United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/69/6

by the United Nations

United Nations

A/RES/69/6

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General Assembly

Distr.: General 10 November 2014

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Sixty-ninth session
Agenda item 11

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 31 October 2014

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/69/L.5 and Add.1)]

69/6. Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace

The General Assembly

Recalling its resolutions 58/5 of 3 November 2003, 59/10 of 27 October 2004, its decision to proclaim 2005 the International Year for Sport and Physical Education, to strengthen sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace, and its resolutions 60/1 of 16 September 2005, 60/9 of 3 November 2005, 61/10 of 3 November 2006, 62/271 of 23 July 2008, 63/135 of 11 December 2008, 65/4 of 18 October 2010 and 67/17 of 28 November 2012,

Recalling also its resolution 67/296 of 23 August 2013, in which it proclaimed 6 April the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace,

Recalling further its resolution 68/9 of 6 November 2013 on building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal, and all its previous resolutions on this matter,

Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Sport for development and peace: realizing the potential”,^[1] which reviews the programmes and initiatives implemented by States Members of the United Nations, United Nations funds and programmes, specialized agencies and other partners, using sport as a tool for development and peace,

Acknowledging the major role of the United Nations system and its country programmes as well as the role of Member States and their programmes abroad in promoting human development through sport and physical education,

Recognizing the potential of sport to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, noting that sport has the potential, as declared in the 2005 World Summit Outcome,^[2] to foster intercultural dialogue, peace and development and to contribute to an atmosphere of harmony, tolerance and understanding, and reaffirming that sport is a tool for education that can promote cooperation, solidarity, social inclusion and cohesion, gender equality and health at the local, national and international levels, as declared in the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals,^[3]

Recognizing also the need to strengthen and further coordinate efforts, including multi-stakeholder partnerships, at all levels to maximize the potential of sport for contributing to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and national peacebuilding and State-building priorities,

Encouraging Member States to give sport due consideration in the context of the post 2015 development agenda,

Acknowledging the importance of sport and physical activity in combating non-communicable diseases, as reflected in the political declaration of the high level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non communicable diseases,^[4]

Recalling the Declaration of Berlin, adopted by more than 120 States members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at the fifth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport, held in Berlin from 28 to 30 May 2013, as an essential guideline for strengthening the educational, cultural and social dimensions of sport and physical education and for developing an international sport and physical education policy which fosters peace and understanding between peoples and which safeguards human rights in the world of sport by creating access to sport for all, improving physical education, developing new standards for mega and major sport events and preserving the integrity of sport,

Welcoming the memorandum of understanding signed between the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations in April 2014, in which a call was made to strengthen efforts around sport-based initiatives that encourage social and economic development, as well as to strengthen the many partnerships that United Nations organizations have established with the Committee, and welcoming also the holding of the third International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development, jointly organized by the Committee and the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace,

Affirming the invaluable contribution of the Olympic movement in establishing sport as a unique means for the promotion of peace and development, in particular through the ideal of the Olympic Truce, and welcoming the XXXI Olympic Summer Games and the XV Paralympic Summer Games, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August and from 7 to 18 September 2016, respectively, the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and the XII Paralympic Winter Games, to be held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, from 9 to 25 February and from 9 to 18 March 2018, respectively, and the XXXII Olympic Summer Games and the XVI Paralympic Summer Games, to be held in Tokyo from 24 July to 9 August and from 25 August to 6 September 2020, respectively,

Recognizing the importance of continental sporting events for promoting education, health, development and peace, and in this regard welcoming the upcoming 2015 Pan-American Games, to be held in Toronto, Canada, the eleventh All-Africa Games, to be held in Brazzaville, the 2018 Asian Games, to be held in Jakarta, and the inaugural 2015 European Games, to be held in Baku,

Acknowledging the Olympic Charter and that any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement,

