World Refugee Day: Monaco’s Mission to the UN teams up with Peace and Sport

Projection de La Flamme de la Paix © DR

As part of events to mark World Refugee Day, and in recognition of Monaco being named World Capital of Sport 2025, a special screening of the documentary “The Flame of Peace” took place at Monaco’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, on 19 June 2025.

A co-production by Monaco Info and Peace and Sport, the documentary follows a year in the organisation’s work around the globe - from Monaco to the Middle East, via Latin America, India, and Africa - showing how sport can be a powerful way to promote peace, social cohesion, and hope, even in the most challenging situations. In the film, some of the coaches, young people, and Peace Champions involved with the initiatives share their inspiring stories, giving viewers an insight into sport’s power to overcome barriers, restore dignity, and help displaced people to integrate.

The screening was followed by a round-table discussion with two iconic personalities:

• Marlène Nidecker, Olympic taekwondo medallist and member of the Champions for Peace Club, who has spent years working to promote access to sport for young people in Africa, through the Heart Angel foundation.

• Ali Hussein, Syrian refugee and kickboxing coach, whose work with young people at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan helped to change lives and bring hope to a generation living in exile.

The event highlights the Principality of Monaco’s unwavering commitment to leveraging sport as a way to promote development, protection, and inclusion, especially for forcibly displaced persons, of whom the UN High Commission for Refugees estimates there are now more than 120 million worldwide.