The International Olympic Truce Centre (IOTC)

International Olympic Truce Centre was established in July 2000 as a joint initiative of Greece and the International Olympic Committee, turning the commitment of the Olympic Movement to promote the principle of Peace into concrete action. The mission of the International Olympic Truce Centre is to promote Olympic Ideals, to serve peace and friendship and to cultivate international understanding. More specifically, the IOTC aims to uphold the observance of Olympic Truce, calling for all hostilities to cease during the Olympic Games and beyond.

Adherence to the Olympic Truce requires the awakening of consciences, the encouragement of leaders for action, the mobilization for the promotion of the Olympic Ideal and the education of young people according to the principles of Olympism. The mobilisation of the new generation worldwide, in favour of Peace, is a required precondition to the goal’s achievement. In recent years, the activities of the IOTC have been extended/expanded to the field of education, through educational and European programmes. Greater emphasis is placed upon educating and alerting/sensitizing the youth through sport’s powerful force so that the Olympic Ideals can succeed in taking root and flourishing. Sport, as a tool for strengthening respect for the Olympic Values, can contribute to the gradual building of a Culture of Peace by the new generation.