A/HRC/30/50
more opportunities for persons with disabilities, to contribute to the expansion of mass
sporting activities, to support high performance in sporting events, to engage more children
and young persons, women and girls and older persons in sport and to facilitate access and
create a barrier-free environment. Article 30.5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities specifically addresses measures to be taken by State parties to enable
persons with disabilities “to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure
and sporting activities”.
16.
In his report on sport for development and peace,5 the Secretary-General reviews the
programmes and initiatives implemented by States Members of the United Nations, as well
as United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies and other partners, using
sport as a tool for development and peace.
17.
In its International Charter of Physical Education and Sport, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines access to physical
education and sport as a fundamental right for all. UNESCO will be adopting a revised
Charter in November 2015, the main amendments of which will include the introduction of
the concept of physical activity, notably to reflect the various related health benefits; strong
provisions on gender equality and the need to enforce the rights of women and girls; the
availability of inclusive, adapted and safe opportunities, especially for children at preschool
age, women and girls, the elderly, people with disabilities and indigenous people; the
shared responsibility of a large range of stakeholders, including the Olympic and
Paralympic movements, for developing and supporting physical education, physical activity
and sport policy; the need for activities of these stakeholders to be economically, socially
and environmentally sustainable; the important role of sport for development and peace
programmes in the realization of development, peace, post-conflict and post-disaster
objectives; and the protection and promotion of the integrity of sport against violence,
doping, political exploitation, corruption and manipulation.
18.
In addition, the Olympic Charter has a pivotal role in the context of human rights
and sport in that it provides that “[t]he practice of sport is a human right,” and that “[e]very
individual must have the possibility to practice sport, without discrimination of any kind
and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship,
solidarity and fair play”, 6 and places sport at the service of the harmonious development of
humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of
human dignity.
19.
It is also worth outlining the regional initiatives that have progressively developed
the legal basis for promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal. For
instance, in the 2013 document entitled “Approach to Human Rights”,7 the Organizing
Committee of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games referred to domestic and international
law and its relevance to the human rights and sporting context. In the text, the Committee,
inter alia, stated that it had “an obligation — both moral and legal, and with the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in mind — to respect, support
and promote these rights through the course of its normal business”.
20.
Moreover, the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies; sporting
organizations, including the International Olympic Committee; and other stakeholders, such
as civil society, Governments and sporting, educational and research institutions
worldwide, devote increasing resources to areas of development through sport, as a means
of helping to promote youth, formal education, culture, healthy lifestyles, sustainability,
5
6
7
6
A/69/330.
See www.olympic.org/documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf.
Available from www.glasgow2014.com/document/approach-human-rights-december-2013.
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