OPENING REMARKS, Christina Meinecke, Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the European Union.

9 October 2026, UN House in Brussels.

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Dear colleagues, partners and friends,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you back to the UN House.

For some of us, this is the second day of a conversation that began here yesterday. On 8 October, our annual Racism, Discrimination and Health event focused on the intersection of racism, gender-based violence and women’s health. We discussed a central human rights question: what happens when discrimination shapes not only access to health care, but also the conditions in which people can protect their health, exercise autonomy and live with dignity?

Today, we continue that conversation from a different, and much less explored, angle. We turn to racism, ageing and sport, and to what their intersection means for the right to health.