More than 700 delegates representing the International Olympic Committee, athletes, International Federations, National Olympic Committees and Continental Associations, educational institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as various UN specialized agencies, met in Beijing from 22-24 October 2006 in the biennial forum organized by the IOC with cooperation of Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Under the theme "Sport and a world of harmony: the role of Olympic education and culture" various presentations were made in plenary and specialized break-out sessions, and thoroughly discussed in an atmosphere of friendship and informed debate. Delegates understood the value of holding the forum in Beijing at this particular moment, when the countdown to the Games in Beijing has started in earnest.

The Forum addressed the critical role of education and culture in bringing a meaning to sport and therefore making effective and positive contribution to promoting harmonized development of young people's physical and psychological up-bringing and well being. It brought into focus the role of sport in promoting world peace and its contribution to the international community's struggle to build a harmonious world and the common aspirations of the sporting world to contribute to the development of a world of multiculturalism and an inclusive society.

Taking into consideration the IOC's activities in the field of culture and Olympic education and its Olympic Values Education Project;

Recognizing the efforts of the Organizing Committees of the Olympic Games in the development of cultural and education programmes for the benefit of youth as part of the preparations for the Games, as in Beijing where BOCOG is reaching 400 million young people;

Emphasizing the social responsibility of all concerned parties to athletes who are role models for youth;

Recognizing also the initiatives undertaken by National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in establishing National Olympic Academies (NOAs) to promote Olympic education under the guidance of the IOC and the International Olympic Academy (IOA);

Recognizing further the active participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) specialized in physical education and sport and educational institutions by creating Olympic chairs, providing experts and carrying out research;

Acknowledging UNESCO's and the IOC's desire to cooperate more effectively with each other and with other interested organizations in the development of physical education and sport through their constituents;

Taking note of the private sector's readiness to sponsor educational programs for youth.

The Forum unanimously:

1. Calls upon the IOC to provide assistance in training Olympic educators to encourage the NOCs to make universal ethical values education a preoccupation, and follow up on the implementation of its educational initiatives in the field, which should also involve athletes, by associating specialized educational institutions.

2. Calls also upon UNESCO to play a leading role in promoting physical education and sport so that it assumes a primary place in educational systems, to encourage fruitful cooperation between the ministries responsible for education, youth and sport and to strive for ratification of the anti-doping convention as soon as possible.

3. Encourage the members of the Olympic Movement to participate in educational and cultural activities including Olympic art, literature and photography contests and to promote Olympic youth camps and traditional games.

4. Recalls further the need for the community to ensure that participation in high level sport goes hand-in-hand with education to forestall today's heroes becoming tomorrow's villains.

5. Urges the NOCs of developing countries to establish information and documentation centers and museums which will allow them to preserve their sporting and Olympic heritage.

6. Urges also all partners of the Olympic Movement to attach more attention to physical activity and to persons with disabilities and disadvantaged communities.

7. Requests the Olympic Movement to ensure gender equity in all its educational and cultural activities, in the recruitment of volunteers, and by providing equal opportunity of services to all IOA and NOA participants.

8. Conveys its gratitude to the President of the IOC and the Chairman of the IOC Culture and Olympic Education Commission for their dedication to the cause, and to the people and Government of the People's Republic of China, BOCOG and the COC for their warm welcome and hospitality which have ensured the success of the Forum.

Beijing

24 October 2006

Credit: IOC