The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) announced its support for the recommendation submitted by the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Office in Geneva, to organize the UN's Football Tournament in Geneva, in cooperation with the UN Office.
The tournament aims to include diplomatic missions and international organizations of the UN's headquarters in Geneva. In addition to promoting peace and implementing of sustainable development goals by encouraging health activities and physical education.
NHRC, represented by Director of Programs and Education Department of NHRC Hamad Salem Al Hajri, partook in the meetings of the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Office in Geneva regarding UN's Football Tournament. This falls within the framework of Qatar's continuous and leading intuitive in using sports diplomacy to promote UN's principles.
The Permanent Representative affirmed that NHRC's participation would properly reflect the committee's interest in integrating human rights concepts into sporting events in Geneva. This is especially after the success of the Human Rights and Football exhibition, which was organized on the sidelines of the 49th session of Human Rights Council, the exhibition reflected the ideal values of football as a means of implementing human rights standards and principles.
The recommendation states the organization of the tournament with the participation of teams that represent the regional and political groups of the UN's Member States. This includes the African group and countries of Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the European Union, North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Arab group, the GCC, as well as teams representing some organizations in Geneva.
Invitations to participate in the tournament will be sent to Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, the Federal Chancellor of the Swiss Confederation, the mayors of Geneva, and heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations.
It is worth noting that Geneva hosts the European Headquarters of the UN, as well as many other international organizations. The city has diplomatic representation for 178 countries, 39 international organizations and 432 non-governmental organizations.
Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Office, in cooperation with the Director-General of the European Headquarters of the UN and the UN's Football Club in Geneva, organized last year a football tournament in Geneva under the slogan The Road to the World Cup, with the participation of representatives of diplomatic missions of the UN's Member States.
The event celebrated the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Geneva in order to highlight the important values of football in promoting peace and achieving the goals of sustainable development.
Source: Qatar News Agency