The Generations For Peace camp will expand to Europe next month, Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, the head of Generations For Peace, tells Around the Rings.
Sochi will host the first-ever European Generations For Peace camp October 1. The 10-day camp had previously only taken place in the Middle East.
"This time to be able to launch it and have a more Europe-centric camp is very, very exciting," Prince Feisal tells ATR.
"It means that we’re now in three continents. We have reached 38 countries and federations around the world, and it’s drawing an interest."
Generations for Peace aims to promote peace through sport and seeks to bring peace to countries affected by conflict. It is the only program of its type recognized by the IOC.
The camps were launched in Jordan in 2007. Other host cities include Abu Dhabi and Amman.
Prince Feisal tells ATR that Generations For Peace also is looking to expand to Latin America and Asia.
"We always said this was a global initiative. This is not something that was ever going to be a Jordan only program and I think it carries on with the legacy that my father thought me with world peace," Prince Feisal tells ATR.
"I think the fact so many people are interested in being able to work and host and develop this means we’re on the right track," he continued.
More than 70 youth will participate at the camp in Sochi. Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedoniaand the Russian Federation are some of the European countries that will be represented.
Sochi is also set to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
"We are proud to be the first Olympic Capital to collaborate so closely with a peace through sport organization," Sochi 2014 CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko said in a press release.
"Working together, I firmly believe that Sochi 2014 and Generations for Peace can be an influential force for good, not only in Russia, but across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Generations for Peace is an extraordinary organization, and they have a truly visionary leader in HRH Prince Feisal," Chernyshenko continued.
More than 47,000 children from 39 countries and territories in Asia, Africa and Europe have participated in Generations For Peace since its inception in 2007.
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With reporting from Isia Reaves
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