Latifa Ibn Ziaten.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has on Wednesday officially revealed that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Moroccan-French activist, Latifa Ibn Ziaten, are the two honorees of its 2021 award.

Hosted via a virtual ceremony, anchored around the setting of the Founder’s Memorial, in Abu Dhabi, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity’s (ZAHF) inaugural annual award ceremony will be streamed from its own website for viewers to watch, on Thursday evening at 5:30pm GST.

The 2021 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity is jointly awarded to Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN and Latifa Ibn Ziaten, an activist against religious extremism.

Both are honoured for raising awareness against escalating extremism and violence.

Antonio Guterres

From the devastating circumstances of losing her son, Imad, murdered in a terrorist attack, in 2012, Latifa somehow found the strength to overcome this tragedy by taking positive action to act against the religious radicalisation of youth, in France and beyond.

Today, as a well-known civil society activist in France and across Europe, Latifa works closely with families and communities to prevent youth radicalization and spread the message of human fraternity through peaceful means, such as dialogue and mutual respect.

In 2019, the Zayed Award for Human fraternity, one of the outcomes of the Human fraternity Document, was announced. The award celebrates individuals and institutions working to promote the values of peace and coexistence and build bridges of cultural interaction, who have launched successful and influential initiatives to bring communities together in the long-term.

The award aims to continue the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.