Generations For Peace (GFP), a Jordan-based global non-profit organization in partnership with Youngstars Development Initiative, an international nongovernmental organisation will begin the scaling up of its Sports for Peace Programme For Children (SPPC) event at St. Peters Mission School at Ashaley Botwe near Madina in Accra.
This follows the successfully completion of its one year programme for 40 school children in that school.
The programme which begins this Thursday June 23, 2016 will take 40 school children of St. Peters Mission School through a nine month programme of developing respect, building trust, fostering cooperation, taking responsibility among others using sports. The children would be taken through a two hour session once a week.
To ensure successful implementation of the programme, GFP/YDI trained seven more volunteers in March 2016, including teachers of St. Peters school in peace building through sports activities. The volunteers were taken through a four day intensive training on conflict analysis and transformation, theory and expressions of change, session designing, monitoring and evaluation among others.
Commenting on the upcoming event, Naa Adei Boateng, Country Director for Youngstars Development Initiative and Lead Pioneer GFP said: “The Sport For Peace Programme has the capacity to transform the lives and attitudes of the children and even the volunteers, the school and various communities the participants are from.”
She emphasized that GFP and YDI are employing sports as a means to unite children from different class and age levels. Most students lack communication skills “I truly believe sports can help to bridge the gap between social divides and also help to reduce violence. Every child no matter how they misbehave have goodness inside them, we will use the peace building activities to bring them out and increase their self-esteem”.
“In our current world of wars and strife leading to death and loss of properties and huge migration issues, it is imperative that we find a solution –peace, thus our resolve to Emerging Leaders of Peace and let them understand the essence of peace. The only way to do away with conflict is plant the Seed of Peace”.
Parents and other stakeholders have called on the GFP/YDI to scale up the programme due to its impact. The programme eventually won the Impact category award at the 2015 Samsung Generations For Peace Awards for Innovation, Quality, Impact and Sustainability.
African Eye Report
