Media reports might lead us to believe that there isn’t much unanimity in United Nations deliberations at present. Yet, just over two weeks ago the UN General Assembly came together to express a single, yet largely unreported, collective hope. That hope was a resolution A/70/L.3 which set out the terms for the observance of the Olympic Truce which will transcend the Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

The resolution calls upon all Member States of the UN to: ‘take concrete actions at local, national, regional and international levels to promote and strengthen the culture of peace based on the spirit of the Olympic Truce’ and ‘to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic & Paralympic Games.’

The resolution has been presented to the UN General Assembly for approval jointly by the International Olympic Committee and the host nation for each Games since 1993. In that year the Truce was used to secure a ceasefire in Sarajevo (itself a former Olympic City) during the Bosnian War so that humanitarian aid could get in and civilians could get out. In 2012 the UK government took the UN backed Truce seriously for the London Games and a number of initiatives for peace and reconciliation took place around the world as a result.

That said it is worth reminding ourselves that in ancient Greece when the Olympics were formed the Truce wasn’t just part of the Games it was the entire point of the Games. The creation of a sporting event was intended to break the cycle of violence between warring city states. It was designed so that young male warriors could burn off their surplus testosterone by competing with each other for glory on the athletics field rather than killing each other on the battle field.

In the modern era of the Games the Olympic Truce has been viewed as largely symbolic and violations are frequent but in ancient times it was sacred and violations were rare. Today the Games are often viewed as a celebration of national identity, prestige and even rivalry. In ancient times competitors were required to take on a new higher identity for the Games, that of Olympians, no vestige or reference to the competitor’s original tribe/city state was permitted.

This year Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee has announced a major new initiative to fund and invite athletes who are refugees to participate in the 2016 Games. In a step which connects the modern Games not only to the most urgent international issue of our times but also to their ancient roots, refugee athletes will compete under the Olympic flag and their achievements will be celebrated with the Olympic anthem.

The Rio 2016 Games will celebrate the individual hopes, joys, struggles and dreams of athletes which qualify them to be known as Olympians. The UN resolution of the Truce reminds us of the unique rights and responsibilities which qualify us all to be known as human.