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39th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly 70th Session
Seventieth Session, 39th Meeting (PM)
Recognizing the potential of sport as a valuable tool in the achievement of peace and development, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution reaffirming its use to promote dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Further to that text, adopted without a vote, the Assembly urged Member States to observe the Olympic Truce from the seventh day before the start of the XXXI Olympic Summer Games next August until the seventh day following the end of the XV Paralympic Summer Games next September — both to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They also called for cooperation among Member States, the United Nations system and the International Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committees to maximise sport’s potential in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Introducing the text, the representative of Brazil said the Olympic spirit had a “unique power to transform the lives of millions of people and change history”. He added that the selection of Rio to host next year’s Olympic Games had opened a gateway to 180 million young people in South America and was an inspiration.
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, said that body’s Olympic Agenda 2020 was fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Goal 16 on building accountable, effective and inclusive institutions. Sport, he said, was the only area of human existence that had achieved universal law. Regardless of where in the world it was practiced, the same rules applied. That principle of non-discrimination allowed sport to promote peace and understanding among all people.
The Committee, together with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was assisting refugees around the world by giving them hope and self-confidence through sport and it had set up a $2 million fund to support them as well as the current mission of its former President, Jacques Rogge, now the United Nations Special Envoy on Youth Refugees and Sport. The Committee would invite the most qualified refugee athletes — who otherwise would not be able to compete as they had no home country to represent — to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games under the Olympic flag and would be welcomed with the Olympic anthem.
Other speakers acknowledged the power of sport to unify people. The representative of Singapore said that it had “built social capital, inspired the human spirit, and brought people together, transcending differences”. The attributes of sport — tenacity, teamwork, and leadership - were needed more than ever as the world became more globalized.
India’s representative said that sport could help teach principles such as non-discrimination, equality and human rights as well as empower women and young people. Sports, games and physical fitness had been an integral part of India’s heritage and were seen today in the highly evolved system of yoga and the wide range of indigenous games and martial arts practiced throughout the country.
Some delegations outlined their national sports programmes. For example, Zambia’s representative highlighted the country’s “Go Sisters” programme for girls aged 12 to 25, which encouraged them to take on leadership roles by forming committees to lead education and sport programmes. Street children and those inflicted with HIV had been incorporated into those programmes.
Mongolia’s representative noted that sport was deeply rooted in the traditional life of Mongols. Wrestling, horseracing, and archery were the three age-old competitions used to measure the courage and strength of nomads.
Prior to the adoption of the resolution, the Assembly paid tribute to Ali Abdussalam Treki, President of the Assembly’s sixty-fourth session, who died on 20 October 2015. The meeting opened with a minute of silence to honour his memory. Several delegations took the floor to express their condolences and pay tribute to his diplomatic career.
Also speaking today were representatives of Sierra Leone (on behalf of the African Group), Cambodia (on behalf of the Asia-Pacific States), Slovakia (on behalf of the Eastern European States), Saint Kitts (on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States), Ireland (on behalf of Western European and Other States), United States, Libya, Monaco, Tunisia, Japan, Greece, Morocco, Qatar, United Republic of Tanzania, Italy, Cuba, Argentina and Ukraine, as well as the European Union.
The Assembly will reconvene at 3 pm. Tuesday, 27 October to consider its agenda item on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.
