The Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World today concluded with 68 organisations confirming 45 commitments to using sport as a tool to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These initiatives are projected to generate over USD 200 million in value over the next four years towards building a better world through sport. The summit was convened by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with over 300 participants from more than 100 organisations and 70 countries coming together in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In an emotional closing address, the IOC President-elect, Kirsty Coventry said: “It really takes a village and this is just the start of the ever-growing village that we are going to be expanding upon from these two days.”

“We heard the words ‘teamwork’ and ‘stronger together’. We heard collective actions. We spoke about being knocked down and getting back up again, being adaptive, being resilient and leaning on each other. These things embody sport. This is why we love it, this is why we live it and we breath it.”

“This initial Forum and the call to action is one that is collaborative, one that is ensuring that we will have a lasting power, a lasting benefit for all the things we are trying to do.”

The urgency of a joint effort to leverage the power of sport to advance sustainable development was also stressed by IOC President Thomas Bach during his opening address on Wednesday, when he said: “Your presence here today demonstrates the growing momentum behind our shared mission: to put sport at the service of society. The purpose of this Olympism365 Summit is not only to reflect on how far we have come, but, more importantly, to also chart the course for the future. What we have built together over the past years is only the beginning. Now is the time to take these efforts – and the goals of Olympic Agenda – to new heights.”

The Olympism365 strategy was started as part of the reforms President Bach initiated during his presidency. This was highlighted by IOC President-elect Coventry: “I’m truly inspired and truly grateful, President Bach, for your leadership, for putting so much of your heart and soul in our movement. I’m extremely honoured and proud to be taking over from you, and I’ve learned so much from you. I’m truly grateful for the initiatives that you started with this, because this has been a platform for all of us to ensure that we are not just always focused on elite sport, but focused on our second pillar as the Olympic Movement of building a better world through sport. Thank you very much for the legacy you will be leaving with us.”

The Olympism365 Summit outcomes can be found here and the full list of commitments and announcements made during the event is available here (LINK).

Delivering on the promise of sport through collective action

Driven by a shared vision, the Summit increased significant collaboration and collective action to drive meaningful impact over the next four years. Commitments aimed at enhancing health, well-being and economic inclusion, promoting safer communities and fostering environmental sustainability through sport were confirmed under three key categories.

1. Towards healthier, inclusive and thriving communities through sport

These commitments leverage sport to build healthier, more inclusive and prosperous communities. This includes efforts to boost collaboration between sport and health sectors, funding social cohesion projects, expanding access to education and leadership, and mainstreaming sport into urban planning, as well as supporting refugees and driving climate action.

Commitments made during the Summit include:

• The IOC and Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage expanding the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) to five additional territories by the end of 2028.
• The IOC and Team Up holding a fourth edition of the Play for Equity participatory grant funding programme for community sport and physical activity initiatives advancing gender and disability justice in the Pacific.
• Coordinated action with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), FIVB Volleyball Foundation and the Oceania Volleyball Federation will further scale and sustain Volley4Change in Vanuatu and extend the initiative into the wider Pacific region.

2. Building safer sport and safer communities

These commitments will advance safer, healthier and more sustainable sport. This includes strengthening cooperation to address violence, promote mental health and build community-responsive systems, emphasising both local action and global partnership.

Commitments made during the Summit include:

• The IOC and United Nations Spotlight Initiative announcing a joint effort to strengthen the contribution of sport to ending violence against women and girls.
• The IOC and FIFA agreeing to collaborate to enhance the impact, effectiveness and scalability of sport-based health initiatives, including those related to athlete physical health, mental health and well-being and safeguarding.
• Introducing new technical tools to improve early recognition, coordinated care and overall capacity, delivering safety in and through sport.

3. Financing, evidencing and innovating to scale the impact of sport

Strengthening financing, evidencing impact and fostering innovation in sport for development, these commitments will boost cooperation between the Olympic Movement, sport for development initiatives and diverse sectors, focusing on resourcing national and local approaches, driving innovation and blending public, private and philanthropic investment for impact.

Commitments made during the Summit include:

• Nineteen sport and development organisations putting in place a shared measurement approach. It will be used to monitor and evaluate the reach and preliminary outcomes of over 100 sport for development initiatives across 80 countries, using common and locally relevant indicators to enable both context-sensitive and scaled insight generation.
• The Finance in Common Coalition for Sustainable Development through Sport launching a tracking initiative to monitor the USD 10bn target for investment in sport and sustainable development announced during the Paris Summit 2024.

Turning commitments into concrete action

The Summit builds on a decade of momentum to strengthen the role of sport as an enabler of sustainable development, from the recognition of sport in the UN 2030 Agenda and Pact of the Future, to commitments made through Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and at the Paris Summit 2024; Sport for Sustainable Development.

Moving forward, the outcomes of the Olympism365 Summit will inform the sport and Olympic Movement into future global policy processes and forums. Monitoring of implementation and impact will be undertaken, alongside tracking of the commitments made at the Paris Summit 2024.

Olympism365 Summit

The Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World, which took place from 3 to 5 June in Lausanne, brought together a diverse coalition of leaders from the Olympic Movement, UN agencies, development and financing institutions, civil society, for-purpose businesses, the safe sport community and IOC Young Leaders. Building on the Sport for Sustainable Development Summit, held in the French capital on the eve of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the event marked a pivotal moment in furthering the role of sport to address global challenges and advance the UN SDGs. The 300 participants were encouraged to reconvene in 2029 to assess progress and continue to leverage the platform established in Lausanne.