Leading athletes, influencers and innovators have been sharing their thoughts on the role that sport can play in building a better world for all, in UN-led online discussions held to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics.
The head of the UN World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has welcomed the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as a chance to spread “hope to the world”.
A track and field athlete from South Sudan who was forced to flee conflict as a child was on Tuesday named a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
The International Olympic Committee declared on Wednesday that it is postponing the 2020 Summer Olympics which were due to take place in Japan, based on information provided by the UN health agency, WHO, on the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
The General Assembly on Monday urged United Nations Member States to observe the Olympic Truce – the ancient Greek tradition calling for the cessation of hostilities before, during and after the Games – in the context of next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The power of sport to help make sustainable development a reality and, in particular, the 2030 Agenda – the United Nations’ blueprint to transform the world for the benefit of all – has been explicitly recognized by a General Assembly resolution, adopted at UN Headquarters on Monday.
This week the world will gather in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea, for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, unified in what United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called “the Olympic Spirit: in solidarity; mutual respect; and friendly competition.”
Welcoming the start of the 2016 summer Paralympic Games, which got underway in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the Games not only showcase the extraordinary abilities of athletes living with a disability, they also promote the rights of all persons with disabilities.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated Brazil, the city of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian people, the Rio 2016 Local Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for having successfully concluded the 2016 Olympic Games.
