|
|
Franois Houtart of Belgium and Abdul Sattar Edhi of Pakistan have won the '2009 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)-Madanjeet Singh' prize for promoting non-violence and tolerance and making Gandhian principles the base for their work.
Both of them will get an equal share of the prize money worth USD 10,000. They will be conferred with the honour on November 16, which is celebrated as the 'International Day for Tolerance' at the UNESCO headquarters located in Paris.
UNESCO started giving away the honour from 1995, when the 125th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated. The Indian diplomat and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Madanjeet Singh, is the person behind the award.
This award, which is given away in every two years, is for honouring those who advance tolerance in education, arts, culture, communication as well as science. The recipient can be an individual or an institution also.
Previous winners include Myanmar Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.
While Houtart, who is known for the work he has done for prompting the ties between North & South Koreas, has won the honour for his contributions to inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogues, Edhi has won the award for fighting against extremism and rendering support for humanitarian efforts.
