Moroccan scholar and human rights activist Abdelkader Chaoui will receive the “Concord Prize” at the first-ever Ibn Rushd (Averroes) Awards on Wednesday in the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, Spanish press Atalayar reported. Chaoui will receive the award along with the Director of Spain’s renowned Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero.
This year marks the inaugural presentation of the Ibn Rushd Concord Awards, which recognize works by individuals or private or public institutions in both Spain and Morocco that promote understanding, knowledge, and coexistence, and defend the values of freedom, human rights, peace, justice, and ecology, as well as respect for minorities and the defense of women’s rights, tolerance, and the inclusion of “the other,” particularly within the borders of these two countries.
The award is named after the Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd, known more commonly as Averroes. The 12th Century polymath and jurist, who was born in Cordoba and died in Marrakech, embodied the values of tolerance, coexistence, freedom, interculturalism, and the promotion of dialogue, in sum, the factors that promote concord among human beings. The award itself is a bronze sculpture by Cordoban artist Luis M. García.
The award will honor the achievements of Chaoui, a writer and internationally renowned intellectual who was born in Bab Taza in 1950, and has dedicated his life to defending human rights. Chaoui has served as Morocco’s ambassador to Chile and as a counselor at Morocco’s embassy in Spain.
A “laudation” of the prize recipients will be read at the awards ceremony by professors Remedios Sánchez (UGR) and Mohamed Dahiri (Complutense), who are both advisors to and vice-presidents of the organization.
Several dignitaries are expected to attend, including the secretary general for external action of the Andalusian Regional Government, Enric Millo, the director of sponsor the Baleària Foundation, Pedro Mercado Pacheco, the rector of the University of Granada, and Morocco’s ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich. Counselors Mohamed Amine Tekaia and Brahim Braougui, as well as Mohamed El Amin Setti, the Moroccan Embassy’s Minister Plenipotentiary, will also be present.
The organization awarding the new prize is Asociación de Amistad Andaluza Marroquí-Foro Ibn Rushd (the Andalusian-Moroccan Friendship Association Ibn Rushd). Its president, José Sarria, a Spanish poet and economist, has acknowledged the significant cultural dissemination efforts carried out through the Cervantes Institute’s network in Morocco.
With six offices, in Rabat, Marrakech, Casablanca, Tangiers, Tetouan, and Fez, the organization is an important presence in Morocco, promoting a variety of cultural and Spanish language instruction.