Delivered by Greece

Thank you Madame Chair.

I deliver this statement on behalf of 77 countries.

Only a few weeks before the celebration of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, the world is gearing up for its recovery. The Olympic Games have always been the most important global sporting event every four years - ‘the springtime of humanity’ as Pierre de Coubertin once qualified it. This year more than ever we are looking forward to getting truly inspired by the message the Olympic Games bear in their essence.

The last year and a half has been extremely challenging both in terms of physical and mental health for millions of people around the globe. With regard to human rights, the COVID-19 pandemic raced across pre-existing fault lines and widened human rights gaps, as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has highlighted in her 2020 Human Rights Report. Now is the time to heal and solidify our human rights foundations.

Therefore, we are called upon to build forward better, bearing in mind that we are stronger together. In this respect Sport -- and the Olympic Games in particular -- can serve as a model example, where people, nations, athletes and teams take part without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, birth or other status. The Olympic Ideal shows that major sporting events can raise awareness and promote a better understanding of human rights throughout the lifecycle of the event, in particular for young persons around the world.

The 29 athletes of the Tokyo 2020 Refugee Team are just an example of “what is possible when refugees are given the opportunity to make most of their potential,” as has stressed UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, and it gives a hopeful glimpse of how the world can be when human rights are protected and upheld by all.

I thank you Madame Chair.