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Peace and development through sport

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Sport is a powerful means to build bridges, bring people together and shape peace; it builds friendships and draws lines of respect across borders.

The IOC, through the Olympic Games and its programmes, supports peacebuilding, gender equality, sustainability and development through sport to advance the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, the IOC cooperates with a wide range of organisations, including numerous UN agencies, as well as international governmental and non-governmental institutions, on projects which use sport as a tool for development. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) also support these activities locally through their sports expertise and networks. Several International Federations (IFs) have also developed initiatives in this field.

The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
Fundamental Principles of Olympism, Olympic Charter

Cooperation with the United Nations

© IOC/Greg Martin

The United Nations (UN) has long recognised the contribution of sport for development and peace, talking about sport as a universal language that can be a powerful tool to promote peace, tolerance and understanding by bringing people together across boundaries and cultures. This mirrors the overarching mission of the IOC and one of the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Charter, which is to place sport at the service of humankind, contributing to building a peaceful and better world through sport. Unlike any other global event, the Olympic Games have the power to bring humanity, in all its diversity, together.

The shared goal of the UN and the IOC is to make the world a better and more peaceful place. For the IOC, this means putting sport at the service of the peaceful development of humanity.
Thomas BachIOC President

Collaborations between the IOC and the UN have played a central role in spreading the acceptance of sport as a means to promote internationally agreed development goals. In 2015, in a historic moment for sport and the Olympic Movement, sport was officially recognised as an “important enabler” of sustainable development and included in the UN’s Agenda 2030. This was reiterated in 2024, with the inclusion of sport in the UN’s Pact for the Future and Declaration on Future Generations.

In recent years, a few historical milestones significantly reinforced the partnership between the IOC and the UN, which dates back to 1922, when the IOC and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) established an institutional partnership.

Key moments

2009
2013
2014
2016
2020

The UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status. This decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor, thus providing the possibility to promote sport at a new level.

The IOC, in its capacity as Permanent Observer to the UN, proposed and supported the creation of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. The day is now used to recognise sport’s role in contributing to social change and human development.

In April 2014, the UN and the IOC signed an 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 Jacques Rogge had been appointed as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth Refugees and Sport. In November 2014, the UN formerly recognised the autonomy of the IOC and sport. The UN Resolution 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.

In December 2016, sport was once again lauded by the UN for its power to spur social change. Learn more about this UN recognition here.

Since 2020, the IOC has worked with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the Sport for Nature initiative, and UN Women on the Sport for Generation Equality. These two documents are helping to accelerate progress and Olympic Movement action for sustainability and gender equality.

International Day of Peace

The IOC regularly joins the celebrations of the International Day of Peace, observed around the world on 21 September.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

The United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities on this day, and to otherwise commemorate the day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.

More information

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