The global initiative, Generations For Peace, opened its first camp outside Jordan today in Abu Dhabi.
HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan launched Generations For Peace in 2007. The program brings together leaders of youth from divided communities and trains them to use sport to unite the young.
Sixty-nine delegates from 10 countries are taking part in the 10-day program.
HRH Prince Feisal announced a “significant” partnership agreement with Samsung Electronics who will provide equipment and support for Generations For Peace during 2009.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) will also be supporting Peace Camp 09 by providing coaching and curriculum support. NBA All-Star Roland Blackman and Olympic Gold Medallist Jennifer Azzi will be on site lending basketball instruction to the camp delegates.
HRH Prince Feisal said, “we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our great humanitarian, founding partner, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan for his invitation to hold our third camp in Abu Dhabi. As a result of our previous two camps nearly 150 graduates have returned to 16 countries to cascade their new knowledge and skills to thousands of young people. We are looking forward to these numbers accelerating further and into new territories after this first camp of 2009 and have HH Sheikh Hamdan for making this possible”.
Al Jazira Club Abu Dhabi UAE, a professional sports club, is providing sports facilities and equipment, coaches, and two of its top players. The English professional football team Brighton and Hove Albion is providing coaching and program support, while the International Softball Federation (ISF) is returning to provide coaching and equipment as well as “significant” support for the Generations For Peace Pioneer Programme.
There have been two hugely successful international camps in Amman, said a press release, and Abu Dhabi will mark the first time that the intensive 10-day program has been held outside of Jordan.
The sixty-nine delegates will take part in interactive classroom sessions combined with practical sports covering rules and skills in four sports – basketball, football, softball and volleyball.
The curriculum stresses peace building, focusing on the need to build tolerance and understanding so that youth from communities in conflict can find common grounds rather than be divided by differences.
Delegates from Nigeria, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon have taken part in the program, but for the first time there will be delegates from India, Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, as well as the host country.
