Saluting CEO commitment and innovation to advance interfaith understanding & peace

Award announcement page here

The Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards recognize business leaders – current or past CEOs – who have demonstrated leadership in championing interfaith understanding and peace.

​Awards will be presented on September 6, 2016, at the start of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where award recipients will have the opportunity to present their commitment to interfaith understanding and peace while contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.*

The Awards are a partnership initiative of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF), its Brazilian affiliate, the Associação pela Liberdade Religiosa e Negócios (ALRN), and the United Nations Global Compact Business for Peace (B4P) platform.

Social investment and philanthropy
Financial and in-kind contributions, and strategic social investment support for NGOs, UN and multilateral agencies or directly to affected communities and/or contribution of functional expertise through volunteering efforts.

Advocacy and public policy engagement
Fostering social cohesion and inter-group dialogue and relationship-building in the workplace, marketplace and local community.

Partnership and collective action
Joining forces with Governments, UN entities, civil society organizations and/or other businesses to act collectively to promote interfaith understanding and peace and forge long-term partnerships for local or regional economic and sustainable development.

Nomination Period: 22 February – 30 April 2016

→ Nominations Information & Form

Read Business Examples

DOWNLOAD: Awards 2016 one-pager


Nominees are invited to join the UN Global Compact and its Business for Peace platform and, make the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s corporate pledge to protect freedom of religion or belief (FoRB)

Interfaith Understanding and Peace as Prerequisites for Business Success
Interfaith understanding – and its contribution to peace – is in the interest of business. Recent research shows that economic growth and global competitiveness are stronger when social hostilities involving religion are low and Government respect for the universally recognized human right of freedom of religion or belief is high.

Interfaith understanding also strengthens business by reducing corruption and encouraging broader freedoms while also increasing trust and fostering respect. Research shows that laws and practices stifling religion are related to higher levels of corruption. Similarly, religious freedom highly correlates with a range of social and economic goods, such as better health care and higher incomes for women.

Positively engaging around the issue of interfaith understanding also helps business to advance trust and respect with consumers, employees and possible partner organizations, which can give companies a competitive advantage as sustainability and ethics come to the forefront of engagement with society.

* SDG-16: Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

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