Acknowledging also the opportunities provided by the XXII Olympic Winter Games and the XI Paralympic Winter Games, held in Sochi, Russian Federation, for education, understanding, peace, harmony and tolerance among and between peoples and civilizations, and the opportunities provided by the second Youth Summer Olympic Games, held in Nanjing, China, to inspire the youth of the world to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values, as reflected in resolution 68/9 relating to the Olympic Truce,

Calling upon future hosts of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games and other Member States to include sport, as appropriate, in conflict-prevention activities and to ensure the effective implementation of the Olympic Truce during the Games,

Acknowledging the International Inspiration programme, the first legacy initiative ever linked to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which has reached over 25 million children in 20 countries around the world through the power of high-quality and inclusive physical education, sport and play,

Recognizing the role that the International Paralympic Committee plays in showcasing the achievements of athletes with an impairment to a global audience and in acting as a primary vehicle to change societal perceptions of disability sport,

Recalling article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,^[5] outlining a child’s right to play and leisure, and the outcome document of the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly on children, entitled “A world fit for children”,^[6] stressing the promotion of physical, mental and emotional health through play and sports,

Recalling also article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,^[7] outlining the right of persons with disabilities to take part on an equal basis with others in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, while also stipulating that States parties shall take appropriate measures to this end,

Recognizing the important role played by the International Convention against Doping in Sport^[8] in harmonizing the actions taken by Governments in the fight against doping in sport, which are complementary to those undertaken by the sporting movement under the World Anti-Doping Code of the World Anti-Doping Agency,

Acknowledging the recommendations contained in the report of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group entitled “Harnessing the power of sport for development and peace: recommendations to Governments”, encouraging Member States to implement and further develop the recommendations, and welcoming in this regard the efforts undertaken by the secretariat of the Working Group, which is provided by the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace,

Recognizing the need for indicators and benchmarks based on commonly agreed standards to assist Governments to enable the consolidation of sport in cross-cutting development strategies and the incorporation of sport and physical education in international, regional and national development policies and programmes,

Recalling resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010, by which the General Assembly established the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), and the opportunities it provides for the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women, including in and through sport, and welcoming the continued advancement of women in sports and sporting activities, in particular the support for their progressive high performance in sporting events, which provides opportunities for economic development through sports,

Highlighting the importance of continuing to reduce barriers to participation in sport events, particularly for participants from developing countries,

Emphasizing the critical role of productive public-private partnerships for funding sport for development and peace programmes, institutional development and physical and social infrastructures,

Recognizing that major international sport events should be organized in the spirit of peace, mutual understanding, friendship, tolerance and inadmissibility of discrimination of any kind and that the unifying and conciliative nature of such events should be respected, as recognized by fundamental principle 6 of the Olympic Charter,

1. Invites Member States, the organizations of the United Nations system, including its peacekeeping missions, special political missions and integrated peacebuilding missions, sport-related organizations, federations and associations, athletes, the media, civil society, academia and the private sector to collaborate with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace to promote greater awareness and action to foster peace and accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals through sport-based initiatives and promote the integration of sport for development and peace in the development agenda, by working along the following principles adapted from the United Nations Action Plan on Sport for Development and Peace, contained in the report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session:^[9]

(a) Global framework for sport for development and peace: further develop a framework to strengthen a common vision, define priorities and further raise awareness to promote and mainstream policies on sport for development and peace that are easily replicable;

(b) Policy development: promote and support the integration and mainstreaming of sport for development and peace in development programmes and policies, including mechanisms for growth and wealth;

(c) Resource mobilization and programming: promote innovative funding mechanisms and multi-stakeholder arrangements at all levels, including the engagement of sport organizations, civil society, athletes and the private sector, to create effective programmes with sustainable impact;

(d) Evidence of impact: promote and facilitate common evaluation and monitoring tools, indicators and benchmarks based on commonly agreed standards;

2. Encourages Member States to provide institutional structures, appropriate quality standards, policies and competencies and promote academic research and expertise in the field to enable ongoing training, capacity-building and education of physical education teachers, coaches and community leaders in sport for development and peace programmes;

