The United Nations has officially recognised sport as a "valuable tool in the achievement of peace and development" during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

The assembly adopted a new resolution which promotes the use of sport in promoting dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict.

The resolution, entitled Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal calls for cooperation among UN member states and the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees to maximise the potential of sport in contributing to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development programme.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 was fully aligned with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Sport, he said, was the only area of human existence that had achieved universal law.

“Regardless of where in the world a sport is practiced, the same rules apply”, said Bach. “That principle of non-discrimination has allowed sport to promote peace and understanding among all people.”

The new resolution also encourages the Olympic and Paralympic movements to work closely with national and international sports organizations on the use of sport to promote peace and urges all UN member states to observe the Olympic Truce from the seventh day before the start of the XXXI Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games next August, until the seventh day following the end of the XV Paralympic Summer Games in September 2016.

The special adviser to the UN secretary-general on sport for development and peace, Wilfried Lemke, said: “The United Nations has been tireless in its efforts to bring peace and stability to unsettled regions of the globe. The idea of unity and tolerance that the Olympic Truce promotes accords fully with our pursuit of a world living in understanding, free of discrimination of any kinds.

“Today, when in many countries peace is still elusive, we recur to sport and the Olympic Truce to send out a powerful message of hope to the international community, calling conflict parties to lay down weapons not just for the duration of Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but permanently.

“We encourage all nations to take example from the field of play to embrace their differences and open up for a fair, respectful dialogue in the name of a better, safer and more inclusive world for future generations.”