The Intercultural Innovation Award enters its second chapter in 2012. Announcement of the Second Call for Applications made at the UNAOC Partners Forum in Istanbul.

Munich/New York/Istanbul – Building on the great success of the Intercultural Innovation Award in 2011, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group are continuing their solid partnership in 2012. At the first Partners Forum of the UNAOC in Istanbul, Bill McAndrews, Vice President Communications Strategy, Corporate Communications BMW Group, has officially announced the second edition of the Award which will start accepting applications on June 15th, 2012.

Also in Istanbul, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, highlighted the significance of the partnership between the UNAOC and the BMW Group. Ban was the co-chair of the UNAOC Partners Forum which was hosted by Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Forum aimed at bringing together governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, private foundations and individuals with a strong commitment to intercultural understanding, cooperation and cultural diversity. A dozen Heads of State and Government and more than 70 senior representatives from countries and international organizations attended the event. Ban referred to the Intercultural Innovation Award as a great example of the “support that the Alliance provides to innovative grassroots initiatives in collaboration with corporate partners such as the BMW Group.“

Representing a new kind of partnership between the private sector and the UN system, the Intercultural Innovation Award honors and supports innovative projects that promote cross-cultural understanding and cooperation, and hence make a vital contribution to security and peace in societies around the world. Non-profit organizations that are innovating in the promotion of intercultural understanding, with a track record in managing intercultural projects and willingness to expand their range of action, are eligible to apply.

More than 400 applications from 70 different countries competed in the first year of the Award – with ten ground-breaking winner projects that were honored at the end of 2011 and are being supported throughout 2012. “These results confirm our belief in the impact of intercultural understanding and underscore our commitment to the partnership with the UNAOC,” Bill McAndrews commented about the success of the Award for Intercultural Innovation in 2011. “We are looking forward to many outstanding applications in 2012 – and hopefully in many more years to come.”