DUBAI: The Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and Moroccan-French activist Latifa Ibn Ziaten received the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity in a virtual ceremony on Thursday.
Guterres won “for his work on unifying the world,” Adama Dieng, one of the judges, told Arab News, while Ibn Ziaten — whose son Imad, a soldier, was killed in a terrorist attack in Toulouse in 2012 — was selected “for her work on inclusion and human fraternity (being) translated into action.”
The honorees gave their acceptance speeches during the ceremony, and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb and Pope Francis read messages of congratulations.
Dieng praised the level of independence the judging committee enjoyed. “Never ever did a single official of the United Arab Emirates or any heirs of Sheikh Zayed interfere in the work of the judging committee,” he said.
The award is named after one of the UAE’s founders, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, and, according to its mission statement “aims to encourage world leaders and youth to spread the values of human fraternity.”
The UN’s General Assembly announced February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity in December 2020. Thursday was also the second anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and Al-Tayeb.
