The organisation delivered a presentation to the Association of National Olympic Committees' General Assembly here in Prague.

Peace and Sport were represented by Pascal Gentil, one of their sport champions for peace and a taekwondo double Olympic medallist.

He was joined by Burundi National Olympic Committee President and International Olympic Committee member Lydia Nsekera to highlight the positive impact that can be generated through the involvement of sporting organisations in programmes.

The Friendship Games were organised with the intention of bringing together more than 200 young athletes from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

It was aimed at creating great inter-cultural dialogue between the three nations, as well as allowing the athletes to take part in a range of sports.

“Every year, international federations and local authority representatives support Peace and Sport’s actions at the Friendship Games; to promote better inter-cultural dialogue and to endorse the power of sport for change,” said Gentil.

The respective worldwide governing bodies in athletics, baseball/softball, basketball, boxing, karate, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball supported the Games in Bujumbura in Burundi.

During the presentation, Peace and Sport officials stated they had been heavily involved in the Great Lakes region since 2007.

This has involved establishing a range of training centres in Burundi,  the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

Iris Vlachoutsicos, Peace and Sport international relations and field programmes director, claimed National Olympic Committees (NOCs) could benefit from the model used by the Games.

“The Friendship Games can serve as a model for the NOCs to start their own development programmes through sport simple solutions," she said.

“Sport simple solutions sees sporting practice areas, equipment and rules adapted to resources, environment and aims to promote a ‘sport for development and peace’ approach.”