UNGA Adopts 'Olympic Truce' Resolution Ahead Of 2020 Tokyo Games

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Dec, 2019 ) :The United Nations' General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution Monday urging nations around the world to honour an "Olympic Truce" during the upcoming 2020 games in Tokyo in a bid intended to promote world peace.

The 193-member body adopted the resolution without a vote at the behest of Yoshiro Mori, President of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The truce calls for participants to cease all hostilities for a period stretching from one week prior to the Olympics, which begin on July 24, until one week after the Paralympic Games, which end on September 6.

The resolution was based on the ancient Greek tradition of "ekecheiria," a practice dating back to antiquity that was meant to ensure peaceful proceedings and safe passage during Olympic competition.

The UN General Assembly restored the tradition in 1993 and has passed similar resolutions ahead of every Olympic cycle since that year.

"The Olympic Games are the only event today that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition," International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said following the General Assembly's vote.

Bach called on nations to maintain a politically neutral atmosphere at the Olympic Games, arguing that the spirit of neutrality "is undermined whenever organizations or individuals attempt to use the Olympic Games as a stage for their own agendas � as legitimate as they might be." The resolution taken up by the Assembly on Monday "demonstrates clearly that his vision endures", the IOC chief said, adding that is also a powerful reminder of the shared values on which both the UN and the Committee are built.

As the United Nations looks ahead to its seventy-fifth anniversary next year, there is no better time than the 2020 Olympic Year to celebrate these shared values, Bach declared.