POSTED: 2012-04-24 14:04:24
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA: The first Peace and Sport forum to be held in the Middle East will take place next year in Dubai targeting spreading peace in the region.
The organization formed a partnership with the Dubai Sports Council to hold the meeting and to further the mission of using sport as a driving force for development, education, social cohesion and peace.
Mattar Al Tayer, deputy chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, said, “We are very proud of the partnership that we are signing today with Peace and Sport, an organization with such an international reputation that we are honoured to be associated with.
Furthermore, the partnership is fully in line with Dubai’s policy to promote human development, fight poverty, spread knowledge, empower young people and give them the means to become self-reliant, plus encourage communication and tolerance between cultures. The alliance with Peace and Sport gives the Dubai Sports Council renewed ambition to support the ideals and the values of peace brought by the sport movement.”
Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, is the high patron of the event where they expect 200 key figures to take part in the 3 day meeting.
Joel Bouzou, founder and head of Peace and Sport, noted on the significance for the organization, “In just a few years Dubai has succeeded in using sport as a springboard to enhance its international outreach.
“Today, this partnership marks another major step that will foster peace, stability and development in the region thanks to sport.
“Having a presence in the Middle-East based in Dubai and establishing a partnership with the Dubai Sports Council is a coherent and logical move for Peace and Sport.
“The Emirate of Dubai plays and will increasingly play a pivotal role in international relations during the 21st century, thanks to the vision and leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This privileged situation will give our cause greater visibility to an audience of some of the most influential leaders and decision-makers.
“Dubai is a natural partner for us as it also represents a haven of neutrality and stability in the Middle-East region, key elements for peace-building that Peace and Sport strives to preserve throughout all its activities.”
The Forum will be the start of a number of actions that the two organizations will collaborate on which will be activities focused on raising the awareness among key decision makers about sport’s power to intervene, field programs that will interact with the most disadvantaged areas in the region and abroad, the involvement of elite Arab athlete to mentor and work as role models.
The initiative was born of the unrest and social, economic and political upheavals in the aftermath of the “Arab Spring”.
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
Keir Radnedge ()
All original materials contained in this section are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Sports Features Communications, Inc the owner of that content. It is prohibited to alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.