The Olympic Truce for the Rio 2016 Games received a strong show of support as it was approved by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Monday (26 October), with 180 countries co-sponsoring the proposal in New York.

The resolution, entitled ‘Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal’, calls for the Olympic Truce – an ancient tradition that was re-established in 1992 – to be respected from seven days before the Olympic Games until seven days after the Paralympic Games.

Although Ukraine decided it had to abstain from backing the motion, the active support from 180 of the UN’s 193 member states illustrated a broad approval.

The resolution was presented to the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly on behalf of the Olympic Movement and Brazil by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, led by its President, Carlos Nuzman.

Nuzman, who emphasised the importance of protecting the rights of boys and girls as the central idea behind Rio 2016’s truce proposal, told the Assembly: “Peace is the only free future for humans so our aim is to create a lasting legacy of peace for young people.” He said sport can promote “solidarity, social inclusion, better understanding, peace and hope” in society.

Click here to read Nuzman’s full speech

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach told the Assembly that the Olympic Games bring to life the values of tolerance, solidarity and peace, and also revealed that top-level refugee athletes will be invited to compete at the Rio 2016 Games.

“In the Olympic Village, we see tolerance and solidarity in their purest form,” Bach said. “Athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees are living together in harmony and without any kind of discrimination.”

Bach appealed for help from member nations to identify top-level athletes who are currently refugees. “Having no national team to belong to, no flag to march behind, no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic Flag and with the Olympic Anthem,” he said. 

“They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes in the Olympic Village. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world.”

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