A significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed on the 11th March 2020 at the Generations For Peace Head Quarters in Amman, Jordan, between United Through Sports (UTS), Generations For Peace (GFP) and the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC). The mission is to promote peacebuilding and to align with International Federations and the global sports community encouraging open dialogue, sport for development and respect. Founder and Chairman of GFP HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein has been one of the core supporters of UTS having been a keynote speaker at every SportAccord UTS Conference to the extent, he decided to surprise the youth on the Gold Coast who were practising for the festival opening ceremony last year in May.
The MoU was signed between UTS CEO Julia Govinden, GFP President Mohanned Arabiyat and Secretary General of the JOC Nasser Majali with AIMS and UTS Stephan Fox as the official witness, and witnessed by GFP CEO Mark Clark, during the Asia/Oceania Tokyo 5th Olympic boxing qualifier event.
“We realised as a collective that we each have access to different valuable resources. Within our discussions, we were able to pin point our strengths and discern how we can maximise and encourage a greater positive impact through the platform of sports by working together” stated UTS CEO, Julia Govinden.
Generations For Peace President Mohanned Arabiyat shared his views stating “GFP functions as a peacebuilding organisation and since our inception in 2007 have worked to build a model that has much to offer communities world-wide. We are at the stage where we want to encourage a more Sport Plus approach and this is where the right alliances are crucial.”
Jordan Olympic Committee’s Secretary General Nasser Majali also shared his thoughts on the partnership, “The signing of this MoU is actually uncustomary, as we usually have a program in place before signing however, in this instance and circumstances, it is a great time for an appropriate exception. We see UTS as a neutral host and having seen their growth and achievements over the last years, we understand that together we can achieve immense contribution to the international sport society under the Olympic values.”
AIMS President Stephan Fox voiced his thoughts “Over the years I have seen the positive impact GFP has towards promotion of peace through their grass-root development programs, their focus on tolerance and community empowerment. Under the leadership of HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein who is also IOC Executive Board Member.” Mr Fox further stated that “If we put all negative elements aside, we see how much positive can be achieved. We all rise by lifting others and there is so much power in unity and so little in division. This is why these cooperation’s are so important, in fact vital to the development of communities around the world.”
GFP CEO Mark Clark was also present for the signing and meeting to discuss the next steps where he stated “UTS can play a critical role in joining up the dots between Olympic and non-Olympic IFs and other stakeholders in the sport for peace and development sector. We would be delighted for GFP to support as a technical partner, leveraging our experience implementing programmes and research in 51 countries over the last 13 years to support advocacy and provide technical guidance and capacity-development to drive greater innovation, quality, impact and sustainability.”
The signing was also a time for additional celebration, as host nation Jordan secured a historical five Olympic qualification spots during the boxing qualifier. This achievement is record breaking for Jordan as it is the most ever achieved in any Jordan Olympic sport and brings their qualifications for Tokyo 2020 to six athletes. Congratulations to all the athletes and we look forward to building our partnerships towards the betterment of the sport community and society at large.
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