HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace, admits to being ‘humbled’ by the 60 delegates from 11 countries that have completed the first camp of 2009, held in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayef Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister.

Speaking at the closing press conference, HRH Prince Feisal said: “Hearing the stories that some of these delegates have shared has been truly humbling and I can reassure them that they will never be alone as Generations For Peace Pioneers of the future. They will now return home with the comfort that Generations For Peace will be with them every step of the way as they use sport to try and make a difference within their own troubled communities.”

Launched in 2007 as a global initiative to use sport to bring young people from both sides of the divide together, Generations For Peace visited Abu Dhabi for its first camp to be held outside of Jordan.

HH Sheikh Hamdan is the initiative’s Founding Partner and his support has come in for widespread praise.

“This camp has been possible due to the support of HH Sheikh Hamdan who is a truly honourable humanitarian. On behalf of all of us at Generations For Peace, I would like to thank His Highness and I look forward to growing this project together under one shared vision.”

Delegates from the UAE were joined by leaders of youth from Nigeria, Iraq, Palestine, Oman, Lebanon, India, Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. In total, 60 delegates enjoyed interactive classroom sessions combined with practical sports covering rules and skills in four sports: Football, Basketball, Softball and Volleyball. The curriculum stressed 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.

Generations For Peace has succeeded in bringing together like-minded individuals and partners who believe that commonalities outweigh differences and that planting the seeds of peace is a shared responsibility for all. The cascade programme has resulted in growing numbers of Generations For Peace projects being instigated in the countries to where graduates have returned to after their training. The Camps also teach participants how to train other trainers, who can then plan and implement sporting programmes with children through a series of workshops, interactive seminars, presentations, debates, role-play and sporting sessions. Topics cover leadership, teamwork, building dialogue, tolerance and respect, anger management, conflict transformation, peace education, working with children & youth, self confidence, sport, religion and politics. Peace Pioneers are expected to train at least 20 trainers every year; work with at least 100-200 children annually; be an advocate for peace and to promote Generations For Peace; and to support other Peace Pioneers.

Abu Dhabi marked a new relationship with Samsung Electronics as a regional partner while the National Basketball Association also got involved for the first time. Numerous International Federations supported the camp by providing coaches including the International Softball Federation (ISF), and a professional coach from British football club Brighton & Hove Albion. Al Jazira Club provided facilities and professional coaches.