As part of the legacy benefits of the 2023 Pacific Games, the Games Organizing Committee (GOC) is encouraging National Sport Federations (NSFs) to strengthen their governance and capabilities in preparation for 2023 and beyond.
To achieve this, the GOC in December 2021 launched a funding program for NSFs with the aim to support the functionality, enhancement and capability of NSFs to engage with the GOC in delivering their respective sport competitions at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara.
Basketball, Rugby League, Taekwondo and Netball signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GOC on Tuesday 8th March, 2022 to access funding under this program.
These Federations now join Volleyball, Weightlifting, Karate, Golf and Tennis as the nine (9) federations out of the twenty-four (24) that will be competing in 2023 to have signed an MoU with the GOC.
GOC’s Senior Sport Delivery Manager, Mr. Adrian Tuhanuku reiterates that GOC’s mandate is to deliver a successful Games for all participating nations in 2023.
“While national federations and other responsible bodies in the country focuses on developing Team Solomons, there is also a legacy component of this as the GOC looks beyond 2023 in our efforts to support the development sport federations in the country,” Mr. Tuhanuku said.
“We focus on their governance and other technical areas like referee, umpires and sports volunteers who will not only assist us in delivering the sports program at the 2023 Games, but also support capacity building for locals who will participate,” he added.
As part of the criteria, the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) and the National Sports Council (NSC) will determine each Federations’ governance standing before they are eligible to sign an MoU with the GOC.
Under the MoU, Federations will receive SBD50,000 which among other things will go towards office equipment and settling of outstanding and affiliation fees with NOCSI, NSC and their respective International Federations (IFs) up until 2024.
“By doing this, Federations will be able to access services, support programs and even funding from local bodies they are affiliated too and their respective IFs which we hope will assist in our aim to strengthen the functionality of these Federations,” Mr. Tuhanuku said.
Monitoring systems will be in place to assess whether or not the funds granted to Federations are properly utilized as intended and to ensure the effectiveness of the funds provided.
Source: Press Release