IOC Olympic Solidarity has published its 2015 Annual Report and posted it on the IOC website.

The report summarizes the most important results achieved by Olympic Solidarity Programmes, as well as details of the various actions undertaken to benefit the NOCs in 2015 through world and continental programmes.

More than 100 million were invested in 2015 for development and assistance, representing 23.85 per cent of the total quadrennial budget 201372016.

With the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio, in 2015 the NOCs essentially focused on preparing their athletes for these events.

For Europe, in 2015, the EOC managed the Olympic Solidarity continental programmes with a budget of USD 8,656,000.

In line with its policy of prudence, the EOC did not divide the quadrennial budget into four equal annual parts, but started with a lower amount for the first year and progressively increased it according to need, also considering that the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) and the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE?) take place in alternate years, requiring additional expenditure in those years.

In 2015, 75% of revenue was redirected to NOCs, whilst only 10% of the total budget was allocated to administration and 5% for institutional meetings (General Assembly and Seminar), meaning the EOC spent half the combined maximum of 30% recommended by Olympic Solidarity in these two areas. The remaining 10% went on other EOC activities, such as meetings of the Executive Committee and the Commissions.

The EOC also focused on ensuring the continued success of the EYOF, which is considered a crucial part of its activities.

However, its main priority last year was the European Games, the first edition of which took place in Baku (Azerbaijan) in June 2015. No Olympic Solidarity funds were or will be spent on the European Games, as they are funded commercially from other sources.

The new financial control programme for better control of NOCs’ spending of Olympic Solidarity funds took a considerable step forward, with audits of 25 European NOCs. The Olympic Solidarity continental office for Europe helped the auditors and the Lausanne international office to implement the programme.

“The National Olympic Committees were able to make the most of the programmes, which were fully operational in this third year of the 2013–2016 quadrennial plan, thanks to excellent knowledge of the various administrative and financial procedures to follow.
“They thus set up numerous activities on their territories and developed their own projects in the four action areas covered by Olympic Solidarity – athletes, coaches, NOC management and promotion of the Olympic values –, as shown by the excellent results presented in this report”, commented Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Chair of the Olympic Solidarity Commission.

Whilst Olympic Solidarity Director Pere Miró wrote: “The continental associations and ANOC widely contributed to developing the part of the report devoted to the continental programmes”.