National Olympic Committees (NOC) exist in various countries of the world. NOC are one of the three constituents of the Olympic Movement together with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Sport Federations. The mission of the NOCs is to develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in their respective countries, in accordance with the Olympic Charter. Today there are 205* NOCs. *Kuwait Olympic Committee is suspended as of 1 January 2010.
IOC President Jacques Rogge shares his impressions at the opening of the first Olympic Youth Development Centre under the IOC’s Sport for Hope Programme. Some 600 young athletes used the state-of-the-art facilities in Lusaka, Zambia, for the first time.