UN urges peace and respect for Olympic Truce as Paris Summer Games begin
BI Report, Dhaka || BusinessInsider
© IOC/Greg Martin UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Paris ahead of the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Photo was take from site
As the Summer Olympics and Paralympics get underway in Paris on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for global respect of the Olympic Truce – a custom of halting all hostilities from before to after the Games.
In November, the UN General Assembly adopted a vote to observe the truce in Paris.
“In a moment like this, it's important to say that the first recorded in history real peace initiative was the Olympic Truce,” Guterres said during a press encounter in the French capital alongside International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
“And so, in a moment in which the Olympic Games are going to start, it's time to remind the world of the importance of the Olympic Truce and to make the world understand that we must silence the guns,” he added.
The UN chief noted many points of existing conflict across the globe including in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and more.
He said the Olympic Games symbolise “cooperation and loyal competition, instead of division and conflict”.
Therefore, he encouraged countries to foster unity in the way athletes are during these games.
Guterres is set to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
