The United Nations (UN) will mark its 70th birthday on 24 October and the occasion will be celebrated by a two-week long festival of unique sports events organised by UN staff.

Sport is used by UN in many crisis areas to advance peace through bridging communities, with many of the activities driven by the United Nations Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) organisation.

A recent example of an UNOSDP’s initiative is the first-ever grassroots football course held in war-torn Gaza earlier this month, organised in partnership with FIFA.

The course saw 30 local coaches being trained to FIFA standards and it’s hoped that the participants will be able to run self-sufficient grassroots football projects in co-operation with the Palestinian Football Association.

The celebratory events during the UN’s birthday week will range from a football festival in Togo to a marathon in Beirut.

Full listings and updates of the week will be available across the UNOSDP Facebook page and other social media channels.

To read more about the UN’s 70th birtday celebrations, click here.