INTERNATIONAL: UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid on Thursday made a solemn appeal for commitment to the Olympic Truce during the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The General Assembly has adopted a resolution last month to urge UN member states to observe the Olympic Truce from 27 January to 20 March 2022 -- seven days before the start of the Olympic Winter Games until the seventh day following the end of the Winter Paralympic Games.

Shahid has welcomed the leadership of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in promoting peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal, and the commitment made by various Member States of the United Nations to developing national and international programs that promote peace and conflict resolution and the Olympic and Paralympic values through sport, and through culture, education and sustainable development.

"As president of the General Assembly at its 76th session, I solemnly appeal to all member states to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony based on the spirit of the Olympic Truce," said Shahid.

The Olympic movement aspires to contribute to a peaceful future for all humankind through the educational value of sport, in particular youth, said Shahid.

The Games will bring together athletes from all parts of the world in the greatest of international sports events as a means to promote peace, mutual understanding and goodwill among nations and peoples -- goals that are also part of the founding values of the United Nations, he said.

The Olympic Truce is a tradition that dates back to ancient Greece in the eighth century B.C. The practice was revived in the 1990s.