IOC and UN collaboration: Tapping the full potential of sport
The United Nations (UN) has long recognised the contribution of sport for development and peace, and collaboration between the IOC and the UN has played a central role in spreading the acceptance of sport as a means to promote internationally agreed development goals.
The sports sector, which comprises millions of people, practitioners and professionals of all ages across the five continents, has contributed significantly to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is looking forward to accelerating its efforts within the post-2015 Development Agenda. The IOC recognises that this Agenda is a historical opportunity to ensure that sport and physical activity are integrated as a meaningful and cost-effective tool to achieve the sustainable development goals.
In 2014, a couple of historical milestones significantly reinforced the partnership between the IOC and the UN, which dates back to 1922. In April 2014, the UN and the IOC signed a historic agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two organisations at the highest level. The agreement underlined that the IOC and the UN “share the same values of contributing to a better and peaceful world through sport.”
It was then also announced that IOC Honorary President Rogge had been appointed as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth Refugees and Sport. The overall objective of the role is to support the UN Secretary-General on raising the profile of the youth refugee situation and the impact of sport on education, and physical and mental health, as well as promoting programmes that allow safe, adapted, inclusive and sustainable sport and physical activities for youth refugees.
In November 2014, the UN also formerly recognised the autonomy of the IOC and sport. The Resolution adopted by consensus at the 69th regular session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York acknowledges “sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”, and highlights the important role of the IOC and the Olympic Movement in achieving these goals.
Partners since 1922
The roots of IOC-UN cooperation go back to 1922, when the IOC signed a collaborative agreement with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to make sport more accessible to workers. When the ILO became a specialised agency of the UN after the latter’s creation in 1945, the pioneering partnership expanded to other UN agencies, funds and programmes. Over the following decades, a series of actions and events helped raise the profile of the role of sport as an instrument for social change and the IOC signed Memoranda of Understanding with a range of UN agencies and programmes.
Using sport to build a better world
In 1993, the UN General Assembly approved a Resolution that further solidified IOC-UN cooperation with the decision to revive the Olympic Truce, by adopting a Resolution entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal,” which calls upon Member States, before every edition of the Games, to observe the Olympic Truce and to cooperate with the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Read about Ban Ki-moon calling for all warring parties worldwide to observe the Olympic Truce at Sochi 2014
In 2001, then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed the first Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, another landmark event in the acknowledgment of sport’s contribution to positive societal change.
Learn more about the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace
Action on the ground: Serving humankind
This long history of collaboration between the IOC and the UN led to the General Assembly’s decision in 2009 to grant the IOC Permanent Observer status.
The value of sport as an instrument for development and peace is also measured by what happens on the ground.
The high-level meeting of the General Assembly on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in 2011 offered a strong affirmation of sport’s contribution to public health. The World Health Organisation reports that 38 million, or 68 per cent, of the 56 million deaths worldwide in 2012 were due to NCDs. If current trends continue, the annual death rates from NCDs will soar to 55 million by 2030. Nearly half of NCD-related deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. Engaging in sport and regular physical activity is one of the most effective ways to avoid those ailments.
Sport’s value as an instrument for development and peace is not measured by resolutions, appointments and meetings, but by what happens on the ground. There are many initiatives out there. Here is a sample of some of these projects involving the IOC and the Olympic Movement stakeholders.
With the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020 in December 2014, the IOC reaffirmed its commitment to work with IFs, NOCs as well as various regional, national and international platforms, to increase the possibilities for girls and women in sport and to achieve the goal of female athletes representing 50 per cent of the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games.
Sport for Hope
The Sport for Hope Programme aims to provide young people and local communities with positive social and sports development opportunities, offer state-of-the-art training facilities to the National Federations and the athletes of the country, and spread the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.
Youth Refugees and Sport
Through a partnership with UNHCR, and following the appointment of IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge as Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Youth Refugees and Sport, the IOC is contributing to a number of sport and education programmes for young people in refugee settlements, raising awareness on the conditions of youth refugees and the impact of sport for their well-being and integration into local communities.
IOC Sports Kits
The IOC has developed a sports kit which contains basic sports and recreational material such as various balls, bibs, caps, shirts and chalk to mark the field. This equipment is sufficient to set up organised sports activities in very diverse settings from schools to camps and settlements.
Peace through Sport
Through collaborations with a number of United Nation agencies and non-governmental organisations, the IOC uses sport as a tool to build bridges in conflict countries, prevent youth violence or to physical rehabilitate victims of injuries, amputations or illnesses.
More information on what is going on in the world of sport and development can be found atwww.sportanddev.org
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