Amman, April 27 (Petra) -- His Majesty King Abdullah II, on Sunday, patronized a ceremony in honor of the winners of the King Abdullah Prize for the World Interfaith Harmony Week.

In attendance were a number of royal family members as well as religious leaders and scholars from across the world.

The prize was launched last year to recognize three outstanding activities marking the world interfaith harmony week, which takes place during the first week of February each year.

Proposed by King Abdullah II during the 65 United Nations General Assembly session in 2010, the World Interfaith Harmony Week was unanimously adopted by the UN, and is now being observed by countries worldwide though a variety of events.

The initiative seeks to spread the love of god and love of the neighbor, or love of good and love of the neighbor, irrespective of one's belief, to promote peace, tolerance and mutual understanding among all nations worldwide.

Over 400 events took place across the world, from lectures, seminars, workshops, films, and sporting events, to learning for peace through interfaith understanding worldwide.

Sixty-three applications were submitted for deliberation by the panel of judges, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Areej Ghazi.

Speaking on behalf of the winners, father Sebastiano from the Philippines said observing the world interfaith harmony week is mandated by a republic act and enjoys wide participation despite the difficult political conditions in the country.

His Majesty handed the prizes to the winners, and received a medal from the panel of judges. The first prize went to the Silsilah dialogue movement in the Philippines.

The second prize went to the center for peace and human rights in India. While the third prize was shared between the Jamal Farghaly secondary school for boys in Egypt, and the faiths together in Uganda.

//Petra// AA

SOURCE