For a Peace-Increasing Games

Inspiring initiative from Demos called 16 days: the Role of the Olympic Truce in the toolkit for Peace - their first project with Demos Athens . Here's their blurb:

Just as the monopoly on waging war has been removed from the hands of states, so the tools for making peace also need to be democratised.

The ancient Olympic games were created as a way to stop Greek city states fighting each other. For the duration of the games, soldiers became athletes and were guaranteed safe passage to the Olympiad. Thus the Olympic games were born out of a temporary peace.

In 1992, the IOC revived the ancient Olympic Truce, which calls for a cease in conflict, fighting and hostilities for the duration of the Games. The Truce became the first unanimously endorsed resolution in the UN’s history in 2003.

Since then the Truce has helped to deliver real results during summer and winter Games:

-- A cease-fire which allowed 10,000 children to be inoculated in Bosnia in 1994
-- North and South Korea marching under the same flag as a sign of unity in 2000
-- A pause in bombing of Iraq in 1998
-- A pledge by African leaders to halt hostilities in 2000

16 Days argues that the Olympic Truce has the potential to be a peace-inspiring tool for our times. Projecting its peaceful purpose could help provide security for the Olympic Games themselves, while the Truce offers the world’s peace-makers a brief opportunity to resolve conflict.

16 days has much heavy-hitting endorsement, and is play-ethical in the most idealistic sense. I wish it all the very best.