Just 43 days before the start of the Peace and Sport International Forum, The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS), a pan-European organisation dedicated to raising awareness of Azerbaijan on a pan-European level, has signed a partnership agreement with the international Peace and Sport organisation, based in the Principality of Monaco. The agreement is designed to finance the ‘One Step for Peace’ charity operation which will take place during the next edition of the Forum, to be held in Monaco from 23–25 November 2016.

The annual ‘One step for Peace’ campaign

By inviting delegates to raise funds whilst walking, the Peace and Sport International Forum applies the cumulative energy of all participants for the development of the ‘peace through sport’ programme.

During the period they spend at the event, all participants are equipped with a pedometer and invited to take as many steps as possible.

At the end of the Forum, the total number of steps taken are calculated and transformed into money, which is then given to the Peace and Sport organisation.

This fundraising model offers those business stakeholders who are eager to be involved in the peace-through-sport cause an opportunity to finance a project, and benefit from the publicity that such a world-scale event as the Peace and Sport International Forum can offer.

Last year, the campaign raised over €15k through the support of the National Union of Professional Footballers, official sponsor of the 2015 edition.

This year, the Peace and Sport International Forum is particularly proud to announce TEAS as its new partner for the 2016 edition. The funds raised by TEAS will be donated to the field programmes of the organisation.

The Ninth Peace and Sport International Forum

The Ninth iteration of the Peace and Sport International Forum will bring together opinion-leaders and stakeholders from the worlds of sport and peace – athletes, institutions, governments, sponsors, and charitable associations, focusing on the theme: ‘Game on for peace: mobilising global change through sport’.

Over three days, these champions of peace through sport will meet to brainstorm and propose solutions in order to create synergies and enrich the sustainable-peace-through-sport movement with their experience.

Tale Heydarov, Founder and Chairman, TEAS, will be a speaker at this ninth edition. One of the objectives of TEAS is to highlight the plight of his country’s 875,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). He will speak in Session 5 entitled ‘New arrivals: sport as an integration catalyst’.

When signing the partnership agreement with the Peace and Sport organisation, Mr Heydarov said: “I have always considered sport to be an excellent catalyst for integration and peace-building. This is even more the case for refugees and IDPs. In Azerbaijan, and with TEAS, we are deeply engaged in raising awareness of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs in Europe and beyond, and we think that sport is a very relevant tool in that respect.

”Sport is an amazing tool for peace. This partnership with TEAS, an organisation committed to improving living conditions for refugees and IDPs, will enable us to finance programmes that use sport as a means for the integration and rapprochement of communities.” – Joel Bouzou, President and Founder, Peace and Sport organisation, added.

The participation of the eminent people who will attend the ninth edition of this International Forum will help to raise funds via this operation, which will finance one of Peace and Sport’s field programmes during 2017.