+++ Over 1,100 organizations from 120 countries applied for prestigious award
+++ US $20,000 financial grant for each selected project and sup-port from UNAOC, Accenture and BMW Group
+++ Festive awards ceremony took place during theme week “Tolerance & Inclusivity” at Expo 2020
Dubai. The BMW Group and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) have bestowed ten organizations from ten countries with the Intercultural Innovation Award (IIA) for their outstanding social commitment. One of the winners of the prestigious award is from India – MITTI Social Initiative Foundation. The award ceremony took place last night at the Expo 2020 in Dubai, on the margins of the themed week on Tolerance and Inclusivity, and the International Day of Tolerance.
Mitti Café is a chain of sustainable, inclusive cafes that provides experiential training and employment to adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. The organization’s outreach initiatives help create awareness about inclusion and disability rights. Mitti Cafés across India are managed by hundreds of adults with special needs who have served over 5 million meals in just 4 years. Through ‘Karuna Meals’, the organization’s staff also provides low-cost, quality nutrition to homeless and daily wage workers, out of a mobile cafe.
“The Intercultural Innovation Award honours people and projects that promote diversity, tolerance and inclusion in a particularly creative way. These are the values that move us forward as a society and as a company. We are convinced that progress requires cohesion – that is what the BMW Group stands for. Together with UNAOC, we make a meaningful contribution to respectful dialogue,” says Ms. Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources and Labour Relations Director, and patron of the award. The awards ceremony was also attended by Her Excellency Ms. Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and Managing Director of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau.
“As the Intercultural Innovation Award celebrates its 10-year anniversary, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group continue to collaborate to promote a more inclusive global community by strengthening grassroots initiatives that are deeply committed to fostering intercultural dialogue and understanding. We count on continuing this ever-growing collaboration between UNAOC and the private sector, which has shown to amplify and strengthen the work of social innovators around the world. It is their commitment and visionary thinking that have given the UNAOC-BMW Group partnership such value and impact,” said Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC).
