Peace and Sport, the international organization based in Monaco which promotes peace using the power of sport, will join forces with the World Rafting Federation (WRF) to use rafting as a tool for social inclusion and overcoming differences.

The World Rafting Federation is an Associate Member of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) who is responsible for rafting under the umbrella of ICF. It currently has 40 members and it leads programs in South Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.

As part of the cooperation agreement, Peace and Sport and the World Rafting Federation will undertake joint sport diplomacy actions and organize initiatives to raise awareness on Sport for Development and Peace among the rafting community. As first step in the cooperation, the World Rafting Federation will take part to the upcoming worldwide celebration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), on April 6. Further joint actions will be organized on the occasion of the 2021 World Rafting Federation Championship to take place from June 28 to July 3 in Argentières-Pays des Ecrins (France).

Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport, declared:

“I warmly welcome this new alliance between Peace and Sport and the World Rafting Federation. In peacebuilding processes, rafting has fostered reconciliation and rehabilitation in very efficient ways. This sport naturally fosters cooperation, as it makes people face together the wilderness of white waters, and it transmits values of tolerance and inclusion; it is a tool to create bonds within and between communities. We expect that this partnership will increase the social impact of our peace-through-sport initiatives.”

“I think that peace and sport are both an input and a result for the development of the worldwide society. The values we learn from challenges and physical efforts improve not only our body conditions: they are only a starting point and a small part of what sports give us. Sport is a vehicle for respect and sharing, and I think that our team sport, in close contact with nature, has a lot to give and to learn from Your movement. I am sure this is the beginning of a great common project” said Danilo Barmaz, WRF President.