The 2021 Global Peace Games celebration was organized on Saturday, November 20, 2021, under the theme “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world.”

This forms part of Play Soccer Ghana’s interventions aimed at promoting peaceful communities.

Global Peace Games events are organised each year to celebrate the contribution of children and youth to the achievements of the United Nation’s goal for peace, non-violence, and human development and to unite their voices and support through the universal language of sport.

The event took place at Tema New Town, among three programme sites located in the greater Accra region. In all, about 300 young people aged 5-15 years were drawn from Ashaiman, Tema SOS, and Tema New Town.

The event started with a cleanup exercise in the community where the participants went around the community to collect waste across the streets.

Formally welcoming participants to the program, the southern coordinator of Play Soccer Ghana, Samuel Okyere, mentioned that peace was something that all must try to carry along wherever they go and try their best to tolerate others’ opinions and views.

As done every year, he went on further to read the 2021 UN peace message signed by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

Interacting with the participants, the guest speaker for the event, Matilda Fokuo noted that, there should be a concerted effort to inculcate attitudes of peace so that they will always be known among their peers as people will always propagate peace wherever they were.

She also stated, “We must always level the playing field and reduce inequalities and always make peace with our friends and respect everyone.”

The participants pledged their support to promote peace and be ambassadors of peace among their peers.

Games that were played during the event were soccer, lime and spoon, sack race, blindfolding, and others. Also in attendance were the Country Director of PSG Franklin Asuo, the various site Managers and volunteers across the project sites, and some parents of the program beneficiaries.

Programmes Manager of Play Soccer Ghana (PSG), Anthony Asante Addo commended all participants for their active participation and sportsmanship and for exhibiting fair play in all the games held. 

He explained that peace was the only pathway guiding humanity and when there’s an understanding, it will be a basis to ensure the wellbeing of every individual. 

Play Soccer Ghana is a sport for a development organisation that uses sport and football as key tools for sustainable development.

It has been in existence since 2001 with its current Headquarters in Cape Coast in the Central Region.

The board of Play Soccer Ghana is made up of its Chairman, Kwaku A. Awotwi, and Vice Nana Sam Brew Butler.

Other members of the board include Dr Jimmy Heymann, Ellis Quarshie, Georgina Quaisie, Andrew Simpson and Ama Gyamfua Abrefa.