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More than 1,300 applications from 130 countries were
received. The ten awardees have been selected across five continents.
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Given the tremendous success of the initiative, the BMW
Group and United Nations Alliance of Civilizations have decided to
renew the partnership for another four years. -
This year, the Intercultural Innovation Award Ceremony has
been held for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New
York. In her video message, Ms. Amina Mohammed Deputy
Secretary-General welcomed the commitment of this partnership
aimed to achieve a safer, more sustainable, equitable and
prosperous world for all.
New York – 29 November 2017 — The United Nations
headquarters played host for the first time to the Intercultural
Innovation Award Ceremony. The ten awarded organizations were
celebrated for their work in the presence of ambassadors and
high-level UN officials.
In her video message, Ms. Amina Mohammed Deputy Secretary-General
said “In 2011 the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the BMW
Group established the Award to support intercultural dialogue and
civil society.” and welcomed the commitment of this partnership. ”it
is essential to achieving a safer, more sustainable, equitable and
prosperous world for all”, Ms. Mohammed said.
“The ceremony is the first step in a constructive process where we
work with the BMW Group to assist recipients in expanding and
amplifying their impact,” said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High
Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. “At
UNAOC, supporting grassroots initiatives that are deeply committed to
promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding lies at the core of
our work. Through the Intercultural Innovation Award and our
collaboration with BMW Group, we foster initiatives that address these
issues in new ways. We are very proud of the positive outcome of this
public-private partnership and remain committed to working with the
corporate sector and civil society to achieve our ultimate goal of
building inclusive societies.”
Throughout a one-year support period, the selected projects can reap
the benefit of resources provided by the BMW Group and UNAOC. In
addition to receiving financial grants and increased visibility,
awardees will have the opportunity to participate in training
activities as well as to become a part of the exclusive “Intercultural
Leaders” network, a skills and knowledge sharing platform for civil
society organizations and young leaders. This model of collaboration
between the United Nations and the private sector creates deeper
impact, as both partners provide their respective expertise to ensure
the sustainable growth of each project.
“With activities in over 140 countries and associates in every corner
of the globe, intercultural dialogue is crucial to our everyday
operations and a key part of our company’s identity. Therefore, the
BMW Group’s conception of the Intercultural Innovation Award with
support from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations beginning in
2011 was of particular significance for us,” said Bill McAndrews, Vice
President BMW Group Communications Strategy, Corporate and Market
Communications. “Now, six years later, with 51 awardees and over 1.2
million beneficiaries to date, we remain as committed as ever to
fostering social innovators all over the world. Today, we are proud to
announce that our collaboration with the UNAOC has been renewed for
another four years. We are pleased to move forward with this strong
partnership and to continue helping grassroots initiatives flourish, together.”
This year, first place went to the Pakistan Youth
Alliance for their Peace Rickshaws Project. Using
auto-rickshaws as a canvas, messages of tolerance and interfaith
harmony are shared in the pop art style, sparking conversations about
peace in the streets. The project was successfully implemented in
Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, and will now be replicated in Lahore.
Other awardees by ranking include:
2nd place:
Etijah
(Egypt) – Safarni
Safarni designs and facilitates “Simulated Travel Adventures” for
children with little exposure to diversity, to embrace and connect
with cultures. The “Simulated Travel Adventures” takes place over
8-weeks where children can play, dance, eat and interact with locals
from around the world.
3rd place:
Community Relations In Schools
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) –
Buddy Up!
‘Buddy Up!’ is an inter-generational school-based peacebuilding
programme working in one of Northern Ireland’s most divided areas. The
project features a partnership between a Protestant school and a
Catholic school, engaging 3-4 year old children, their parents and families.
4th place: Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam
(Ecuador) – Awakkuna
Knitting groups are created within indigenous communities, to produce
scientifically accurate and culturally important Amazon animals as
toys. In this way, cultural and scientific knowledge is shared, to
create an understanding of indigenous communities and their natural environment.
5th place:
Interfaith Mediation Center
(Nigeria) – Transforming pastoralist-farmer conflict in Nigeria
The conflict between farmers and pastoralists has strong
ethno-religious dimensions, requiring the involvement of Muslim and
Christian faith leaders to co-initiate and co-facilitate a process of
intercultural dialogue. This project creates a positive feedback loop
in which intercultural cooperation enhances livelihood collaboration
and improves the rural economy.
Honourable mentions include:
Encontrarse en la
Diversidad (Argentina) – Encontrarse en la
Diversidad (Meeting in Diversity)
Encontrarse en la Diversidad was established in response to the lack
of awareness about discrimination in Argentina. It aims at building
mechanisms for effective education on these issues, particularly
through engaging teens and young adults with methodologies that speak
to their sensibilities.
Games for
Peace (Israel) – Play2Talk
Play2Talk aims to reduce stereotypes and promote tolerance between
children in Israel through the use of online video games. Virtual
trust-building encounters are organized on a weekly basis using the
multiplayer video game Minecraft. This eventuates in face-to-face
encounters between participants facilitated by Games for Peace.
Media Focus on
Africa Uganda (Uganda) – Yat Madit: The
Crossroads Project
The Crossroads Project promotes alternative ways of resolving
conflict among communities in northern and north-eastern Uganda. Yat
Madit, a television and radio drama series, was designed and produced
by the organization, based on real life experiences in the region.
Intercultural dialogue sessions are held following the series being
aired nationally.
Te Kaihau Education
Trust (New Zealand) – Global Enterprise Experience
The motivation of the Global Enterprise Experience is to develop
future global leaders skilled in managing across cultures and
countries with world views that are worlds apart. The experience
engages multinational teams of eight students to work together via the
web to develop business concept proposals on profitable products and
services that will foster social wellbeing
Young Leaders
Entrepreneurs (Tunisia) – Unleash Tunisia
Venture Bus
The Venture Bus is equipped to tour the country with the aim of
spreading peace education and entrepreneurship among vulnerable youth
in remote areas. The bus provides economic empowerment by pushing
youth at the brink of extremism to start their own entrepreneurial projects.
In case of enquiries please contact:
Milena Pighi, BMW Group, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility
Telephone: +49-89-382-66563, Milena.PA.Pighi@bmw.de
Alessandro Girola, UNAOC, Programming Coordinator
Telephone: +1- 929-274-6217, alessandrog@unops.org