International Olympic Committee
© UNHCR/IOC/R. Juilliart
The International Olympic Committee’s landmark decision to create the first Refugee Team at the Rio Games 2016, is a major victory for the refugee cause.
The team will be made up of 10 refugees who will compete in Rio de Janeiro, forming the first-ever Refugee Olympic Athletes team. They include two Syrian swimmers, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a marathon runner from Ethiopia, and five middle-distance runners from South Sudan.
UNHCR’s partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was launched more than 20 years ago by former UN High Commissioner, Sadako Ogata, and then-President, Juan Antonio Samaranch.
The IOC then started to support young Bhutanese and South Sudanese refugees in Nepal and Kenya, providing refugees with sports equipment and creating areas to play.
The cooperation with IOC has since continued over the years, with support for youth programmes in at least 20 countries and by widening the focus towards refugee education and healthcare.
The appointment of Dr. Jacques Rogge, long-standing President of the IOC for 12 years, as the Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Refugee Youth and Sport, further boosted the IOC commitment through sports and education programmes in Jordan, Ethiopia and Colombia.
After visiting refugees in Greece, Thomas Bach, became further committed to the creation of a refugee team to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
“We help [high-level refugee athletes] to make their dream of sporting excellence come true, even when they have to flee from violence and hunger. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis.”
IOC President Thomas Bach
Since 2010, OIC has provided more than USD 1.6 million in support of UNHCR.