International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
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Celebrated on 6 April, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) is an opportunity to showcase the role of sport to drive social change and community development, and to foster peace and mutual understanding.
In 2026, in line with the United Nations (UN) theme “Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is highlighting how the Olympic Movement is using sport to create real change around the world, especially across Africa, which will host the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) from 31 October to 13 November.
Building a better world through sport
Through the Olympism365 strategy, the IOC harnesses sport to create positive change in lives, communities and society. It unlocks the full potential of sport as a driver of sustainable development, advancing the Olympic Movement’s mission to build a better world through sport.
The IOC is collaborating with organisations from within and outside the Olympic Movement to support over 550 social impact programmes and initiatives in 189 countries. Through this collective action, the IOC is reaching tens of millions of people, improving their health and well-being, increasing access to education, and creating more inclusive and peaceful societies through sport.
Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies
The IDSDP also provides a moment to showcase how athletes and the whole Olympic Movement actively contribute to a peaceful society through sport.
The most visible evidence of this commitment is the Olympic Games themselves, which bring together athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. At the Olympic Games, the athletes compete fiercely against each other, while living peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village.
Since Torino 2006, the Olympic Village has included the Olympic Truce Mural, serving as a powerful symbol of sport’s ability to promote peace, and offering a unique opportunity for athletes from around the world to show their support for the values of peace, respect, solidarity, inclusion and equality.
Sport recognised as a driver for sustainable development
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 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2024, a resolution entitled “Sport as an Enabler of Sustainable Development” was approved by consensus by all 193 UN Member States. Among other things, the UN resolution “recognises that sport, including sport for persons with disabilities and persons living with rare diseases, has an important role to play in the promotion of peace and development, physical and mental health, gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, respect for human rights, and the fight against racism and racial discrimination”.
On 25 July 2024, on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, an unprecedented summit was organised at the instigation of French President Emmanuel Macron and then-IOC President Thomas Bach. The first Sport for Sustainable Development (#Sport4SD) Summit was the largest meeting ever organised on this subject, with many organisations kicking off an unprecedented movement to accelerate the contribution of sport to the UN SDGs by 2030.
In June 2025, the “Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World” in Lausanne, Switzerland, brought together over 250 representatives from 100 organisations across the Olympic Movement, United Nations agencies, development and financing institutions, civil society, for-purpose businesses and the safe sport community, as well as IOC Young Leaders. It provided a unique platform to enhance collaboration, mobilise co-investment and launch joint action, culminating in further collective commitments and concrete action to advance sustainable development through sport.
In this context, the IDSDP provides an important platform to advocate more investment in safe, sustainable, inclusive sports participation and related infrastructure.
The origin of the IDSDP
Creating a historical link to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, 6 April was declared the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace by the UN General Assembly in 2013, and has been celebrated each year since 2014.
The IOC, in its capacity as Permanent Observer to the UN, proposed and supported this initiative, as it recognises the role of sports organisations in contributing to social change and human development.
Using sport to promote development and peace has been at the core of the IOC’s mission since its creation in 1894. Pierre de Coubertin, the IOC’s founder, was explicit in his desire to use Olympism as a means to promote harmony among individuals and nations at all levels, from casual practice to competitive sport.