3. Invites Member States and international sport organizations to continue to assist developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, in their capacity-building efforts in sport and physical education, by providing national experiences and best practices, as well as financial, technical and logistic resources for the development of sport programmes;

4. Encourages the stakeholders referred to in paragraph 1 above to emphasize and advance the use of sport as a vehicle to foster development and strengthen education, including physical education, for children and young persons, prevent disease and promote health, including the prevention of drug abuse, realize gender equality and empower girls and women, foster the inclusion and well-being of persons with disabilities and facilitate social inclusion, conflict prevention and peacebuilding;

5. Encourages the stakeholders, and in particular the organizers of mass sport events, to use and leverage such events to promote and support sport for development and peace initiatives and to strengthen existing and build new partnerships, coordinate common strategies, policies and programmes and increase coherence and synergies, while raising awareness at the local, national, regional and global levels;

6. Encourages Member States to adopt best practices and means to promote the practice of sport and physical activities among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to adopt dedicated health, youth and sport days, including specialized sport days, at the national and local levels, as a means to promote physical and mental health and cultivate a sport culture in society;

7. Encourages Member States that have not yet done so to designate a focal point for sport for development and peace within their governments and provide updates to the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace on institutional, policy and programme-related developments;

8. Supports the independence and autonomy of sport as well as the mission of the International Olympic Committee in leading the Olympic movement;

9. Urges Member States that have not yet done so to consider signing, ratifying, acceding to and implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols thereto,^[10] the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention against Doping in Sport;

10. Notes the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, Member States and civil society for the observance of the Olympic Truce, and encourages future hosts of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games and other Member States to support the effective implementation of the Truce;

11. Appreciates the leadership of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, supported by the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, on issues relating to sport for development and peace within the United Nations system and beyond, and their creation and implementation of innovative initiatives such as the Youth Leadership Programme;

12. Encourages Member States, in particular those committed to promoting sport as a tool for development and peace, and other stakeholders, such as international sports federations, organizers of global mass sports events, sports clubs and leagues, foundations and the private sector, especially businesses involved in the sports sector, to provide voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund for Sport for Development and Peace and to enter into innovative partnerships with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, which is funded exclusively through voluntary contributions, in order to sustain the mandate of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, ensure the continuous activities of the Office, including its provision of secretariat services to the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group, and provide project implementation funding for the Office and the United Nations system at large;

13. Welcomes the ongoing efforts undertaken by the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group, which met for its thematic meeting on harnessing the power of sport to address gender-based violence and its fourth plenary session, on 30 June and 1 July 2014, respectively, and the commencement of the substantive work of the thematic working group on sport and persons with disabilities, in addition to the working groups on sport and peace, sport and gender, and sport and child and youth development;

14. Invites Member States and other relevant stakeholders, as observers, to join and support the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group, so as to further strengthen its work on all envisaged themes, including the pending thematic working group on sport and health;

15. Encourages Member States to join and participate in the Group of Friends of Sport for Development and Peace, an informal group of permanent missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva serving as a platform to promote dialogue and facilitate and encourage the integration of sport to support the achievement of the United Nations goals and objectives;

16. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session on the implementation of the present resolution, including on specific initiatives aimed at ensuring more effective implementation of the Olympic Truce and progress made by Member States and the United Nations system, including activities and the functioning of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace and the Trust Fund for Sport for Development and Peace, as well as other relevant stakeholders, towards the implementation of the United Nations Action Plan on Sport for Development and Peace and the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group policy recommendations, and to provide a review of the contribution of sport to the promotion of the post 2015 development agenda and present an updated action plan on sport for development and peace;

17. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-first session the item entitled “Sport for development and peace”.

36th plenary meeting
31 October 2014

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1. A/69/330.
2. Resolution 60/1.
3. Resolution 65/1.
4. Resolution 66/2, annex.
5. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
6. Resolution S-27/2, annex.
7. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2515, No. 44910.
8. Ibid., vol. 2419, No. 43649.
9. A/67/282.
10. United Nations, Treaty Series, vols. 2171 and 2173, No. 27531; and resolution 66/138, annex.