UN calls for global observance of Olympic Truce

• With seven days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the President of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock issued a solemn appeal urging all Member States to uphold the Olympic Truce. 

• The 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina and Milan run from February 4 to 26, followed by the Paralympics from March 6 to 15.

• The Olympic Truce Resolution for Milano Cortina 2026 was adopted on November 19, 2025 by the 80th Session of the UNGA in New York. 

• The resolution calls on Member States to observe the Olympic Truce from seven days before the start of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games until seven days after the end of the Paralympic Winter Games (scheduled from March 6 to 15), ensuring safe passage and participation for athletes and officials.

What is the ‘Olympic Truce’?

• The tradition of the “Olympic Truce”, or “ekecheiria”, was established in Greece in the ninth century BC through the signing of a treaty between three kings — Iphitos of Elis, Cleosthenes of Pisa and Lycurgus of Sparta.

• During this truce period, athletes, artists and their families, and ordinary pilgrims could travel safely to take part in or watch the Olympic Games and then return to their respective countries.

• In 1992, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) renewed this tradition by calling upon all nations to observe the Truce.

• Since 1993, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly expressed its support for the Olympic Truce.

• The resolution has become a UN tradition as it is up for consideration every two years, in advance of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

• The Olympic movement aspires to contribute to a peaceful future for humankind through the educational value of sport. 

• It brings together athletes from all parts of the world in the greatest of international sports events, the Olympic Games, and it aims to promote the maintenance of peace, mutual understanding and goodwill — goals it shares with the United Nations. 

• As an expression of these common objectives, in 1998 the International Olympic Committee decided to fly the United Nations flag at all competition sites of the Olympic Games.