Micronesian athlete representatives convene pilot sub-regional forum

March 10, 2023
ONOC
Members of the Palau Olympians & Athletes Commission (POAC) at the pilot Sub-Regional Micronesian Athletes’ Forum underway in Guam. From left-right - Kalei Luii (Commission Member), Dirngulbai Misech (Member) and Evelyn Otto (AC Chair) at the Forum. Palau (PLW) joins the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Guam (GUM), Kiribati (KIR), Marshall Islands (MHL), and Nauru (NRU) at the Forum. l Photo: ONOC Communications

From 12 to 17 March 2023, Micronesian athlete representatives will come together in Guam to discuss the common challenges and opportunities to map out priorities for 2023 and beyond.

Forum highlights

The five-day robust forum is a pilot Athletes’ Commission (AC) forum for the Micronesian sub-region of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC).

Ricardo Blas, Secretary General of ONOC said, “The Sub-Regional Micronesian Athletes’ Forum looks at empowering athletes in the region to use the platform of sport to improve access to athlete opportunities.

AC role and priority areas

“The Forum will look at identifying the roles of athlete representatives and the Athletes’ Commission as key structures within the Olympic Movement.

“Micronesia as a region faces a unique set of challenges, which include climate change, natural disasters, rising youth populations, gender inequality, and geographical isolation.

“While these challenges make it difficult for countries and NOCs (National Olympic Committees) to work in sport, the Olympic Movement offers pathways and priority areas for athletes to bring attention to the challenges.”

Funding opportunities

SG Blas shared, “Additionally, the forum will look at the various funding opportunities available for athletes, AC programmes, and AC priority areas.

“These opportunities for athletes start at the international level and trickle down to the continental level and down to the national level.”

Action plans and AC calendars

SG Blas said that another key objective of the forum will be to require athletes to come up with individual National AC calendars with corresponding action plans to their implement calendars.

“The information and reporting from the forum will enable athlete representatives to draft their individual AC action plans, which will be used to develop work plans.”

The Guam National Olympic Committee (GNOC) will be hosting the pilot Sub-Regional Micronesian Athletes’ Forum which will see NOC athlete representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Guam (GUM), Kiribati (KIR), Marshall Islands (MHL), Nauru (NRU) and Palau (PLW) attending.

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For more information, please visit the following links:  

For the Oceania National Olympic Committees  
For the ONOC Athletes’Commission  
For the ONOC Athletes’ Commission Microsite  
For the IOC Athletes’Commission
For the Athlete365 hub of resources for all athletes

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For Event Enquiries

Sitiveni Tawakevou

Forum Lead and Chief Information Technology Officer
Email: sitiveni@oceanianoc.org

Shivneel Narayan

Digital Communications Officer
Email: shivneel@oceanianoc.org

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About ONOC 
Established in 1981, the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) is one of five Continental Associations. It looks after the interests of 17 member nations in the Oceania Region, including Australia and New Zealand as well as seven associate members. 

ONOC has an office in Guam where Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Blas is based and the Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, where the Office of the President Dr Robin Mitchell is located.

All services and-programmes are based on the ONOC Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, and its 4 Core Functions of (1) Building and Strengthening NOCs Capacity (2) Cultivating Strategic Partnerships (3) Contributing towards Sporting Excellence and (4) Leading by Example.

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For more information, please contact;

Shivneel Narayan
Chief Communications Officer (Acting)
shivneel@oceanianoc.org

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