(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Thirteenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has adopted a recommendation by the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) for the quadrennial staging of what will be known as The CARICOM Invitational Games.
The first games are set for 2009 after the Olympics in Trinidad and Tobago and will include as core sports, athletics, aquatics, netball and a maximum of seven other sports to be chosen by the country hosting the games.
The Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs for Trinidad and Tobago the Hon. Roger Boynes said, “we took the decision to have these games so that we can invite other countries as well.”
He pointed out that “it is important for us to have these games as we find that the CARIFTA games speaks only to the under twenty and we need to have a set of games of this nature which will speak to the seniors and the open category. We feel that every four years we can get the best of the Caribbean region to compete against the best of the world and certainly after 2008 we in the CARICOM region will have produced the best and we will be on show in 2009,” Minister Boynes said.
In relation to the free intra-regional movement of sports persons, the COHSOD noted the work done by G.C. Foster College of Jamaica on standards and criteria for coaches within the context of the CSME, and emphasised the importance of establishing National Accreditation Bodies involving sports organisations, universities, colleges and training institutions.
In light of recent revelations relating to doping in sports and the signing of the UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sports, the COHSOD agreed that there was need to consolidate resources for the establishment of a Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) which will be located in Barbados.
The COHSOD received a report on the status of preparations for Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 which set out the state of security for CWC 2007, as well as the implications and challenges for the Region. It was rganizati that the rules and regulations governing all aspects of the series were laid down by the International Cricket Council, and noted that 11 March 2007 was the date set for the Opening Session in Jamaica. The final match would be held in Barbados on 28 April 2007.
The COHSOD agreed that there should be closer collaboration between the Local Organising Committees and special focal points established by CARICOM to liaise with ICC/CWC 2007 in providing relevant information and status reports to Member States.
The meeting agreed that the CARICOM Secretariat should assist in the coordination of the relevant activities. It noted that the focal points from CARICOM would include regional Chief Medical Officers, coordinated by the Programme Manager, Health Sector Development of the CARICOM Secretariat, and representatives of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Caribbean Regional Epidemiological Centre (CAREC) and other regional rganizations.
It was further agreed that attention should be paid to the provision of adequate accommodation as well as other public health services, such as water quality, food safety, vector control, port health, waste disposal, and disease surveillance and mass casualty management systems.
In respect of anti-doping, the COHSOD agreed that a system should be put in place under the guidance of the Medical, Health Services and Anti-Doping (MHA) Directorate, in collaboration with CARICOM Health Institutions, in order to ensure adherence to international world anti-doping requirements.
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