{"id":20138,"date":"2020-12-21T10:53:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T02:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/?p=20138"},"modified":"2021-01-20T11:53:25","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T03:53:25","slug":"good-neighbours-consortium-receives-martin-luther-king-award-for-its-work-with-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/good-neighbours-consortium-receives-martin-luther-king-award-for-its-work-with-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGOOD NEIGHBOURS\u201d CONSORTIUM RECEIVES MARTIN LUTHER KING AWARD FOR ITS WORK WITH REFUGEES"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An inter-faith initiative between Islamic Relief Sweden, the Church of Sweden and the Stockholm mosque has been announced as the recipient of this year\u2019s prestigious\u00a0<\/strong>Martin Luther King Award<\/a>\u00a0in Sweden.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Goda Grannar<\/em>\u00a0consortium \u2013 the Swedish term for Good Neighbours \u2013 was praised by the award\u2019s jury for bringing faiths together and \u201cinspiring us all to move from words to deeds and promote democratic coexistence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consortium was formed in 2015 after a large influx of refugees arrived in Stockholm from war-affected countries such as Syria. Working with community volunteers, the consortium initially provided nearly 4,000 new arrivals with shelter in churches and the mosque. It has since expanded and now provides a wider range of services for refugees including \u201clanguage caf\u00e9s\u201d, guidance on Swedish society and legal advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis award is for all the volunteers who have contributed their time, commitment, big heart and expertise to create a more humane society,\u201d said Fredrika G\u00e5rdfelt, priest in the Katarina parish of the Swedish church.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Ibrahim, Secretary-General of Islamic Relief Sweden, said: \u201cWe are very proud and happy that Goda Grannar is receiving this award. Unfortunately, there are strong polarizing forces in the world and in Sweden today, which makes initiatives that show the importance of cooperation across religions all the more critical. We hope to continue this work for a long time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

On announcing the award, the jury said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin Luther King once said, \u2018The ones who love peace have to learn to organize as efficiently as the ones who love war\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAmong other reasons, it was war that caused a large number of refugees to seek asylum in Sweden in 2015. One group which organised rigorously to provide them with a good reception was Goda Grannar, which emerged in the middle of Stockholm at the initiative of Katarina parish, Stockholm mosque and Islamic Relief Sweden. In a time characterized by increased polarization and less common ground, Goda Grannar stands as a good example of the strength of working together.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCooperation and trust in each other lead the way to common solidarity and drive for action. The consortium proves that it is possible to come from different backgrounds, and yet respect each other\u2019s culture and religion, and be able to work together for a better society. Our award winner is a role model in welcoming and taking advantage of a wide range of competencies. Community members and professionals are invited to contribute with their special knowledge and skills.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMartin Luther King encouraged us to turn our frustration over injustices into energy to create the world we want to see. The vigorous initiatives of Goda Grannar inspire us all to move from words to actions and promote democratic coexistence. This is an example of using common sense for rigorous planning for peace by actively living the words \u201ctogether\u201d and \u201cwelcome\u201d. The award committee believes that the project shows an intense but low-key constructive force that strengthens humanity and compassion and reduces injustice in the true spirit of Martin Luther King.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

About the Martin Luther King Award:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Martin Luther King Award is awarded by the Equmenia Church, The Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation (SweFOR) and the Christian Council of Sweden. It is awarded in the spirit of Martin Luther King to celebrate his legacy of hope and reconciliation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_media_grid grid_id=”vc_gid:1608518974191-11b7eb93-abb7-2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An inter-faith initiative between Islamic Relief Sweden, the Church of Sweden and the Stockholm mosque has been announced as the recipient of this year\u2019s prestigious\u00a0Martin Luther King Award\u00a0in Sweden. The\u00a0Goda Grannar\u00a0consortium \u2013 the Swedish term for Good Neighbours \u2013 was praised by the award\u2019s jury for bringing faiths together and \u201cinspiring us all to move […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-worldwide","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20143,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20138\/revisions\/20143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islamic-relief.org.my\/sandbox_www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}