OECS Commission and ANOCES ink MOU on Cooperation

The OECS Commission and the Association of National Olympic Committees of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (ANOCES) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation in the areas of sports and youth development. The signing took place at the OECS Headquarters in Castries, Saint Lucia on Monday June 9, 2018.

The ANOCES, a regional sports organisation comprising National Olympic Committees and Commonwealth Games Associations of the Eastern Caribbean, seeks to promote sports as an effective vehicle for peace, friendship and development amongst youth, women and inspiring athletes within the OECS Region.

The Memorandum of Understanding provides a framework for collaboration, under which joint activities and projects would be undertaken between the OECS and the ANOCES.

Both parties, recognising the importance of sports and youth development in the region, agreed to cooperate in the following areas:

• the coordination of major sports competitions in the OECS Region;
• the mobilisation of resources (personnel, financial and technical) that will provide a range of opportunities for growth and development to persons involved in the sports;
• the exploration and diversification of options for obtaining sponsorship of regional OECS events;
• capacity building for selected national and regional sporting bodies and associations to enable them to operate at a level that ensures the development of clear pathways to international games;
• the expansion of regional sporting events beyond the traditional areas of athletics, boxing, cycling, netball, swimming, table tennis, and volleyball; and
• the creation of niche centres of excellence and sports academies for sustainable sports development in the OECS.

OECS Director General, Dr. Didacus Jules, reiterated the goal of the Organisation to empower and strengthen existing sporting associations towards the formation of OECS associations of sport.

“If we can encourage the formation of strong national and ultimately strong regional associations of sports, which are established through proper governance, this automatically gives us the base we need to support sports at a regional level.”

Principal signatories to the MOU were Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS and Mr. Alphonso Bridgewater, President of the ANOCES. Mr. Keith Joseph, Secretary General of the ANOCES, and Ms. Nadege Jn Baptiste, Programme Officer in the Development Cooperation and Resource Mobilisation Unit of the Commission, were also in attendance.