MEDIA RELEASE
FoEME wins EURO-MED DIALOGUE AWARD
‘Ambassadors of Intercultural Dialogue for Ecological Sustainability’
Tel Aviv / Bethlehem / Amman
September 1, 2010
‘ECOPEACE Friends of the Earth Middle East’ (FoEME), a civil society advocacy organization jointly established by environmentalists from Palestine, Jordan and Israel, has been officially announced as the 2010 winner of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue Award.
Taking place this year on the theme of ‘Intercultural Dialogue for Ecological Sustainability, the Dialogue Award is unique in the fact that it is bestowed and voted upon by members of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s region-wide Network of 3000 civil society organizations working across the 43 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Speaking after the announcement, the organization’s regional co-directors – Munqeth Mehyar (Jordan) Nader Khateeb (Palestine) and Gidon Bromberg (Israel) – said: “Our ‘Environmental Peacemaking’ work focuses precisely on the interdependent nature of our region’s shared natural and cultural resources, thus creating a platform for dialogue so necessary in our area. The exposure and recognition from this Award will help us to continue to forward ecological sustainability in our shared region”.
Andreu Claret, Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation, said: “This year’s winning organization ‘Friends of the Earth Middle East’ is an inspiring example of how intercultural action can address the major issues of our time. In bringing together NGOs from Jordan, Palestine and Israel, ‘Friends of the Earth Middle East’ are in a unique position to promote social and environmental stability, as well as a culture of peace at the grass-root level“.
Launched for the first time in 2006 by the Anna Lindh Foundation and its partner Fondazione Mediterraneo, the Euro-Med Dialogue Award is now in its fifth edition, with previous years recognizing the achievements of individuals and organizations across fields including interreligious dialogue, art and mutual understanding, and the promotion of a culture of peace.
The second place of the Euro-Med Award for 2010 went to Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), an institution which carries out over 300 environmental projects a year in and within 16 different European countries in addition to Turkey. The third place went The Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI) a Spanish organization which promotes Euro-Islam dialogue and to help find solutions to society’s difficulties. The fourth place went to the Greek NGO Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development working on the protection of the natural environment and the cultural heritage. And finally the fifth place went to Nikos Chrysogelos, an active Greek citizen in sustainable development, public and youth participation, intercultural dialogue and education for sustainability issues.
For more information, please contact Mira Edelstein, Foreign Media Officer, Friends of the Earth Middle East, mira[at]foeme.org; +972-3-5605383, ext 111 or +972-54-6392937