Peace and Sport Champions for Peace assemble for 2017 Friendship Games in Burundi
The Friendship Games began in Bujumbura, Burundi on 11 August in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of Burundi and nine International Federations.
The event, which brings together 200 children from Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, will see a host of international federations, diplomats and local authority representatives join Peace and Sport’s Champions for Peace in the Great African Lakes region to promote better inter-cultural dialogue and to endorse the power of sport for change.
Olympian Taekwendo Pascal Gentil is one such Champion for Peace who will attend the Games, representing the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee. Gentil, a double Olympic medallist and triple world champion, will share the Olympic values of togetherness, friendship and respect and will lead the martial arts competitions and also run workshops for children throughout the two day event.
Elsewhere, French Athletics Paralympian Jean-Baptiste Alaize, fresh from his bronze medal winning performance at the London 2017 IAAF Para World Championships, will revisit the country of his birth and speak of his experiences as a child in war torn Burundi and the injuries he sustained there which propelled him towards his Paralympic career.
On top of this, Jean-François Tordo, former captain of the French national rugby team, will offer his technical expertise through our Sport Simple initiative, using handmade sport equipment to train children. Sport Simple is an initiative that sees sporting practice areas, equipment and rules adapted to resources, environment and aims to promote a ‘sport for all’ approach.
Alongside the Champions for Peace, a host of International Federations are also involved in the Games, including:
- International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
- International Basketball Federation (FIBA)
- International Boxing Association (AIBA)
- International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB)
- International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF)
- International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
- World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)
- World Karate Federation (WKF)
- World Taekwondo (WT)
Peace and Sport currently helps to support six sports centres within the African Great Lakes region, all of which use sport to promote social inclusion, education, and inter-ethnic dialogue. The games take place annually and promote the good work sport is doing within the area.
Champion for Peace and Paris 2024 ambassador, Pascal Gentil, said:
“It is amazing to come here and see so many children enjoying sport and using it as a tool for dialogue and sharing. I cannot wait to get started tomorrow and see so many happy faces."
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