Amman, Jordan: HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace, admits to being humbled by the ‘extraordinary’ delegates from 13 countries that have completed the global initiative’s fifth camp, held in Amman, Jordan.
Speaking at the close of the 2nd Amman Camp 2009, during which it was confirmed that Generations For Peace had received ‘Recognised Organisation’ status from the International Olympic Committee, HRH Prince Feisal said: “It has been an incredible 10 days. The delegates have been an inspiration and I can reassure them that they will never be alone as Generations For Peace Pioneers of the future.
“When you look at them; when you meet them; when you get to know them, as I have done, you will be struck by how these are ordinary, young people setting out to achieve extraordinary things.
“These delegates are not ego-driven or financially-driven. They all have a clear vision for how they can help make a positive difference in their regions.”
Following 10 days of intensive peace building and conflict resolution tuition combined with professional sports instruction, the 80 delegates will now begin the hard work of implementing Generations For Peace projects back home in order to become Generations For Peace Pioneers.
Delegates from Afghanistan, Burundi, India, Jordan, Nepal, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sri Lanka as well as first time participants Indonesia, Kenya, and Timor-Leste have been in Amman, taking the total number of countries that now have Generations For Peace representation to 31.
Amman represented the fifth international camp hosted by the global initiative since 2007 following three previous Amman camps and one that was hosted in Abu Dhabi by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Founding Partner for Generations For Peace.
Over the past 10 days, world-renowned professionals in conflict resolution and communication trainers have delivered the unique Peace Pioneer Certification Programme alongside international instructors in softball, football and basketball.
The training programme is composed of an Introductory module providing orientation to the certification programme and the use of sport for peace, and four key modules which focus on the roles Peace Pioneers will undertake within their communities: Peace Building; instructing children; training of the trainers; Advocacy for Generations For Peace and Partners to the local communities.
They learned how to teach basic sports skills and specific drills to help build an atmosphere of friendship and instill tolerance and understanding among young people from different sides of the divide.
Generations For Peace has succeeded in bringing together like-minded individuals and partners who believe that commonalities outweigh differences and that planting the seeds of peace is a shared responsibility for all.
The Camps also teach participants how to train other trainers, who can then plan and implement sporting programmes with children through a series of workshops, interactive seminars, presentations, debates, role-play and sporting sessions.
Topics cover leadership, teamwork, building dialogue, tolerance and respect, anger management, conflict transformation, peace education, working with children & youth, self confidence, sport, religion and politics. Peace Pioneers are expected to train at least 20 trainers every year; work with at least 100-200 children annually; be an advocate for peace and to promote Generations For Peace; and to support other Peace Pioneers.
This latest camp also marked the continuation of the initiative’s relationship with Samsung Electronics as the Official Partner while the International Softball Federation has supported Generations For Peace at each of its Camps to date as a Programme Partner. British team Brighton & Hove Albion sent a coach to run the football programme while Camp 09 Official Suppliers included Danao Juice, SAMA Mineral Water, Fly Sportswear and Mr Chips provided by M. Haddad & Sons Co.