The International Olympic Committee sets up an Advisory Committee on Human Rights chaired by HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up an IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights. It will be chaired by HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“We are extremely pleased that HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein accepted to chair this new IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights. The IOC will greatly benefit from his expertise and experience. I would like to thank him for taking over this very important position”, IOC President Thomas Bach said in Tokyo. “Promoting humanistic values in sport has been a core feature of the IOC since its beginning. Our mission, to put sport at the service of humanity, goes hand-in-hand with human rights, which is part of our DNA.”
The Advisory Committee will consist of six to nine members, with sport and human rights expertise. The composition of the full Committee will be announced in March 2019.

The new Committee will be a key instrument to help the IOC meet its human rights responsibilities and addressing the organization’s salient human rights risks through a comprehensive strategic approach and policy. This is related to the IOC’s spheres of work, including its operations and in the staging of the Olympic and the Youth Olympic Games. It will report to the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President. While regular public reporting is not expected, it is not to be excluded either.
The decision of setting up the Advisory Committee is another direct result of Olympic Agenda 2020. It also follows the inclusion of human rights standards into the “Operational Requirements” of the Host City Contract for the Olympic Games 2024 and beyond. They explicitly require Organising Committees to comply with applicable local, regional and national laws as well as international agreements and protocols “with regards to planning, construction, protection of the environment, health and safety, labour and anti-corruption laws” on “development projects and other projects necessary for the organisation of the Games”.

The IOC was created on 23 June 1894,  since then it runs of the Olympic Movement and sets the conditions for the celebration of the Olympic Games. The aim to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind, in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.