UNAOC & BMW GROUP ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INTERCULTURAL INNOVATION AWARDS

By an IPS Correspondent Reprint | | Print |

Vienna, Feb 27 2013 (IPS) - The Intercultural Innovation Awards (IIA), sponsored by the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW group, were presented Wednesday  at a ceremony in Vienna.

Designed to contribute towards social stability and economic growth in multicultural societies, the Award is given to innovative grassroots projects promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding.

During Wednesday’s award ceremony Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Mexico based Puerta Joven the top winner of the 2012 IIA. President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, UN  High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, and  Bill McAndrews, Vice President Communications Strategy, Corporate and Market Communications, BMW Group, presented the awards. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Placido Domingo was also in attendance to congratulate all the winners.

“I commend the leadership shown by the BMW Group in supporting this Award and the projects that are being recognized” Ban said.  “The creative solutions being showcased tonight hold lessons for all communities and for organizations such as the United Nations.”

The top five finalists of the Award receive financial support for their projects totalling 100,000 dollars. However, all awardees of The Intercultural Innovation Award become members of the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI).

Initiated by the UNAOC and the BMW Group, WIFI is a platform for all awardees to connect with potential donors, mentors and previous winners. Awardees benefit from customized expertise and resources of both the BMW Group and the UNAOC in the areas of public relations, fundraising, staff planning and marketing.

The Award Ceremony took place on the eve of the 5^th UNAOC Global Forum where delegations from 135 countries and international organisations, youth, civil society organisations and corporate sector gathered in Vienna to address the importance of intercultural dialogue.

“The Intercultural Innovation Award is the best example of the UN Alliance of Civilizations commitment to action. Both the Alliance and the BMW Group are committed to helping these winners increase their impact and expand their range of action” stated Al-Nasser.

“On behalf of the BMW Group,” said Bill McAndrews,” I wish to congratulate all of the awardees. The BMW Group and UNAOC are committed to supporting initiatives through this Award which have a long-lasting effect and sustainable, positive impact. We look forward to supporting their projects; and helping turn their ideas into accomplishments in the months and years ahead.”

1^st Place $50,000 USD: Puerta Joven – Languages of Youth (Mexico)

According to a press release Wednesday, Puerta Joven brings together indigenous youth groups who are discriminated because of their cultural identity or language. Their Lenguas Jóvenes (Languages of Youth) program fosters youth cultural expressions through mobile phones for intercultural dialogue. Professional filmmakers visit schools and community centers teaching young beneficiaries how to use creative tools found in mobile phones to develop short films. Helping people understand that migration to the cities does not have to represent an obstacle to the survival of indigenous languages, Puerta Joven encourages freedom of expression and the right to make use of it by exercise. The project has been developed in eight different cities in Mexico and will be replicated in Guatemala.

2^nd Place $20,000 USD: Plain Ink – When Change Reads Like a Book (Italy)

Plain Ink is a pioneering, non-profit social venture harnessing the power of stories; comics and children’s books to help children and communities overcome the stumbling blocks of poverty and social exclusion. The project creates books that tell original stories with a strong multicultural focus and characters resembling the target migrant and non-migrant children. Afterwards, books are sold and proceeds from sales are invested into free educational comics and other materials dealing with disease prevention, food security or natural disaster mitigation in the origin countries of the immigrants, thus benefitting children in Italy but also children in their home countries overseas.

3^rd Place $15,000 USD: Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group – Recycling as Bridge and Binder (India)
Through recycling, Chintan’s project promotes understanding between poor migrants and the middle class and wealthy residents of New Delhi. Recycling in urban India is undertaken by abjectly poor, marginalized migrants. Realizing the gap between poor migrants and the wealthy residents of New Delhi, Chintan aims to promote mutual understanding. Chintan does this by launching recycling projects in offices; employee volunteering programs in waste pickers’ slums; supporting a waste picker initiative in schools and other meeting points through recycling and visiting each other’s living environments.

4^th Place $10,000 USD: Kapamagogopa Inc. (KI) Volunteers – Muslim Youth Volunteering for Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding (Philippines)

Kapamagogopa (KI) is the first and only systematized Muslim volunteer programme in the Philippines. Local young Muslims are mobilized to work as volunteers in non-Muslim organisations to promote dialogue, understanding and development to non-Muslim and Muslim communities in Mindanao. The project aims to address three issues: Anti-Muslim biases, poor governance and the continuing threat of conflict that results in an environment of discrimination where many young Muslims lack opportunities and feel powerless to bring change to their lives.

5^th Place $5,000 USD: TakingITGlobal (TIG) – TakingITGlobal Online Community (Canada)

As the leading creators and adopters of information and communication technologies, young people are the driving force behind the emerging global information society. TakingITGlobal (TIG) works at the intersection of the growing youth demographic, globalization, and the rise of the information society to empower young people as active global citizens and agents of change. TIG serves youth worldwide with innovative education programs, currently available in thirteen core languages. Young people from all linguistic backgrounds are effectively connected to learn and act together in TIGs ‘social network for social good’.