Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 26/18 which requests the Special Rapporteur, in consultation with States, UN entities, and relevant stakeholders, to carry out a study and prepare a report on the theme “Sport and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”

The report explores the obligations of Member States of the United Nations and non-State actors regarding sport and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health. The report looks at sport and physical activity in particular, and identifies the vital role that private corporations and sporting organizations (including international sporting bodies) play in securing realization of the right to health through sport and healthy lifestyles.

These entities should ensure that their policies and programmes, including those around major sporting events, do not undermine health rights, and are in accord with international human rights law. In particular, they should remove any requirement for women athletes, including intersex and transgender women athletes, to undergo unnecessary medical procedures in order to participate in competitive sport (international sporting bodies).