www.olympic.org - Site Officiel du Mouvement Olympique

Photo: UNHCR "The IOC and the sports movement in general have a social responsibility - to provide access to sports practice, and in so doing to spread the values of sport to all sections of society." Jacques Rogge, IOC President.

As we look at today's society, there is no doubt that the social and economic effects of globalisation, the degradation of the environment, and the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, are calling for a concerted effort of every citizen, of every social group, to find long-lasting solutions for better human development.

There is no doubt that the Olympic Games have an increasingly positive legacy in terms of sustainable social and economic development for the host city and the country at large. But beyond this, the Olympic Games, which generate major resources and gather together the best athletes in the world every two years, are supported daily by initiatives of all kinds to develop sport at grass-roots level throughout the world and to promote the values of solidarity, peace and human dignity which sport can channel.

This finds its roots in the fundamental principles of Olympism:

Indeed, the idea of combining sport and development is not a new one. The founder of the IOC and reviver of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, was already in his time a strong advocate of international cooperation and of the social and human values of sport.

Based on this long-time commitment as a socially responsible organisation, the IOC is engaged in sports development at grass-roots level aiming to both increase access to physical activity worldwide and to improve social and human well-being at large.