The annual event is designed to foster peace through the medium of sport using campaigns promoted by some of the most well-known sporting starts and ambassadors in the world. 

This champions of peace include Britain's world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, France's FIFA World Cup winner Lilian Thuram and Russia's chess grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk, all of whom will be attending the event in Monaco.

The event started today with several workshops and a press conference.

It is due to last for two more days and host a variety of discussions with guest speakers.

At the press conference,Bouzou revealed that the focus now was to empower others into entrepreneurship, rather than simply giving support.

"We have a growing number of champions for peace and we want to spread the concept of social business together," he said.

"We want to give people the possibility to sustain themselves [rather than rely on charity].

"The ambition is not only to spread peace, but also to give people the capacity to lead a decent life."

Recently-appointed Champion of Peace and former Ivory Coast footballer, Didier Drogba added: "It’s an honour for me to join these peace champions.

"We all have different experiences in life but we had a fruitful meeting this morning and we feel that need [to give something back].

"Sport is something that brings people together and we want to share our experiences."

Although the event started today, it does not officially open until tomorrow morning.

The Opening Ceremony, in which Bouzou will speak, starts off the busiest of the three days, which will see no fewer than five discussion forums take place throughout the day.

"Business investment for social good", where Jorge Casimiro, President of the NIKE Foundation will speak, and "Urban regeneration through sport" are two examples of the talks that will take place at the Forum.

Tomorrow evening sees a gala dinner take place, headlined by the Peace and Sport awards ceremony.

The awards ceremony will see 11 awards handed out to various people and organisations involved in sporting community projects, ranging from local exercise schemes to global charity initiatives.

The nominees include: Yorkshire Bike Library, The Skateroom and footballer Juan Mata, who has been involved in the Common Goal initiative.

Friday (December 8), the final day, will start with the "I Move for Peace" run, led by Tunisian 2012 Olympic 3,000 metres champion Habiba Ghribi, and replaces the "March for Peace", held at previous conferences.

Event attendees are invited to donate €1 (£0.88/$1.20) or more as an entry fee to take part in the 2.5 kilometres run in aid of Peace and Sport field programmes such as the African Great Lakes’ Friendship Games 2018.

There will then be a round table of Sports Ministers, including representatives from Ukraine, Yemen and Iraq, before Bouzou closes the event with a speech at lunchtime.