Olympic Truce resolutions

The first initiative to revive the Olympic Truce was launched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1992. In order to have a greater impact, the IOC relayed it to the United Nations (UN). Since 1993, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly expressed its support for the IOC and the Olympic Games by adopting every two years, one year before each edition of the Olympic Games, a resolution entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal".

Through this symbolic resolution, the UN invites its Member States to observe the Olympic Truce individually or collectively, and to seek, in conformity with the goals and principles of the United Nations Charter, the peaceful settling of all international conflicts through peaceful and diplomatic means. Furthermore, it recognises the importance of the Olympic Games as a symbol of tolerance, peace and cooperation among diverse peoples, cultures and nations and of the IOC initiatives for human well-being and international understanding. It also explicitly acknowledges the Olympic values of universality, non-discrimination, political neutrality and the autonomy of sport, as enshrined in the Olympic Charter, as well as the IOC’s role in leading the Olympic Movement.

The Olympic spirit is the most important symbol of peace in this world which sees so many conflicts, so many victims. The Olympic spirit allows people to be together from all over the world, to respect each other, to serve the themes of tolerance and mutual understanding. These make the basic elements of peace possible.

Antonio GuterresUnited Nations Secretary General

Key moments

1992

The IOC launched an Appeal for the observance of the Olympic Truce and negotiated with the United Nations to facilitate the participation of athletes of the former Republic of Yugoslavia in the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in Barcelona.

Read the Appeal

1993

The first resolution on the observance of the Olympic Truce was adopted by the 48th Session of the UN General Assembly and facilitated the participation of athletes from the former Republic of Yugoslavia in the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer in 1994.

The resolution

1994

The year was proclaimed the International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the UN.

1995

The IOC President addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time in history.

1998

The Olympic Truce was taken into consideration by Member States during the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano and, it has been argued, contributed to a certain extent to setting up a mediation mission by the UN Secretary General, which led to the signature of a memorandum of understanding between the UN and the Iraqi government.

1999

A record number of 180 Member States were co-sponsors of the resolution on the Olympic Truce ahead of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

2004

More than 300 personalities from all over the world signed a Truce Appeal. Many of them also signed a Truce Wall created by the Greek Government during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

2000

The United Nations Millennium Summit, held in New York with the participation of more than 150 heads of state and government, adopted a Millennium Declaration that included a paragraph on the observance of the Olympic Truce. During the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the South and North Korean delegations paraded in the stadium together under the flag of the Korean peninsula.

2007

The 62nd session of the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the Olympic Truce in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

2008

During the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, the international community, in particular the United Nations, reiterated the importance of the Games and the value of sport generally to promote development and peace world-wide.
Read the United Nations Secretary General’s message

2018

Peace was a central pillar of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games’ vision. A powerful message of peace driven by sport and athletes was seen at the Opening Ceremony, where teams from the DPRK and the Republic of Korea marched side by side; their women’s ice hockey players also competed together as a unified team.

2019

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Truce resolution was adopted with 186 co-sponsors Its call was reiterated in 2020 by the General Assembly as a result of the postponement of the Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
The resolution.

2021

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Truce resolution was adopted by consensus with 173 Member States co-sponsoring it.
The resolution.

2023

The Paris 2024 Olympic Truce resolution was co-sponsored by 77 member countries and adopted with 118 votes in favour and two abstentions.

The Appeal

Resolutions

A resolution is adopted by consensus at the UN General Assembly when all Member States have reached an agreement on its content prior the plenary meeting which will discuss it and does not require a vote. Member States have the opportunity to show their support by co-sponsoring the resolution, in addition to the country which is formally submitting it.

To date, all Olympic Truce resolutions presented have been adopted by consensus and rallied a large number of co-sponsors among UN Member States.