Millennium Development Goals UN Summit and Sport - 2005

High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly –
Millennium Development Goals UN Summit,

New York, 20-22 September 2010

Statement by Nawal El Moutawakel, Representative of the
Permanent Observer for the International Olympic Committee
to the United Nations

Mr President, Distinguished Delegates,

It is my great honour to stand before you for the first time as the representative of the
Permanent Observer for the International Olympic Committee. This is an important moment in
the long history of cooperation between the United Nations and the IOC. On behalf of the entire
Olympic Movement, I offer our thanks to the General Assembly and Secretary-General Ban Kimoon
for giving the IOC this opportunity to contribute more effectively through sport, to the
important work of the United Nations. The Observer status marks a new phase in the strong
collaborative relationship between the two organisations. It is a relationship with deep roots. In
1922, the IOC signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Labour
Organisation, an affiliate of the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations.
Today, the IOC works with several UN agencies, programmes and funds to place sport at the
service of humanity. The IOC and the UN have much in common. Both organisations exist to
serve humankind. Both seek to bridge differences between nations and cultures. Both strive for
a world that is more peaceful, prosperous and environmentally sustainable. The General
Assembly’s decision to grant observer status to the IOC was a resounding acknowledgement of the positive power of sport. Sport cannot solve all of the world’s problems, but it can — and it
does — contribute to the search for solutions. Sport is making a difference in people’s lives all
over the world right now. 
And it can inspire peace.
It was breath-taking when a Russian athlete hugged a Georgian competitor on the podium at
the Beijing Games or to see an American and Cuban pair up as sports buddies during the
Modern Pentathlon Mixed Relay at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, which took place last
month in Singapore. It didn’t matter that the Cuban girl did not speak much English, or that
American boy didn’t speak much Spanish. The found a common language through sport. Sport
indeed is a universal language. It brings people together. It provides joy, hope and a sense of
purpose, even to those who live amid the despair of a refugee camp or extreme poverty. It
teaches self-discipline and the rewards of hard work. It is a magnet for young people that can be used to promote education, healthy living and cross-cultural harmony.
It would be much too bold to say that the Olympic Movement is making a better world, but I do
believe we can contribute to making better citizens of our young generation. There are many
significant milestones along our path toward closer cooperation. In 1993, the 48th Session of the
General Assembly revived the ancient Olympic Truce by calling on member nations to cease
hostilities during the Games. We are grateful that the General Assembly has approved a similar
resolution before every edition of the Games since then. In 2000, the UN Millennium Declaration urged member states to “support the International Olympic Committee in its efforts to promote peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal.” In 2001, then Secretary-
General Kofi Annan appointed Adolf Ogi, the former President of Switzerland, as the first
International Olympic Committee –
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Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace. In 2003, the General Assembly approved
resolution 58/5 in recognition of the importance of sport “as a means to promote education,
health, development and peace.” In 2005, the UN celebrated the International Year of Sport and
Physical Education. In 2008, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Wilfried Lemke to serve as his Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace. In 2009, the Secretary-General delivered the keynote address at the XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen. He told the
Congress delegates: “Olympic principles are United Nations principles.”
All of those actions acknowledged the role of sport in addressing global problems. And that
brings us to today — another milestone in our relationship. We are now just five years away
from the deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals that the UN adopted in 2005.
Time is short; the list of needs is long. I am here because the IOC shares your sense of
urgency. The International Olympic Committee is convinced that sport can contribute to make
the Millennium Development Goals a reality.
Accordingly, the International Olympic Committee’s development goals are largely in line with
the Millennium Development Goals. We are working to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger
by using sport to support school food programmes in Africa and Asia. We are also using sport to promote community development that can help lift families out of poverty. In May, we opened
the first Youth Olympic Development Centre in Zambia, a project of the IOC’s Sports for Hope
initiative. The centre combines sport with education and health care programmes.

We are working to achieve universal primary education by collaborating with UNESCO and
other relevant partners to provide education to refugees and disadvantaged communities. We
are supporting Olympic Values Education Programmes in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the
Caribbean islands and Oceania.

We are working to promote gender equality and empower women using sport. In this regard, th IOC acknowledges and congratulates the United Nations for its decision to establish the entity
of “UN Women”. The goal of gender equality in and through sport is enshrined in the Olympic
Charter, the Olympic Movement’s guiding document. 

 Sport fully accepts its responsibility “to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures” as stated in the Olympic Charter. We have steadily increased the participation of female athletes at the Olympic Games, with the goal of gender parity. With the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympic programme, women will participate in every sport for the first time at the London 2012 Games. 

Sport is a contributor to fighting the HIV & AIDS epidemic and malaria, as well as other noncommunicable diseases, through extensive education programmes in partnership with UNAIDS, WHO, the Red Cross Movement and other partners from civil society.
We are working to ensure environmental sustainability by making sustainability an integral part
of the planning process for the Olympic Games and other sports activities. The IOC adopted the environment as the third pillar of the Olympic Movement, along with sport and culture, in 1994 and created the Sport and Environment Commission to help the Movement meet its
environmental obligations.

 In order to achieve our goals, we work closely with the  UN Environment Programme, the National Olympic Committees and with governments.

And, with regard to the eighth Millennium Development Goal, we are part of a global partnership for development. 
The Olympic Movement — the IOC, the International and National Sport Federations and the 205 National Olympic Committees — are using the power of sport to International Olympic Committee – 

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