Dr. OGWEL BENARD PATRICK
Chairperson AUSC Sports Advisory Board
Opening Remarks, Lauch of the M&E System
30 June 2025
• All Sports Advisory Board Members present,
• Chairpersons AU Sports Council Technical Committees,
• Chairpersons of AU Sports Council Development Regions present,
• The Coordinator of the AU Sports Council,
• Secretaries General and CEOs of AU Sports Council Development Regions Present,
• Representatives of GIZ Sports for Development Africa Project,
• Members of Mainlevel Consulting Firm,
• AUSC Staff present,
• All distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
1) In line with the Statute of AU Sports Council, the main mandate of the Council is to be a platform for concerted action between African Union Member States and other stakeholders in the sports movement for the promotion of sports development and development through sports. Therefore, it is essential to have a systematic approach to implement this important mandate.
2) In February this year, we all gathered virtually to validate the AU Sports Council 5-Year Strategic Plan 2024-2028, which is our comprehensive strategy intended to guide the work of the AUSC and to promote a more systematic and comprehensive approach to long-term planning of African sport policy and practice.
3) Today marks another very important milestone in the history of the AU Sports Council as we are launching the AU Sports Council Monitoring and Evaluation System that will help us to collect data on sport’s contribution towards the AU Agenda 2063 aspirations of the Africa We Want.
4) The AU Sports Council Advisory Board that I chair has for a very long time been asking for a clearly defined continental sports framework for monitoring and evaluation of the works we are doing to ensure that every stakeholder is accountable and play their required roles in the sports space.
5) The monitoring and evaluation framework that is being launched today will be critical for assessing different stakeholders’ contributions towards sports development and sports for development on the continent.
6) A lot of resources and hard work has been put into developing this monitoring and evaluation framework. I would therefore like to most sincerely thank our cooperating partner GIZ Sports for Development African Regional Project, for providing technical support to the AU Sports Council towards the development of this system and for the support in other areas such as the strategic plan development, sports for development guidelines and digital solutions.
7) I would also like to thank Mainlevel Consulting that has helped us to develop this system. I am told that they have been very kind and supportive throughout the process.
8) I would also like to thank the AU Sports Council Secretariat for the dedication towards strengthening its coordination role, and the monitoring and evaluation system will be a very useful tool in fulfilling this mandate.
9) I would like to see that the monitoring and evaluation system is effectively used. Therefore, I will be expecting most of the reporting during the Sports Advisory Board meetings to be informed by data from the Monitoring and evaluation system. I would also like to encourage all AU Sports Council Development Regions and Member States to cooperate and be proactive in submitting the requested information.
10) Thank you.
