UNESCO – Madanjeet Singh Prize 2024

Deadline Date: August 22, 2024

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Donor Name: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is seeking nominations for its 2024 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize to reward individuals, institutions, various entities or non-governmental organizations that have demonstrated leadership in the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.

UNESCO invites individuals, including civil society actors, governmental and non-governmental entities, to propose candidates for the 2024 edition of the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. UNESCO will receive proposals for change makers who are leading meaningful action for peace and tolerance in societies worldwide.

The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence rewards significant activities in the scientific, artistic, cultural and communication fields aimed at the promotion of a spirit of tolerance and non-violence. The Prize established in 1995 on the occasion of the United Nations Year for Tolerance and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. The same year UNESCO Member States adopted the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance. The creation of the Prize has been inspired by the ideals of UNESCO’s Constitution that proclaims that “peace if it is not to fail, must be founded on the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind”.

People are naturally diverse, only tolerance can ensure the survival of mixed communities in every region of the globe. In recognition of a lifelong devotion to communal harmony and peace, the Prize bears the name of its benefactor Madanjeet Singh, who was a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Indian artist, writer, and diplomat.

Prize Information

• Awarded every two years, on the International Day for Tolerance (16 November), the winner is presented with the sum of US$ 100,000, during a dedicated ceremony held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
• The Prize and all expenses related thereto shall consist of a sum of a recurrent payment of US $150,000. The value of the Prize shall be determined by the Director-General in consultation with the Donor on the basis of the contribution received from the Donor, the interest on the sum deposited in the Special Account, in accordance with the Financial Regulations of UNESCO, and the charges to be borne by the account for the cost of administering the Prize.
• The full staff support and operating/management costs of the Prize, including all costs related to the meeting of the International Jury, award ceremony and public information activities, estimated at US $50,000, shall be fully covered by the contribution from the Donor, received to the Special Account for the Prize. To this end, the Director-General will determine a mandatory overhead cost amount to be applied and charged against the funds in the Special Account, which is to be established under the Financial Regulations for the Prize.
• The Prize shall be awarded to one winner every two years, or once every UNESCO biennium, in an even year of UNESCO’s programme cycle.

Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates shall have made exceptional contributions and demonstrated leadership in the field of the promotion of tolerance.  The prizewinner shall be required to have taken one or more particularly remarkable initiatives to promote the development of tolerance and non-violence, namely:
  • by directly carrying out an educational activity;
  • by implementing international, national, regional or local programmes aimed at the promotion of tolerance and non-violence;
  • by mobilizing initiatives and/or means likely to contribute to the implementation of such programmes;
  • by producing teaching materials or other special aids designed for the development of programmes to teach tolerance and non-violence;
  • by undertaking, coordinating or encouraging research in those fields or fields related to specific aspects of tolerance;
  • by conducting special surveys or launching original undertakings that have made for significant development in the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.
• In addition, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:
  • the activity must have lasted long enough for its results to be evaluated and its effectiveness verified;
  • it must represent an outstanding contribution to the fundamental objectives of UNESCO and the United Nations in the fields of tolerance and non-violence;
  • the work accomplished must be exemplary and likely to instigate similar initiatives;
  • it must have shown itself to be effective in mobilizing new intellectual and material resources;
  • it must represent a contribution to the understanding and solution of international or national problems in a spirit of tolerance and non-violence.
  • The Prize may be conferred upon an individual, a group of individuals, institutions and other entities or non-governmental organizations.

Languages

• Nomination form must be completed in full in English or French, which are UNESCO’s working languages.

For more information, visit UNESCO.