IMG_7086_PR2 July, 2013 – Sochi, Russia: In partnership with Sochi City Administration and the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Generations For Peace, the Jordan-based non-profit peace-building organisation, today concludes an intensive four-day regional workshop in Sochi. The workshop was attended by 24 young Generations For Peace volunteers, each passionate about addressing local issues of conflict and violence in their home communities in Sochi, Krasnodar and Grozny, in the Russian Federation, and in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine. The training has strengthened their knowledge and skills in conflict transformation, and introduced them to new tools and monitoring and evaluation processes to boost the quality, impact and sustainability of their Generations For Peace programmes.

This regional workshop, held in the 2014 Winter Games host city on the Black Sea coast, continues the Generations For Peace Sochi 2014 “Legacy Today” partnership. Speaking at the official press conference, Generations For Peace CEO, Mark Clark, thanked Mrs Irina Romanets, Deputy Mayor of Sochi City, and said: “We have enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Sochi 2014 and Sochi City Administration since our first Generations For Peace Sochi Camp in 2010. At that Camp and our second Sochi Camp in 2011, we trained 109 volunteers from the Russian Federation and 11 other countries. Through the Sochi 2014 ‘Legacy Today’ initiative, we have supported these volunteers and their programmes to help them to have a real impact in their own communities.

“Seven of our participants here today were trained as ‘first generation’ Delegates at one of the Sochi Camps, and the other 17 were trained by them in turn as ‘second generation’ Delegates. This workshop aims to strengthen the Delegates’ conflict transformation knowledge and skills, and help them to achieve greater impact in their communities. The Sochi 2014 ‘Legacy Today’ initiative is spreading the impact and legacy of the Games to many communities, in the Russian Federation and beyond, even before the Games have started.”

Following the unique Generations For Peace curriculum and cascading model, the workshop has built on previous training, providing more advanced tools for conflict analysis and a range of peace-building activities, including sport-based games. The sessions also integrated new processes for monitoring and evaluation, to capture data and ensure greater impact and sustainability.

Nino Kharatishvili, a certified Generations For Peace Pioneer from Georgia, said: “I’m very happy to be continuing my journey with Generations For Peace which began at the 2011 Sochi Camp. Now I’m more confident in what I’m doing to build peace in my community. This workshop has refreshed my learning, and really boosted me with new ideas which will help me to positively impact my community. The topics covered are more in depth and relevant to our daily lives. We are learning from each other and our shared experiences are helping us to overcome practical challenges and difficulties, so we can deliver more successful programmes in our communities.”

IMG__PR_6839Ibragim Bitsayev, a ‘second generation’ Delegate from Grozny in the Chechen Republic, said: “Before I came to the workshop I didn’t expect I would enjoy it so much. I am happy to havemade new friends. Participation has enabled me to understand and gain deeper insights into the problems and challenges within my own community, and to listen and learn more about problems and conflicts in other regions. Together, we have learned many interesting peace-building exercises and games that will equip us to address issues in our communities. It is crucially important to start working with children so that tolerance is created at an early age. I hope this project is going to have a viral effect, infecting more and more communities with sustainable peace.”

The workshop was facilitated by a diverse team of Generations For Peace Staff and Pioneer Facilitators from Jordan, Palestine, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Mohammad Asideh, a Generations For Peace Pioneer Facilitator from Palestine, said: “Following my four-year journey with Generations For Peace, today I find myself in Sochi facilitating Peace Building and Advocacy Sessions for 24 participants from four countries. Without a doubt, this reflects the ongoing investment that Generations For Peace is making in the new generation of youth.”