This year’s Winter Olympics should continue a tradition started in Ancient Greece where a truce stopped all wars for the Games.  This fall Italy proposed a global truce in all armed conflicts for the 2026 Winter Olympics it is hosting from Feb. 6-22. 

The UN General Assembly adopted the truce resolution stating that the Olympics “can be a tool to promote peace, dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation.” But these words must come with action for peace by all nations.   

World leaders and citizens should support an Olympic Truce backed by humanitarian aid to stop the starvation in war zones, especially among children. We can each encourage our elected officials to support the Truce and also donate to charities providing aid to the war victims. 

During these Games we can’t just ignore the fact that people are suffering in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Congo, South Sudan and many other areas impacted by war. We are in the biggest global hunger emergency since the end of World War II, and conflict is the main driver. 

One of the big tragedies of the past year has been the budget cuts by the United States and other nations to programs that feed war and disaster victims. The Winter Olympics would be a chance to turn this around and revive humanitarian aid funding. 

Italy’s Giovanni Malagò, president of the organizing committee for the Winter Olympics, says the Games are more than just an exciting athletic competition as “throughout their history they have demonstrated something even more powerful — a sense of humanity which transcends even the greatest of athletic achievements.”

What the world needs amid all the wars and starvation is more humanity and a return of “the lamp of compassion.” It was 80 years ago when Herbert Hoover used this term when organizing the effort to stop the biggest famine in history after World War II. America and allies rallied to save millions of people from starvation and rebuild war-torn nations. 

Today, we have a chance to do something great too for world peace. The United States should lead the way in getting the global Olympic Truce to take effect with robust humanitarian aid to save lives. 

Italy is actually the home base for the UN World Food Program (WFP) which leads hunger relief missions worldwide. A show of support for hunger relief would be crucial as WFP is being forced to cut rations to war victims because of low funding. 

We should be increasing our support of global food aid at a time of war and famine. President Dwight Eisenhower’s Food for Peace program should be strengthened as it helps WFP and can bring stability to many war-torn areas. 

The WFP estimates 318 million people worldwide will face crisis levels of hunger in 2026. In Sudan there is currently famine caused by the ongoing civil war.

Meanwhile, funding for wars and armaments far exceeds the funding for global food aid. WFP, UNICEF, Save the Children, Mary’s Meals, CARE, Catholic Relief Services and other charities need more donations to keep up with the massive emergencies taking place. 

Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response says that in Sudan, “WFP has been forced to reduce rations to the absolute minimum for survival. By the end of March, we will have depleted our food stocks in Sudan. Without immediate additional funding, millions of people will be left without vital food assistance within weeks.“

An Olympic Truce backed by food aid could save Sudan right now as well as other conflict affected nations. 

The Olympics are a powerful global event for bringing people of all nations together in sport. An Olympic Truce today just might give peace the chance it needs to take over and end the suffering caused by these wars. 

William Lambers is the author of “The Road to Peace” and partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network and many other news outlets.