The UNHCR's Slovakia national office head Danijela Popovic-Efendic, left, and SOŠV President Anton Siekel, right, signed the MoU ©SOŠV

The Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee (SOŠV) has become the first European National Olympic Committee (NOC) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Danijela Popovic-Efendic, head of the UNHCR's national office in Slovakia signed the MoU with SOŠV Anton Siekel at the NOC's headquarters in Bratislava.

It aims to use sport to benefit refugees and other displaced people, strengthening the involvement of national sports associations to achieve this goal.

The SOŠV expects the partnership to build on ties between the UNHCR and International Olympic Committee, including the creation of the Olympic Refuge Foundation.

A Refugee Olympic Team debuted at Rio 2016 and featured 29 athletes at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
A Refugee Olympic Team debuted at Rio 2016 and featured 29 athletes at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

It said sport "can support refugees to improve their physical and mental well-being and to create a sense of belonging, helping them to feel included in their host communities".

A Refugee Olympic Team first competed at the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 with 10 athletes, expanding to 29 at Tokyo 2020.

A European Olympic Committees Refugee Team is set to compete at the European Games for the first time later this month at Kraków-Małopolska 2023.

Slovakia has competed as an independent nation at every Olympics since the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Games, following the split of Czechoslovakia the previous year.