A/HRC/40/72 III. Summary of proceedings A. Sport, the Olympic ideal, and “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at seventy 7. The President of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, explained how sport and human rights could act together as catalysts for a better and more inclusive world. Seventy years after the first international wheelchair race, the Paralympic Games had become the world’s main sports event for driving social inclusion, with thousands of athletes and billions of television viewers. Paralympic sports provided mobility and empowered persons with disabilities to play active roles in society. This challenged stereotypes. The infrastructure for Paralympic Games had improved accessibility. By promoting inclusive communities, sports fostered harmony and peace, for example, through teams with athletes from both the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. Persons with disabilities were still denied basic human rights. They faced barriers resulting in poor health outcomes, lower levels of education and higher rates of poverty than among the general population. The International Paralympic Committee worked with partners to help implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, transforming lives and changing the world through sports. 8. Nawal El Moutawakel, a member of the International Olympic Committee, reflected on the Olympic Movement’s mission to build a better world through sport. Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Olympic Charter prohibited discrimination based on colour, race, sex, language, religion, or political or other grounds. The Committee’s new host city contracts had embedded these principles further with a commitment to increasing the respect of several dimensions of human rights in the organization of Olympic Games, in line with human rights treaties and standards, and by encouraging the organizing committees to achieve these objectives. The Committee collaborated with all stakeholders to uphold its commitment to people’s rights and wellbeing through the promotion of sustainability, of gender equality, of youth education and empowerment and of integration and community-building through sport, and by addressing harassment and abuse in sport. Ms. El Moutawakel welcomed the collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to uphold efforts in protecting, promoting and respecting human rights, and called for the strengthening of partnerships, dialogue and collective action with governments, international organizations and civil society, with regard to their respective roles and responsibilities, and across their spheres of influence. 9. The Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Hassan al-Thawadi, recalled that 3.4 billion people watched the FIFA World Cup. Football was a global platform that touched the human spirit, regardless of location, culture or beliefs. The Supreme Committee used the power of the World Cup to promote a better future for Arab youth by creating a centre of excellence aimed at young professionals in new industries, by implementing ideas from young entrepreneurs and by enhancing civic engagement and leadership skills. The World Cup had accelerated the improvement of labour conditions in Qatar, which had been accomplished in cooperation with the International Labour Organization and trade unions. The main legacy of the 2022 World Cup would be to break down stereotypes and bring peoples together. The Social Forum and the Kazan Action Plan demonstrated the recognition by the United Nations of the contributions of mega sporting events to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Al-Thawadi urged stakeholders to work together to harness the potential of mega sporting events to promote a better world. 10. Rose Nathike Lokonyen, a track and field athlete in the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team, shared her personal experiences since fleeing her village in South Sudan after an attack. When she was 15 years old, she had taken part in a 10-kilometre race in a school in a refugee camp. She had performed with excellence and earned the opportunity to join a professional training camp in Kenya. Sport was not only a means to earn a living, but a way 4