United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and BMW Group Announce Recipients of the 2017 Intercultural Innovation Award

• More than 1,300 applications from 130 countries were received. The ten awardees have been selected across five continents.
• This year, the Intercultural Innovation Award Ceremony has been held for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New York.
• 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.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Intercultural Innovation Award, a partnership between the BMW Group and UNAOC, actively supports grassroots initiatives that promote intercultural dialogue and understanding, thereby contributing to more inclusive societies. This year the ten awarded organizations were celebrated at a ceremony held for the first time at UN headquarters 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,” said Ms. Mohammed.

“The ceremony is the first step in a constructive process where we work with the BMW Group to support recipients in amplifying their impact,” said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. “At UNAOC, we are committed to collaborating with the corporate sector and civil society to achieve our ultimate goal of building inclusive societies.”

“We are honoured to have the privilege of extending our unique collaboration with UNAOC for another four years and look forward to continuing to help grassroots initiatives flourish, together,” said Bill McAndrews, Vice President BMW Group Communications Strategy, Corporate and Market Communications.

This year rankings by awardees are:

1^st place: Pakistan Youth Alliance (Pakistan)

2^nd place: Etijah (Egypt)

3^rd place: Community Relations In Schools (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

4^th place: Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam (Ecuador)

5^th place: Interfaith Mediation Center (Nigeria)

Honourable mentions include:

Encontrarse en la Diversidad (Argentina)

Games for Peace (Israel)

Media Focus on Africa Uganda (Uganda)

Te Kaihau Education Trust (New Zealand)

Young Leaders Entrepreneurs (Tunisia)