Generations for Peace and FIBA Foundation sign partnership to develop sport for peace programs in South Sudan
AMMAN, Jordan/MIES, Switzerland - Generations For Peace and FIBA's Foundation, the International Basketball Foundation (IBF), on Monday signed a pioneering three-year partnership to develop sport for peace programs for youth in the capital of South Sudan, Juba.
Generations For Peace and the IBF, with the support of the South Sudan Basketball Federation and the South Sudan National Olympic Committee, will work together to develop 3x3 basketball programs to address existing inter-tribal conflict and improve the relationship among and between youth from the Dinka and Nuer tribes in Juba. The programs will provide a safe space to play sport and for the youth from two tribes to interact, break stereotypes and build greater tolerance, trust and understanding. All activities will be delivered in Area 107, a residential area that has been converted into an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp located in the heart of South Sudanese capital, Juba.
His Royal Highness Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, Founder and Chairman of Generations For Peace, said: "We are delighted to sign this new partnership with the International Basketball Foundation. With the support of our two local program partners, the South Sudanese Basketball Federation and the South Sudanese Olympic Committee, we will use basketball to create safe spaces and build greater trust, tolerance and understanding among and between youth in rival tribes in vulnerable communities in Juba."
IBF President and FIBA Honorary President Yvan Mainini added: "We are delighted with the cooperation with such a well-respected non-profit organization as Generations for Peace. It fits very well within the strategy of the Foundation to address social and educational issues with basketball. The new 3x3 basketball discipline is ideal to support the values and objectives of the program and addresses youngsters of both genders."
The joint 3x3 basketball-specific curriculum led by local Generations For Peace volunteers will engage 560 youth from the Dinka and Nuer tribes, traditionally rivals in the area, in ongoing, carefully facilitated activities to build sustainable capacity to resolve conflicts without violence. Approximately 2,500 members of the wider community will also benefit from advocacy events sponsored by the program.
As part of the partnership, volunteers who take part in the program will gain access to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Academy an online e-learning tool through which they will receive a diploma upon successful delivery of their program.
Generations For Peace established a satellite office in Juba soon after South Sudan's independence was ratified by the United Nations in 2011, and has been working ever since to equip local Generations For Peace-trained volunteers with the skills they need to create lasting positive change in the world’s youngest nation.
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About Generations for Peace
Generations For Peace (GFP) is a Jordan-based global non-profit organisation founded by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein and Sarah Kabbani, dedicated to sustainable peace building and conflict transformation through sport, arts, advocacy, dialogue and empowerment.
By providing unique training and continuous support and mentoring to volunteer leaders of youth, GFP empowers them to lead and cascade change in their communities, promoting active tolerance and responsible citizenship and working at the grassroots to address local issues of conflict and violence.
GFP uses sport as an entry point to engage with children and youth, and our carefully-facilitated sport-based games provide a vehicle for integrated education and behaviour change. In addition to our sport-based approaches, GFP has also developed arts, advocacy, dialogue, and empowerment activities to support conflict transformation with children, youth and adults in different contexts.
In the last eight years, we have trained and mentored more than 8,900 volunteer leaders of youth in 50 countries and territories in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. With our support, their ongoing programmes address local issues of conflict and violence, and have touched the lives of more than 227,090 children, youth and adults.
GFP is ranked 32nd in the “Top 500 NGOs in the World” for 2015 by Global Geneva. The ranking assesses non-governmental organisations according to innovation, impact, and sustainability.
GFP is also the only peace-through-sport organisation officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
For more information, visit generationsforpeace.org
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About IBF
The International Basketball Foundation (IBF) was founded in 2008 by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. The Foundation is the social, educational and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports and particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage. Its main areas of activities are educational programmes for administrators, the management of FIBA’s archives, the establishment, housing and promotion of basketball's history and memorabilia as well as the FIBA Hall of Fame. It also owns and manages the House of Basketball, FIBA’s worldwide headquarters.
For more information, visit fiba.com/foundation