Over the years, Mutaz Barshim has stood out as an outstanding athlete. During the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, he won the gold medal in high jump and decided to share the podium with Gianmarco Tamberi. By sharing the high jump gold medal rather than putting it on the line in a jump-off, he sent a strong message of friendship.
Most children from poor families in Kigali drop out of school mostly due to poverty, family disputes, polygamy among other issues. The few who are lucky to continue their education especially in GS Kimisagara highlighted to AKWOS (Organization of Women in Sport) Rwanda that the Peace Makers Project has made them learn how to resolve conflict in school and in their respective communities so as to reduce family conflicts most of which hamper children’s performance in school, to that regard they refer themselves as “Peace Makers”.
Aminata Makou Traore is a Taekwondoist and the President of APJS Mali, a partner organization from the Peacemakers Project. While sport remains a « poor relation » in Mali, she describes the actions of APJS to accelerate social development in Mali.
« We support the projects of Malian athletes, in particular for their conversion. We help out-of-school children to bring them, through sport, an activity, and an education. We organize seminars for business leaders to convince them of the importance of investing in sports. We are at the origin of an International Forum on Sport, in which Peace and Sport has participated since 2019. But we never lose sight of the specific context of Mali, a country where agriculture still needs a vast amount of manual labour and thousands of villages lack drinking water. We are the first association to bring sport for women to neighbourhoods, through a program called “Sport between neighbours”. We also organized a collective march, the “Parcours des Yelenis”, in collaboration with the Olympic Committee of Mali. »
Gerson Florez is a man committed to peace and the Founder of the Cop Colombia International, a social football club located in Usme, a vulnerable district of Bogota.
“When I was a child, I became the spokeperson of children affected by anti-personnel mines. I was nominated to several high distinctions such as the Youth Prize for Peace and Tolerance. During a trip to Norway, I met the President of the Norwegian Football Federation and discovered the Norway Cup; an international youth football tournament held in Oslo.”
“The story of COP Colombia and the story of our beneficiaries demonstrates that global efforts towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals will not be achieved without peace education programs and the meaningful participation of the youth. In the aftermath of a conflict, such as Colombia’s conflict, peace-oriented education and sport activities are essential to foster resilience and help young people to manage conflicts in a non-violent manner.”
The Sport Academy Department Daniele Nardi start in 2022 a new mission for help the people with less opportunity to have a new life. Sport & Education for give more opportunities to the people arriving with nothing.
Since December 2021, the #PeacemakersProject is implemented in 4 schools in Rwanda in partnership with AKWOS – the Organization of Kigali Women in Sports. Clementine Kagarama is a teacher and peace animator in Ape Rugunga School, in Kigali.
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