On June 22, SEKEM had been awarded the 2018 Outstanding Environmental Peace Prize during the Luxembourg Peace Prize ceremony. The “Schengen Peace Foundation and the “World Peace Forum” recognized SEKEM for its commitment to sustainable development with an integral dedication. The prize for Outstanding Environmental Peace seeks an individual or organization which builds peace directly or promotes culture of peace via environmental initiatives or practices. It is related to sustainable development, environmental governance, natural resource management, and environmental conflict management and encompasses a broad range of themes, including Food Systems, Water Management, Forestry, Coastal Resources, Climate Change, and Urban Ecology.
Promoting peace on an integral level
SEKEM is committed to all these topics for more than 40 years. The jury chose SEKEM for “aiming to develop the individual, society, and environment through a holistic approach which integrates ecology, economy, societal and cultural life” to be this years’ laureate. They especially mentioned SEKEM’s current achievements and activities such as Helmy Abouleish’s (CEO of SEKEM) election to be the fourth international National Adaption Plan Champion of the United Nation or SEKEM’s commitment to sustainable solutions for land, soil and food in Africa that had been specified during a huge event in cooperation with national and international high-profile partners in April.
“My father founded SEKEM in 1977 as an initiative for promoting holistic peace through the development of each individual. All our activities, whether on the ecological, economic or cultural level hence aim to enable people’s consciousness development in order to build sustainable peace. And that’s what we are still working on each day: an understanding of peace that arises out of the peace with ourselves, with our fellow human beings and with nature”, says Helmy Abouleish who received the award on behalf of SEKEM.
Schengen Peace Foundation and World Peace Forum
For the seventh consecutive year, the “Schengen Peace Foundation” and the “World Peace Forum” awarded the prestigious Luxembourg Peace Prize to outstanding peacemakers and activists in Luxembourg. This year’s ceremony had been taking place at the historic European Parliament building in Luxembourg on June 22, 2018, as a conclusion to the 2018 World Peace Forum edition held in Toronto, Canada and in preparation for the 2018 Youth World Peace Forum to be held in July on the Philippines.
Helmy Abouleish Becomes UN-Champion for Facing Climate Change
Solutions for Land, Soils and Food in Africa: A High-level conference by the WFC and HU