Prince Feisal honours peace award winners

AMMAN — The winners of the 4^th Samsung Generations For Peace Awards, which recognise the exceptional efforts of volunteers leading change in their own communities around the world to address local issues of conflict and violence, were honoured last week.  

HRH Prince Feisal, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace (GFP), together with Fadi Awni Abu Shamat, corporate marketing director of Samsung Electronics Levant, presented the awards last Wednesday, according to a GFP statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

The awards were in four categories reflecting the four GFP “drivers of change”: innovation, quality, impact and sustainability. 

Samsung has supported Generations For Peace in the Levant region since 2008, and at the heart of the partnership is a shared focus on these four elements, the statement said.

Presenting the awards, Prince Feisal congratulated the winners: “In our work together to support local actions to ‘make hope happen’, we are most effective when we keep a relentless focus on our four ‘drivers of change’. My deep respect for your inspirational example, as role models and change makers, is the reason I am standing here today, to congratulate you and assure of our continued support and encouragement on your journey ahead, as you continue to…’Pass it on’”, the statement quoted the prince as saying.

The Innovation Award was presented to a group of GFP volunteers from Indonesia for their commitment to organising novel awareness-raising events and activities, such as storytelling and artwork, as well as joint efforts with educational institutions. 

Their creative approaches have captured the imagination and led to commitments of support from numerous participants, as well as vital stakeholders, the GFP statement said.

The Quality Award was presented to Tornike Chargeishvilli from Georgia, whose “implementation of programmes that focus on vulnerable children in the SOS village has ensured increased social interaction between participants and children from the local community. Furthermore, the programme is proving to be an excellent model for other locations in Georgia to emulate.”

Two individual awards for Impact were presented to Mercia Takavarasha from Zimbabwe and Christian Hatumimana from Rwanda. 

Amongst her many achievements, Takavarasha facilitated a series of Advocacy For Peace events involving more than 3,000 children and youths in Harare, while Hatumimana led a team of volunteers to train a further 35 new volunteers from four provinces in Rwanda, whose Sport For Peace activities have now reached more than 3,000 children and youths.

The Sustainability Award was presented to a group of teachers leading change to reduce systemic violence in their schools: Jaber Bin Haean Elementary School, Al Maamoun School For Boys, Princess Taghreed Secondary School For Girls and Nussaibah Al Mazeneah Secondary School in Jordan. 

“Over the last year, the programme changed relations between teachers and students, and amongst students, helping to reduce violence and improve educational performance,” the statement said. 

Due to its success, the programme has secured additional donor support to be expanded to benefit more schools in more communities during the 2014-2016 period.