Six Million White Cards for Peace

12 | 4 | 2014

The first ever International Day of Sport for Development and Peace [IDSDP] took place last week on 6 April 2014 with an estimated six million people worldwide showing their support through the Carton Blanc initiative which involved holding up a white card as a symbol of peace on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.

Initiated by the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee in August 2013, this day marks a historic step in recognising sport as a tool for peace and development representing a unique opportunity to join forces and bring to light projects for peace and development through sport, which has been illustrated by the campaign lauched by Peace and Sport.

Olympians of all ages around the world also supported the Peace and Sport initiative by taking part in the Carton Blanc push, alongside other sporting figures from grass roots athletes to International Federation Presidents including the world's three biggest pole vault stars Sergey Bubka, Yelena Isinbaeva and Renaud Lavillenie, Peace and Sport and WOA Patron HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, IAAF President Lamine Diack, UCI President Brian Cookson and SportAccord and IJF President Marius Vizer. 

Speaking about the success of the initiative, Joël Bouzou, President of Peace and Sport and the World Olympians Association, said:

"I am truly grateful to all those people who have made the first International Day of Sport for Development and Peace such a great success. We have a responsibility to bring together divided communities through sport, especially those in some of the most underprivileged parts of the world.

"I'd also like to pay special thanks to all of the Olympians who have taken part in the initiative. In many ways, the ideals of the IDSDP reflect Olympic values perfectly. This is about using sport as a tool to spread cohesion, respect, solidarity and fair play.

"We now hope to build on this success and encourage new supporters including National Olympians Associations and their members to join us and use this initiative as a media and educational platform to demonstrate to the public just how far sport can go in building peace."