CMHR and backers get award

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This article was published 6/11/2015 (689 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights and its proponents, Gail Asper and Moe Levy, are the winners of this year's Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award.

'Gail Asper and Moe Levy have worked tirelessly in the past 10 years to make the museum a reality'— Dr. Krishnamurti Dakshinamurti, president of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre of Canada

The award was presented during a ceremony Thursday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The Mahatma Gandhi Centre of Canada began conferring the award in 2010 to honour "original thinkers and initiators of conflict resolution," it said in a press release.

Previous award recipients were individuals including Dr. Izzeldine Aboulaish, known as the "Gaza Doctor," whose contributions toward Arab-Israeli peace were recognized and later nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avrum Burg, retired lieutenant-general Roméo Dallaire for his work on behalf of the UN during the Rwandan genocide and Justice Murray Sinclair, chairman of the Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

No award was given in 2014.

"This year we looked at it (the award) from a different point of view. We looked at it for the potential of a new institution. This insititution is going to survive into the future and will have a prominent role in educating people (in the areas of human rights and conflict resolution)," said Dr. Krishnamurti Dakshinamurti, president of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre of Canada.

"The two people, Gail Asper and Moe Levy, have worked tirelessly in the past 10 years to make the museum a reality."

Also announced was a donation of $100,000 by Drs. G. and K. Dakshinamurti for the establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship in Human Rights at the CMHR and the University of Manitoba.

The centre based in Winnipeg is involved in an inner-city summer teaching program for indigenous students, essay competitions for senior high school students that promote messages of peace and non-violence, and it is establishing a scholarship program.