Actor Forest Whitaker, who is the Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), received the 2017 Crystal Award at the opening of the 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
To achieve his ideals of peace, he founded the International Institute for Peace (IIP) in 2011, and one year later, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI).
The institutions are, respectively, dedicated to conflict transformation through non-violence, and to providing capacity-building, resources and opportunities to young women and men in Mexico, South Sudan and Uganda.
Mr. Whitaker is one of three recipients to receive the 2017 Crystal Award, along with singer/songwriter, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Goodwill Ambassador Shakira and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
