UNESCO Bestowed an Honorary Award on St.Petersburg, for the Activities To Promote the Ideas of Tolerance
On October 20, 2009, Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director General,
decided to bestow the UNESCO – Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion
of Tolerance and Non-Violence, an honorary award of the UNESCO, on the
Program of St.Petersburg Government "Tolerance", by the unanimous
recommendation of an independent International Jury in 2009.
St.Petersburg was nominated for this honorable award by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, for the large-scale and
purposeful activity of its government and the public of the city to
maintain inter-ethnic and interconfessional dialogue, through the
development and implementation of the program of harmonizing the
inter-ethnic and intercultural relations, preventing the xenophobia and
strengthening tolerance in St.Petersburg for 2006–2010 (Program
"Tolerance").
In an official press release, UNESCO reported that the diploma awarded
to St.Petersburg was due the constructive efforts to promote the
principles of mutual respect and tolerance in a multicultural urban
community and to prevent any form of discrimination.
The honorary diploma is a recognition of the contribution of
St.Petersburg to promote the ideals of human dignity, solidarity, and
mutual respect in a multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic
society. The merits of the laureate fully meet the aims and objectives
of UNESCO and set an example for similar actions in other countries.
The award was established in 1995 to be given biannually ever since, to
the individuals and organizations, for a special contribution in
promoting the ideas of tolerance. It is designed to promote the ideas
of tolerance through the education, culture, science and communication,
and the public recognition of the efforts in this area.
The international jury consisting of the representatives of UNESCO
Member States – Benin, Turkey, Bangladesh, Japan, and Algeria, voted
unanimously to award the St.Petersburg honorary diploma.
The award ceremony will be held in Paris (France) on November 16, 2009,
which is the International Day of Tolerance (established by UNESCO).
The prize will be handed by Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), the new Director
General of UNESCO, on the first day after her inauguration.
For more information, please call: Vera Vyacheslavovna Sakharova, (812) 576-4927, (921) 904-3035.
More information about the award can be found in the press release by UNESCO on the official site:
http://typo38.unesco.org/ru/unesco-home/unesco-pr-single0.html?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2891&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1&cHash=4c659e7f0a (Russian)
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46735&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html (English)
http://portal.unesco.org/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=46735&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html (French)
http://portal.unesco.org/es/ev.php-URL_ID=46735&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html (Spanish)