Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to implement the recent UN General Assembly Resolution on an Olympic truce during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Answered by James Duddridge
The United Kingdom co-sponsored the General Assembly resolution “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, which calls for Member States to observe the Olympic Truce – a cessation of hostilities around the Olympic Games – within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations, and to promote peace through sport. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the UK already works to uphold the UN Charter and its commitment to the maintenance of international peace and security.
For the 2012 Olympic Games in London the UK was the first ever nation to get all 193 UN Member States to sign the Olympic Truce. We are actively involved in building links between countries through sport. HM Government supported the successful London 2012 International Inspiration programme that reached 25m children in twenty countries through the power of sport and continues to support a range of other related initiatives around the world such as the British Council's Premier Skills and Try Rugby programmes. Looking ahead to next year's IAAF World Athletics Championships due to be hosted in London, the Government, through UK Sport, is supporting LEAP (Leadership and Excellence in Athletics Programme) which aims to develop youth athletics in a number of countries around the world.