Generations For Peace celebrates first ever International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

Celebrating the first IDSDP, Generations For Peace volunteers in fifteen countries led activities to demonstrate how sport can be used as a powerful tool to bridge gender, religious and ethnic divides in their communities.

Generations For Peace volunteers in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Uganda and Yemen joined the worldwide call to action. Demonstrating Generations For Peace carefully-designed sport-based games, the volunteers showed the effectiveness of sport as a universal language and vehicle for change to address conflict and violence.

The activities helped boost awareness and support for their ongoing work in their communities. HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace, emphasised the significance of IDSDP: “I was delighted when the UN General Assembly declared 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. This is an important day to engage children and youth in sport. It helps promote and boost the work that our Generations For Peace volunteers around the world are carrying out each day and week to lead change in their own communities. They are using sport as a powerful entry point to engage with children and youth to raise awareness and help tackle local issues of conflict and violence, inequality and exclusion, and social development.”

In Kabul, Afghanistan, Generations For Peace volunteers organised a demonstration football match between local young people from Miakhel and Sahak, two villages in Kabul Province in conflict over land. The match was organised for 30 male youth playing in mixed teams from the two rival villages. During the closing there was a discussion and reflection from the participants and audience about the match, and how sport can be used for development and peace.