A/HRC/32/33 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 26/18, the Human Rights Council requested that the Special Rapporteur prepare, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, a study on the theme of sport and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and requested that the Special Rapporteur undertake a consultation process exploring those themes. The present report is submitted in accordance with that resolution, and was prepared on the basis of a questionnaire sent to States and relevant stakeholders1 and an expert meeting that was held in Geneva in November 2015. 2. The present report explores the obligations of Member States of the United Nations and non-State actors regarding realization of the right to health and sport and healthy lifestyles. The Special Rapporteur has chosen to focus on the evidence and the relevant obligations that arise in relation to sport and physical activity, building upon the important work carried out by the previous mandate holder on unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health. 2 II. Sport and healthy lifestyles and the right to health 3. In its 2011 resolution on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the General Assembly, in reaffirming the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health, acknowledged that the global burden and threat of non-communicable diseases constituted “one of the major challenges for development in the twenty-first century”. The General Assembly recognized that many non-communicable diseases are linked to common risk factors, including tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. 3 Non-communicable diseases have a disproportionate impact on women’s health and are the leading cause of death in women globally, killing around 18 million women a year. 4 4. In order to combat the growing threat of non-communicable diseases effectively, and to equitably realize the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health across populations, all people must be enabled to adopt healthy lifestyles. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights refers to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has confirmed is not confined to the right to health care, but embraces a wide range of socioeconomic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life;5 these include the readily modifiable risk factors for noncommunicable diseases identified by the General Assembly. 5. In other United Nations documents, participation in sport and physical activity is recognized as a stand-alone right. The recently revised International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport (of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 1 2 3 4 5 Replies to the questionnaire are available as received at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Health/Pages/HealthyLifestylescontributions.aspx. See A/HRC/26/31. See General Assembly resolution 66/2. Union for International Cancer Control and others, Non-communicable Diseases: A Priority for Women’s Health and Development (2011). Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health. 3