, Africa must increase the financing of education and strengthen the effectiveness and equity in its educational expenditure. It is in this realization that the policymakers and key stakeholders present at the ADEA 2017 Triennale adopted the initiative to set up an African Education Fund to pool resources to complement, support and sustain the efforts of African countries towards the attainment of the set targets.