United Nations General Assembly adopts Olympic Truce for Beijing 2022

The resolution entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal" was adopted on Friday by consensus and co-sponsored by 173 Member States in New York.

The resolution entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal" was adopted on Friday by consensus and co-sponsored by 173 Member States at the 76th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (GA) in New York.

It calls for the observance of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Beijing 2022, from seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, until seven days after the end of the Paralympic Games.

The resolution "underlines the importance of cooperation among the Member States to collectively implement the values of the Olympic Truce around the world, and emphasises the important role of the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the United Nations in this regard".

It also expresses "the expectation that the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be a meaningful opportunity to harness the power of sport to advance the world by fostering an atmosphere of peace, development, resilience, tolerance and understanding, and welcoming all the delegations of National Olympic and Paralympic Committees to participate in the Games".

"The IOC very much welcomes the great support for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 by all the UN Member States, expressed through the adoption by consensus of the Truce Resolution," said IOC President Thomas Bach as per an official release.

In the speech, the IOC President stressed the importance of peace and solidarity in our divided world: "By adopting this resolution, you are supporting the mission of the Olympic Games to unite the best winter sports athletes of the entire world, without any discrimination whatsoever, in peaceful and respectful competition."

The Olympic Truce has a 3,000-year-old history, dating from when the Ancient Greeks established the "Ekecheiria" - a sacred truce - to allow the participation in the Olympic Games of all athletes and spectators from the Greek city-states, which were otherwise almost constantly engaged in conflict with one other.

In the speech, he also reminded the UN General Assembly about the consequences of the pandemic and the challenges the world is facing today.

"This has taught us one lesson: we can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger if we work together. This is why the IOC amended the Olympic motto to: Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together," said the President.

Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), also stressed the importance of the resolution: "At the International Paralympic Committee, our vision is to make for a more inclusive world through Para sport. We believe that sport can bring people of all backgrounds together in peace and have a transformational impact on societies."

"We have already shown this year how the Paralympic and Olympic Games are a showcase for human endeavour, resilience and hope," he added.