United Nations A/62/L.2 General Assembly 16 October 2007


Sixty-second session Agenda item 45 (b)

Sport for peace and development: building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece,
Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe:
draft resolution
Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 60/8 of 3 November 2005, in which it decided to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-second session the sub-item entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, and recalling also its prior decision to consider the item every two years in advance of
each Summer and Winter Olympic Games,

Recalling also its resolution 48/11 of 25 October 1993, which, inter alia, revived the ancient Greek tradition of ekecheiria (“Olympic Truce”), calling for a truce during the Games that would encourage a peaceful environment, ensuring the safe passage and participation of athletes and relevant persons at the Games and,
thereby, mobilizing the youth of the world to the cause of peace,

Taking into account the inclusion in the United Nations Millennium Declaration1 of an appeal for the observance of the Olympic Truce now and in the future and support for the International Olympic Committee in its efforts to promote peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal,

Noting that the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will take place from 8 to 24 August 2008, and that the Paralympic Games will take place from 6 to 17 September 2008 in Beijing,

Recognizing the increasingly important role of sport in the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, and reaffirming the commitments undertaken in this regard by the Heads of State and Government gathered at the World Summit of the General Assembly, held in New York from 14 to 16 September 2005,

Recognizing also the valuable contribution that the appeal launched by the International Olympic Committee for an Olympic Truce, with which the National Olympic Committees of the Member States are associated, could make towards advancing the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling the three main concepts that are at the core of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, namely, “Green Olympics”, “High-tech Olympics” and “People’s Olympics”, and their vision to achieve a harmonious development of society,

Noting with satisfaction the flying of the United Nations flag at all competition sites of the Olympic Games, and the joint endeavours of the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations system in fields such as poverty alleviation, human and economic development, humanitarian assistance, education, health promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention, gender equality and environmental protection,

1. Urges Member States to observe, within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations, the Olympic Truce, individually and collectively, during the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, the vision of which is based on the slogan “One world, one dream”, and the following Paralympic Games (See resolution 55/2);

2. Welcomes the decision of the International Olympic Committee to mobilize international sports rganizations and the National Olympic Committees of the Member States to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony based on the
spirit of the Olympic Truce;
3. Calls upon all Member States to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee in its efforts to use sport as an instrument to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the Olympic Games period;
4. Welcomes the increased implementation of projects for peace, development and human understanding through sport, and encourages Member States and all concerned agencies and programmes of the United Nations system to strengthen their work in this field, in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to promote the observance of the Olympic Truce among Member States and support for human development initiatives through sport, and to cooperate with the International Olympic
Committee and the sporting community in general in the realization of these objectives;
6. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session the item entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal” and to consider the item before the XXI Olympic Winter Games, to be held in Vancouver, Canada, in 2010.