On behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), we wish you all a very happy and peaceful New Year, and hope that, like us, you begin 2024 with optimism and energy.
Before we move forward, we would like to take a moment to thank you all – our clean sport partners – for your continued support and dedication, and to highlight some of the achievements we have achieved together in 2023, all articulated around strategic priorities of the AMA which appear below in character gras.
To further strengthen our ability to lead, we have completed the second phase of governance reforms launched in 2021. These reforms notably made it possible to increase the independence and representation of athletes and national anti-doping organizations (NADOs) within WADA. This objective was achieved thanks to a new Sports Council, which elevates the voice of athletes on anti-doping issues and serves as a means for athletes to occupy positions on the Foundation Board, Executive Committee and other committees of WADA. A new NADO Expert Advisory Group, responsible for representing the views of the NADOs and transmitting them to the governing bodies of WADA was also created. It is also responsible for examining anti-doping issues that impact NADOs, in addition to providing advice and recommendations to WADA, in order to improve collaboration with NADOs and their development. in the whole world.
To continue to play a leading role in science, we have invested in innovative research projects and redesigned our grant program of scientific research. These grants are essential because they help increase the volume of research devoted to the development of new and improved detection methods. We also continued the integration of athlete's biological passport anti-doping administrative management system (ADAMS) of the Agency and increased the future capacity for the development of ADAMS by 25% thanks to a new global partnership with Sword Group, leader in technological transformation. This latest partnership is the result of our efforts to join forces with private financial partners who will allow us to go further than we can currently do. We are convinced that other partnerships will be signed this year.
In addition to the Athlete Council mentioned above, we have launched the Athlete Anti-Doping Ombuds program, in order to support our commitment to be focused on athletes. In March, Ms. Anna Thorstenson inaugurated the Athlete Anti-Doping Ombuds Program, a resource that provides the sporting community with free, impartial and fair advice and assistance under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and the entities that play a role within it. Also in March, Ms. Snežana Samardžić-Marković, lead independent expert, initiated a first impact study on human rights to assess the intersection between the World Anti-Doping Program and the human rights of athletes.
To increase impact, we leveraged our impact area on the program development to improve knowledge sharing between Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) and strengthen the implementation of local programs. We have also strengthened the capabilities of the Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations department. Regarding Information and Investigations, we have successfully completed the capacity and skills building project, co-financed by the European Union. This project brought together representatives from 51 ADOs and 48 law enforcement agencies across Europe for education and training purposes. These representatives also worked together to combat doping in sport. We are very proud to say that this project – which included a social media campaign to raise awareness about the use of anabolic steroids – led to the dismantling of several illicit steroid laboratories, the seizure of significant quantities of performance-enhancing substances and the arrest of several doping athletes. In fact, due to the success of the project, and with the aim of establishing a global anti-doping intelligence and investigation network, we will expand the initiative to Asia and Oceania in 2025 and other regions thereafter.
We continued to promote education as a central pillar of anti-doping programs and the best way to prevent doping in sport. Whether it is the financing of social science research on doping and healthy sporting behavior, the development of standards for staff through our Global learning development framework or the provision of resources on the Anti-doping education and learning platform (ADEL) of the AMA, we ensure that education is considered a priority. We now look forward to the Global Education Conference 2024, which will be held in Cannes next month. This biennial event will bring together practitioners and researchers to discuss emerging trends, contribute to the development of education programs and examine how ADOs can improve their programs while keeping athletes and support staff at the center.
As part of our priority “ be visible ", we set up our digital campaign most successful to date, reaching a potential reach of over 161 million people across the world using social media. This annual campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of doping prevention, invited athletes and the entire anti-doping community to join WADA in forming the world's largest team for a clean sport: #OnePlayTrueTeam.
To meet our priority of collaboration and unity, WADA's leadership has resulted in numerous bilateral and multilateral meetings that have attracted government representatives and sports leaders from around the world. These opportunities are essential to showcase WADA's priorities, improve our understanding of anti-doping issues across different jurisdictions and organizations, as well as reiterate the importance of working together to protect clean sport. It is therefore not surprising that unity was the theme of the 17th annual symposium of WADA in Lausanne, which brought together more than 1.000 participants in a hybrid manner to discuss ways to innovate and build a stronger anti-doping system for athletes around the world.
In addition to the above, which is far from exhaustive, we continued to monitor and enforce the Code and the International Standards by the signatories and, in September, we launched the first phase of the process of updating the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code & International Standards. This process will culminate in the approval of these key documents during the sixth World Conference on Doping in Sport, which will be held in December 2025 in Busan, Republic of Korea.
It is impressive to think that the first world conference took place in February 1999 and that on November 10 of that year WADA was established to develop, harmonize and coordinate anti-doping rules and policies in all sports and all sports. the countries. We invite you all to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the AMA and its partners throughout the year, including at a gala to be held during our 18th annual symposium next March.
We look forward to seeing many of you in Lausanne and working alongside you to carry out our global collaborative movement for doping-free sport as Team True Jeu.
