POSTED: Friday October 28th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Peace through Sport Takes First Place on the Podium

Gustavo Kuerten, IAAF, Club Med Foundation, UN agencies, the East Africa Cup and PeacePlayers International win Peace and Sport Awards in Monaco

Copyright-free pictures are available on http://www.peace-sport.org

Monaco, 27 October 2011 - Peace through sport in action is epitomized by seven outstanding initiatives and people, who have been given awards tonight at the 4th Peace and Sport Awards Ceremony. The winners this year put the spotlight on actors from the sports world who have made peace and social cohesion a reality in 2011.

Tonight, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco and Joel Bouzou, President and Founder of "Peace and Sport L'Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport " have distinguished 7 terrific achievements that embody what sport can do to build bridges between divided communities and promote dialogue.

And for the first time, the organization has chosen to reward an athlete for displaying exceptional commitment.

Champion for Peace of the Year Award
-      Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten, world tennis legend and three-time Roland Garros champion was recompensed for his work with the Guga Kuerten Institute (IGK), the non-profit organization he founded. 530 children and adolescents aged 7-15 years and about thirty people with disabilities participate each year in the Guga Kuerten Institute's sports and educational program called "Champions of Life'.

Award for the best peace project from an International Sports Federation
-      The IAAF
The IAAF has developed an educational program for 6-12 year old children offering athletics activities that are fun, attractive, and accessible to all without discrimination. The "Kids'Athletics" program, translated into six languages, uses adapted material, made from local materials, waste products, and natural resources available in the immediate environment.

Award for the Sports Event for Peace of the Year
-      East Africa Cup
The East Africa Cup is a sporting event that brings together young people from 11 to 16 years from eight countries in East Africa and Southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Sudan). Through the organization of football, volleyball and wheelchair volleyball tournaments, the East Africa Cup empowers young people in their home communities and educates the public on many topics such as HIV-AIDS and conflict resolution.

Prize for the best sports Non-Governmental Organization for peace of the year
-      PeacePlayers International
PeacePlayers International (PPI) uses basketball to bring together and educate young people in divided communities. The methodology uses sport to teach young people to break out of cycles of conflict and isolation and to transmit this knowledge to their community. Since its launch in 2001, PPI has helped over 52,000 young people.

Prize for the best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the year
-      Club Med Foundation
The Club Med Foundation's mission is to encourage company employees to carry out volunteer work and transfer their skills by taking part in solidarity actions across the world. The Foundation' schools are based on a simple concept: giving children from severely disadvantaged areas access to sport through Club Med's facilities and instructors.

Special Jury Prize
-      Score the goals
'Teaming Up to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals' is a 32-page educational comic book featuring 10 football UN Goodwill Ambassadors. The book is primarily aimed at 8-14 year old children and provides a fun interactive way to help them understand, familiarize and reflect about the MDGs.

The Grand Prix for the Peace and Sport Image of the Year was awarded to Skateistan for a photograph taken in the streets of Kabul (Afghanistan) June 21, 2011, during International Go Skateboarding Day. The photo shows young skateboarders - boys and girls - in the Afghan capital celebrating the friendship and solidarity that exists among skateboarders from different countries, ethnic backgrounds, genders and religions. This award was first announced at SPORTELMonaco 2011.

Winners of the Peace and Sport Awards were chosen by a jury of eminent personalities deeply invested in peace-promotion or the consolidation of peace through sport: The 2011 jury was composed of:
-          H. E. Nawal EL MOUTAWAKEL, Member of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee and Director of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.
-          H. E. Youssouf FALL, Secretary General of CONFEJES (Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of French -speaking States and Governments)
-          Hein VERBRUGGEN, President of SportAccord
-          Intendant General Lassana PALENFO, President of ACNOA (Association of African National Olympic Committees) and member of the International Olympic Committee
-          Dmitry CHERNYSHENKO, President of the Organizing Committee of Olympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014
-          Marisol CASADO, President of the International Triathlon Union, member of the International Olympic Committee
-          Ralf-René WEINGARTNER, Director of Youth and Sport, Council of Europe
-          Olivier LAOUCHEZ, CEO of Trace TV
The Peace and Sport Awards were launched in 2008 and this year were presented in front of an audience of more than 500 prominent figures from politics, sport, the private sector, civil society who are participating in the 5th Peace and Sport International Forum.

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ABOUT PEACE AND SPORT
"Peace and Sport, L'Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and apolitical international initiative based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Peace and Sport puts sport and its values at the heart of local development projects conducted within communities in crisis around the world. Exercising its missions in post-conflict zones, areas of extreme poverty or lacking social cohesion, Peace and Sport makes sport a vehicle for tolerance, respect, sharing and citizenship at the service of sustainable peace.
Supported by governments, world sport governing bodies, international organizations, major international private companies and international sports champions, Peace and Sport creates synergies between different stakeholders based on four different activities:
- The annual Peace and Sport International Forum (5th edition being held in Monaco from 26-28 October 2011)
- A co-operation platform for peace and sport,
- The Peace and Sport Awards, to reward individuals and initiatives contributing to peace,
- Locally-Based Projects; concrete actions in different regions of crisis in the world
Today, Peace and Sport has operations in Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel-Palestine, Timor Leste, Colombia and in Haiti.
Peace and Sport was founded by Joel Bouzou, current President of the organisation. Joel Bouzou is an Olympic medallist, world champion of Modern Pentathlon and current Secretary General for the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM). He is also Advisor to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

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Keywords · Peace and Sport · Monaco · Joel Bouzou · Prince Albert II of Monaco · Gustavo Kuerten · IAAF · East Africa Cup · Club Med Foundation · Score the goals · Skateistan

Name: Valérie Amant
Organization: Peace and Sport
Email:
Phone: +33 6 83 37 66 21
URL: http://www.peace-sport.org/home.htm

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