19 Jan 2022 – A commemorative collection of stamps on the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 to highlight sport’s contribution to peace around the world has been issued by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in consultation with the International Olympic Committee.

As the first edition to contain evocative elements of the Olympic Winter Games, these “Sport for Peace” stamps are yet another symbol of the UN’s support for the mission of the Olympic Games to unite the best winter sports athletes of the entire world, without any discrimination whatsoever, in peaceful and respectful competition.

The six stamp sheets feature several Olympic winter sports, including ice hockey, snowboard, figure skating, bobsleigh, curling and alpine skiing. The stamps were illustrated by China’s Feifei Ruan and designed by Rorie Katz (United Nations). They can be obtained via the official unstamps.org website or from the UNPA shops in New York, Vienna and Geneva.

The stamps are related to the UN Truce Resolution entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”. This was adopted by consensus of all 193 UN Member States and co-sponsored by 173 Member States at the 76^th Session of the UN General Assembly on 2 December 2021. It demonstrates the recognition by the UN’s international community of the power of sport and the relevance of the Olympic Games to bring the world together in peaceful competition, providing hope for a better future.

The Resolution calls for the observance of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Beijing 2022, from seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, until seven days after the end of the Paralympic Games.

It “underlines the importance of cooperation among Member States to collectively implement the values of the Olympic Truce around the world, and emphasises the important role of the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the United Nations in this regard”.

The Resolution also supports “the expectation that the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be a meaningful opportunity to harness the power of sport to advance the world by fostering an atmosphere of peace, development, resilience, tolerance and understanding, and welcoming all the delegations of National Olympic and Paralympic Committees to participate in the Games”.

It “calls upon all Member States to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games”.