His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday attended the 2017 King Abdullah II World Interfaith Harmony Week Prize ceremony at Al Husseiniya Palace and presented awards to the winners.

The prize celebrates efforts to promote harmony among the followers of different religions, in line with the World Interfaith Harmony Week initiative, launched by King Abdullah and unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2010.

In remarks at the ceremony, His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed, chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy to His Majesty, said this marks the prize’s fifth year, noting that it is aimed at promoting solidarity among the followers of different faiths.

Established by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, the prize is awarded to three activities or texts that offer the best tools to promote the World Interfaith Harmony Week, celebrated annually in the first week of February.

The first prize was awarded to the Calgary Interfaith Council in Canada, in recognition of its work to promote peaceful coexistence in the face of intolerance, prejudice, and conflict by marking the World Interfaith Harmony Week.

The recipient of the second prize was the International Forum Bosnia’s Centre for Interfaith Dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for preparing a programme for 2017 under the patronage of Sarajevo Old Town Municipality and the UNDP in continuation of its tradition of holding the Sarajevo UN World Interfaith Harmony Week since 2013.

The third prize went to PL84U AL-SUFFA organisation in East London, which provides a hot lunch and company to the homeless, elderly, and people in need on the first and third Sundays of each month, welcoming those of all faiths and none.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week builds on the 2007 “A Common Word” initiative, which declared the common ground between Islam and Christianity based on the two great commandments of “love of God, and love of the neighbour”. 

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and Muslim and Christian scholars also attended the ceremony.