At a special meeting on 6th November 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Truce Resolution, introduced by the Russian Federation on behalf of the International Olympic Committee.
The meeting, entitled “Sport for Peace and Development: Building a Peaceful and Better World through Sport and the Olympic Ideal”, gave member states the opportunity to adopt an Olympic Truce for the period of the XXII Olympic Winter Games, from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The truce has been extended from previous games to begin seven days before the games and end seven days after they have finished.
The IOC was granted observer status by the UN General Assembly in 2009.
The Olympic Truce, which dates back to the 9th century BC, supports the idea that throughout the Olympic Games, individuals, not countries, compete against each other in peaceful sport without the burden of politics, religion or racism.
In 1992, the IOC introduced the concept of the Olympic Truce to the modern Olympic Games, and in 1993 the United Nations General Assembly urged its Member States to observe the Olympic Truce. Through the Olympic Truce Resolution the UN invites its Member States to observe and promote peace before, during and after the Games in order to serve as a window for dialogue and to protect the interests of athletes and sport in general.
