In March 2025, the International Council of Traditional Sports and Games participated in a high-level event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, organised by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). The event — titled "Securing the Legacy: Debriefing from Paris 2024 for Future Major Sporting Events" — commemorated the fifth anniversary of UNOCT's Global Sports Programme.

The Event

The UNOCT Global Sports Programme, launched in 2020, works with sports organisations, governments, and event organisers to address security threats to major sporting events while leveraging sport as a vehicle for the prevention of violent extremism. The Paris 2024 debriefing provided an opportunity to assess the security framework deployed at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and draw lessons for future major events.

ICTSG's Participation

ICTSG was represented at the event, underscoring the organisation's engagement with the global sports governance ecosystem beyond traditional sports advocacy. ICTSG's participation reflects a broader strategic vision: traditional sports, as community-embedded cultural institutions, have an important role to play in UNOCT's framework for using sport as a tool for social cohesion, inclusion, and the prevention of radicalisation.

The session also featured a preview of the upcoming World Indigenous Games 2025 in Brazil, at which ICTSG has a significant programme presence. The World Indigenous Games brings together indigenous athletes from across the Americas and beyond, providing a platform for the documentation and celebration of traditional indigenous sporting disciplines.

ICTSG and Global Sports Security

ICTSG President Khalil Ahmed Khan has consistently articulated the link between traditional sports preservation and community peace-building: communities that maintain strong traditional cultural identities, including through their sporting traditions, demonstrate greater social resilience and cohesion. In this sense, traditional sports are not merely cultural artefacts but active contributors to the social infrastructure that underpins peaceful, stable communities.

ICTSG's engagement with the UN system — including its participation in the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024 — reflects the organisation's growing recognition within intergovernmental circles as a credible voice on sport, culture, and sustainable development.