United Nations and IOC calls for pause in wars during Winter Olympics

With just one week to go to the start of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, the United Nations and the Game’s organisers are calling for a 52-day pause in all wars.

As they do every time the Olympics take place.

This tradition dates back to ancient Greece, when warring city-states respected a truce to ensure safe passage for athletes and spectators.

The practice was revived by the International Olympic Committee in the 1990s.

"On ethical grounds, we want to send a message that the Olympic Truce – the Sacred Olympic Truce – should be respected,” says Constantinos Filis, director of the International Olympic Truce Centre.

“This may not always be achievable in practice. But the message reaches every corner of the globe that, wherever possible, we should strive toward creating even a small space for peace."

The call for a truce – which has been backed by a UN resolution since 1993 - aims to harness the power of sport to promote peace, dialogue, and reconciliation.

This year, it comes amid multiple wars and global geopolitical tensions.

Filis says that managing to maintain a ceasefire, even for a few days, can open the door to dialogue.

"Because when two sides are fighting, they cannot engage in meaningful talks. They will have secret conversations, but this is usually limited to prisoner exchanges or the return of bodies,” he says.

“What we are talking about here is something more substantial: a negotiation that could potentially bring an end to the war."

The proposed timeout begins one week before the Winter Games start on 6 February and runs until one week after the Paralympics end on 15 March.

In 17 previous times the truce has been invoked, it did not produce a truce that held or lead to discussions.

There have, however, been some small successes.

The first modern Olympic truce, during the 1994 Winter Games in Norway did produce a one-day pause in the siege of Sarajevo. This allowed aid convoys to deliver food and medicine to the Bosnian capital’s desperate residents.

In Sydney six years later, North and South Korea marched together at the opening ceremony.

Olympic champion, Kirsty Coventry, who heads the International Olympic Committee, addressed the UN General Assembly at the latest vote in November.

She said watching peaceful competition had inspired her to begin her gold-medal journey as a young girl in Zimbabwe.

“Even in these dark times of division, it is possible to celebrate our shared humanity and inspire hope for a better future,” Coventry said.

“Sport — and the Olympic Games in particular — can offer a rare space where people meet not as adversaries, but as fellow human beings.”

“This is why the Olympic Truce is so important,” she said.