News: India has been re-elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the Bureau for the Asia-Pacific (Group IV) at the 10th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP10) to the International Convention against Doping in Sport.
About the International Convention against Doping in Sport
- It is a multilateral treaty through which States agree to adopt national and international measures designed to prevent and eliminate doping in sport.
- It serves as the only international legal instrument that commits governments to align their policies with the principles of the World Anti-Doping Code.
- Objective: To harmonize anti-doping legislation, guidelines, regulations, and rules at the global level in order to ensure a fair and safe competitive environment for all athletes.
- Adoption: UNESCO’s General Conference adopted the Convention on 19 October 2005 during its 33rd session, and it entered into force on 1 February 2007.
- Parties to convention: There are presently 192 States Parties to the Convention, making it the second most widely ratified treaty under UNESCO.
- It offers a global platform for collaboration among public and private stakeholders within the sport integrity ecosystem.
- Mission of the Convention:
- The Convention provides States Parties with a legal framework intended to encourage international cooperation to safeguard athletes and uphold sporting ethics.
- It aims to limit the availability of prohibited substances and methods while combating trafficking activities.
- It assists in facilitating doping controls and supports national testing programmes.
- It encourages producers and distributors of nutritional supplements to adopt best practices in labelling, marketing, and distribution of products that might contain prohibited substances.
- It supports the implementation of anti-doping education programmes.
- It promotes research related to anti-doping measures.
- Implementation Approach: The Convention functions through a positive implementation approach that involves providing guidance, financial support, skill development, and capacity-building to strengthen compliance efforts by States Parties.
- Governance Structure: The Conference of Parties (COP) acts as the sovereign body of the Convention and convenes in ordinary session every two years.
- Function: COP functions include promoting the Convention’s purpose, addressing its relationship with the World Anti-Doping Agency, adopting plans concerning the Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, evaluating States Parties’ compliance efforts, and examining or adopting necessary amendments to the Convention.
- Monitoring Mechanism: The Convention supports governments in enhancing national frameworks that protect sport values, ethics, and integrity.
- Its monitoring mechanism assists States Parties in identifying implementation gaps and developing targeted remedial actions.
- Monitoring is facilitated through key tools and frameworks, including the Operational Guidelines and Framework for the Strengthening of the Implementation of the Convention (OG/FSIC), the Model Strategic Framework (MSF), and specialized capacity-building programmes provided by the Secretariat.
