UN Assembly calls on all states to observe Olympic Truce throughout Tokyo Summer Games
(VOVWORLD) - The UN General Assembly on Monday urged UN 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 symbolic Truce would start one week before the Olympic Games 2020 set for July 24 to August 9, 2020, and the Paralympic Games, to be held from August 25 to September 6, 2020. Adopting a consensus resolution, the 193-member Assembly underlined the importance of cooperating to “collectively implement the values of the Olympic truce around the world,” and agreed to “cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond” the holding of the Games. The resolution has itself become a tradition at the UN, being passed every two years preceding the Winter and Summer Games respectively.