Key figures :

• 1580 children involved in the activities, including 50% girls
• 227 peace animators trained to the Peace and Sport Methodology, including 50% women.
• 35 schools involved in 3 West-African countries.
• Training sessions of peace animators have concluded and 6 organizations have started the activities with the beneficiaries.
• More than 80 ready-to-use football sessions.

Partners:

• 10 field partner organizations : Terres-en-Mêlées, COP Colombia, Fondation ADA, All Black FC, Naandi Foundation, APJS Mali, TIBU Maroc, Clubs RFI Lusenda and Bukavu, National Olympic Committee Burundi, AKWOS Rwanda.
• Oficial partners : MyCoach, Danone Nations Cup,
• Other partners : Rudy’s Kid Foundation, Bolivar Davivienda Foundation.

Last May, Peace and Sport launched the Peacemakers Project, an international program led by Peace and Sport in 10 countries. 10 field partner organizations will use sport as a tool for dialogue and social inclusion, applying the Peace and Sport Methodology devoted to transmitting the positive values of sport and to building peace.

The 6 months of implementation of the Peacemakers Project have been crucial to identify and answer to the needs of the field partner organizations and to optimize the partnerships. Since the start of the international program, more than 1500 children have benefited from peace-through-sport activities and more than 220 peace animators have been trained in the Peace and Sport Methodology in Burkina Faso, Togo, Burundi, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Mali, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Using the Peace and Sport by MyCoach mobile application, the peace animators will reinforce their expertise in peace-through-sport and implement daily sports activities with children through sessions structured around a warm-up, technical exercise, matches and cool down. At the end of each session, children express verbally what they have learned and how they have experienced the activities. The peace animators will provide a critical conduit for information and feedback on target population needs, as well as policy and program impacts. Over the next months, Peace and Sport will partner with leading universities to better monitor and evaluate the impact of each program.

To assess the first results of this international program, we gave the floor to trained peace animators involved in the project :

Ana Carolina Florez Pérez – Cop Colombia:

“The Peace and Sport Methodology is a guided journey that promotes the participation of young girls and boys. It has made it possible to strengthen their autonomy, encourage the development of their creativity and promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts. ”

Yacouba Konaté – Terres-en-Mêlées:

“Having Peace and Sport by our side has enabled us to strengthen the notoriety of our programs among educators. Available in 3 cycles, the Peace and Sport Methodology has enabled us to simplify the learning process while tackling key elements in building a peace culture. ”

Sylvere Nsengiyumva – National Olympic Committee Burundi:

“Through the Peace and Sport Methodology, we teach children to live together, to accept theirselves and to accept the others through sport. The Methodology promotes non-violence among young people and it teaches them values that allow them to solve their problems peacefully. ”

Richard Mugisha – AKWOS Rwanda:

“I strongly believe that the Peacemakers Project will have a long-term impact among children in Rwanda and in the 9 other countries where it is implemented. This program teaches peace values to children using sport as a tool and tackles numerous sustainable development goals such as SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Engaging the youth is one of the key components to build a long lasting peace.”

To celebrate the 6 months of the Peacemakers Project, exceptional Friendship Games will be held in Colombia on 13-14 November with the support of the Colombian Ministry of Sports (Mindeporte). Young players from Bogota and Medellin will join the Peacemakers Project beneficiaries and their peace animators to participate in these Games and learn together about positive values transmitted by sport.