24 October 2024 – IOC President Thomas Bach was welcomed to Uganda by the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), Donald Rukare, and the IOC Member in Uganda, William Blick, who accompanied the President throughout the visit.

Together with Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei and fellow Olympians Winnie Nanyondo and Halima Nakaayi, he visited the Uganda Wildlife Authority Centre and planted a tree which is symbolically a part of the Olympic Forest Network – a worldwide network of forests initiated by the IOC.

That evening, there was a Q&A session with Ugandan athletes before a gala dinner. The athletes thanked the IOC for all its support and praised the Olympic Games Paris 2024. They asked about the many opportunities to benefit from the Athlete365 network programmes.

At the gala dinner, President Bach congratulated the Ugandan Olympians on their performances at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. He highlighted that the Games were the “only event in the world that can unite the world in such troubled times”. He added that this was only possible because of the IOC’s strong stance on political neutrality.

Also speaking at the gala, the President of the NOC and the Sports Minister praised the performances of their athletes at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and highlighted the power of sport to bring their country and the world together.

The next day, at a meeting with the Ugandan Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, President Bach was joined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.

President Bach said: “The National Olympic Committee in Uganda is not only doing a great job with regard to sport, but also in all our efforts to support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. There, we see a number of activities concerning gender parity, sustainable development, climate change, safeguarding of athletes and refugees.”

The Prime Minister highlighted what she called “our shared vision of empowering refugees through sports, through the IOC’s Game Connect initiative”. She added: “Sports can serve as a powerful tool for peace, unity and social inclusion; between refugees and host communities.”

The President and the High Commissioner for Refugees then visited a Game Connect project in the urban slums of Kampala, where many refugees live. Game Connect, organised under the umbrella of the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF), helps the mental health and well-being of refugees and their social inclusion through sport in settlements across Uganda.

The pair were given a detailed explanation from leaders of the various Game Connect projects and how it works with young refugees. Then the President and the High Commissioner joined in some of the activities with the refugees, who have gone through traumatic circumstances and been forced to leave their countries. Together with the refugees, they played a range of games designed to offer therapy through sport.

The ORF programme supports over 16,500 young refugees through sport in Uganda, which is the largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with 1.7 million refugees. An independent evaluation by Makerere University found that 79 per cent of refugees experienced improvements in psychological well-being, anxiety and depression after taking part in the project.

“The figures and statistics are very impressive, but when you meet the young refugees and see their faces, you really understand how impressive this programme is.”

Thomas Bach – IOC President

Next, President Bach visited the Uganda Olympic Committee headquarters, where he signed the NOC’s “Golden Book”, congratulating the NOC on all the great work it is doing to promote sport and the Olympic values. He had a meeting with the UOC’s Executive Board, who thanked the IOC for its support and highlighted their athletes’ successes at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Later, the President, accompanied by the High Commissioner for Refugees, met with the President of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, and the First Lady, Janet Museveni, who is Minister for Education and Sport.

President Museveni thanked the IOC for “all your support for our local National Olympic Committee”, and praised the IOC for the Game Connect initiative that links sport and refugees, adding: “I am interested in how they have linked sport to refugees; this is quite innovative and a great initiative.”

He also praised the success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and, as the current Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), he fully appreciated the IOC’s position on political neutrality and sport, as demonstrated by the participation of athletes from the territories of all 206 National Olympic Committees at the Olympic Games in Paris.

The visit to Uganda finished with a farewell celebration hosted by the Uganda Olympic Committee and the government, where those in attendance were treated to an impressive display of Ugandan culture.