The Cape Verdean Olympic Committee (COC), Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Rafting Federation (WRF) are the contenders for the April6 Initiative of the Year award, which recognises contributions to the celebration of April6, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

The COC promoted its "Sport for Development and Peace Celebrations", staging multi-sport events and conferences that included Olympic clubs from five of the country's islands hundreds of people.

It also used these celebrations and a social media campaign to promote the #WhiteCard initiative to demonstrate the ability of sports to maintain peace and develop societies.

Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was nominated for its "April6 Virtual Race", encouraging people to run three, five or 10 kilometres and raise their #WhiteCards, attracting participants internationally.

The scheme included the forum "Diplomacy and sport cooperation in a world in turmoil".

The WRF organised a "Be white water" digital awareness campaign to highlight stories of respect, sharing and inclusion in the sport, with athletes and fans encouraged to share their testimonies and celebrate diversity.

An online vote for this category is open until next Wednesday (November 24).

The jury for the Peace and Sport Awards consists of six winners of the Champions for Peace award - Qatar's Tokyo 2020 men's high jump gold medallist Mutaz Barshim, the first captain of Palestine's national women's football team Honey Thaljieh, French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd, his compatriots Muriel Hurtis-Houairi and Laurence Fischer, and Canada's Charmaine Crooks.

The Institution of the Year Award is designated for programmes ran by public entities, sports institutions or companies that promote the development of peace through sport.

The Portuguese Government's Youth and Sports Secretary of State was nominated for the National Plan for Ethics in Sport which benefitted 350,000 children in the country.

Also nominated is the International Paralympic Committee for its #Wethe15 digital awareness campaign that aims to end discrimination against people with disabilities, who comprise 15 per cent of the world's population.

This generated more than 2.5 billion interactions on social media, with more than 125 global landmarks, including New York City's Empire State Building, illuminated in purple.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) was the third nominee for Institution of the Year for its role in evacuating 165 refugees from Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover in August, with 38 welcomed to the UCI World Cycling Centre in the Swiss town of Aigle.

For the Non-Government Organisation of the Year Award, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies was nominated for its "Uniting Through the power of Football" project, Malaika for its Malaika Community Centre initiative, and Dunk Grassroots for the "Inclusive Sport Unites" project.

Joël Bouzou, the French President and founder of Peace and Sport, commended the nominees for their work throughout the year.

"Over the past year, in a context marked again by the global health crisis, stakeholders in Sport for Peace have continued to use sport for social good and they have made a huge contribution to the peace-through-sport movement," Bouzou said.

"The nominees of this 2021 edition have led inspiring projects that are symbolic of sport’s capacity to bring dialogue within and between communities.

"Through the awards, we will come together to celebrate the unique power of sport; we will highlight and reward with five prizes the incredible vitality and inventiveness of sport for peace initiatives.

"These awards showcase best practices, so they can be duplicated to amplify our impact."

Winners of the Peace and Sports Awards winners, as well as the next Champion for Peace of the Year, will be announced from December 7 to 11.