British Ambassadors in the South Caucasus have welcomed adoption ofa UN Resolution on the Olympic Truce entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. The resolution was tabled at the UN General Assembly by the UK, as hosts of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The resolution was adopted in New York on 17 October by consensus. For the first time the resolution has been sponsored by all 193 UN member states, including Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Ambassadors Peter Bateman in Baku and Charles Lonsdale in Yerevan and Charge d’Affaires Doug McMillan in Tbilisi issued a joint statement saying: “We welcome this resolution - and the fact that it was adopted unanimously. The UK has worked for many years to support peacebuilding and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus. We hope that the ideals the resolution represents can be converted into concrete steps for peace in the region.” In ancient Greece the Olympic Games marked a period of peace when competitors and others could travel safely to take part. The International Olympic Committee revived the idea in 1992 to use sports as a means to promote the Olympic ideals and to support peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts. Similar resolutions have been passed before each Summer and Winter Games. The resolution focuses not just on respecting a truce around the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer but also on wider efforts to use sport to promote peaceful settlements for conflicts around the world, and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Details of the Olympic Truce concept can be found on the website of the International Olympic Committee: http://www.olympic.org/content/the-ioc/commissions/international-relations-/olympic-truce/ The text of the resolution in all UN languages can be found at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=a/66/l.3

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