HRH Prince Feisal initiative sets new targets as latest member of the Olympic family
Amman, Jordan: Generations For Peace, the global peace through sport initiative created by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, is set to reach and benefit all five Olympic continents following official recognition granted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Official IOC status will enable Generations For Peace to connect and partner with all the organizations within the worldwide Olympic Family by offering a proven model of sport enabling social development and peace.
Generations For Peace trains leaders of youth in regions experiencing conflict in how to use sport to build tolerance and reconciliation amongst young people from all sides of the conflict divide.
The prestigious IOC recognition status was announced by the IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne this week, following the incredible impact that Generations For Peace has made since inception in 2007. The news was greeted with cheers and applause by the 80 leaders of youth from 13 countries currently training at the fifth Generations For Peace international camp in Amman, Jordan.
“On behalf of Generations For Peace, I would like to thank the IOC President, Jacques Rogge and his Executive Board for this great show of support and belief in our vision,” said HRH Prince Feisal.
“We can only achieve our objectives by working with major global organizations and this IOC recognition gives us greater status and opens up the whole Olympic Movement as potential partners. We can now bring forward our aim to stage Generations For Peace Camps on all 5 Olympic Continents before 2013.”
Generations For Peace has already trained 373 leaders of youth from 31 countries experiencing conflict in Asia and Africa. These delegates have since trained 2,000 new trainers and the end result is that over 42,000 young people in conflict regions have begun a process of reconciliation through sport.
Generations For Peace camps uniquely blend academic theory with practical sports coaching programmes with the emphasis on building peace through conflict resolution. This best practice will soon be encapsulated for the world to share when the Generations For Peace Institute opens in Amman in early 2010.
In addition to announcements of camps in other continents, further plans in 2010 include launching a Generations For Peace Masters degree and a Ph.D Fellowship in partnership with two major academic institutions. These will be announced in the next few weeks.
The IOC endorsement has rounded off an incredible week for HRH Prince Feisal who has been nominated by the Executive Board to become one of six new IOC members. That decision will be voted upon at the General Assembly in Vancouver next February.
Tommy Sithole, Director International Cooperation and Development at the IOC, said: “The granting of Recognized Organization status to Generations For Peace is an exciting development for the IOC as it opens up whole new possibilities for partnerships in applying sport to conflict prevention, resolution and peace building, the founding ideal of the Olympic Games. The fast-tracking of this recognition which otherwise would have taken a full two years, is an acknowledgement by the IOC of the important work that Generations For Peace has achieved under its founding President, HRH Prince Feisal bin Al-Hussein.
Congratulations, twice over, for the recognition and the nomination of HRH to IOC Membership. We look forward to even closer working relationship.”