Prince Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz prospects roles for European Union (EU) under the failure of “the method followed by some powers –outside Europe- to impose its vision and democracy, and inability to achieve its targets”. His Highness described EU as a “great power”. The world is waiting for bigger roles from New Europe consistent with its effective power, to alleviate the complications of unipolairty, to contribute in making world peace, and to encourage the flexible democratic change that maintains internal peace of communities, he says.
In a word delivered in Warsau, Poland, Prince Turki Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, the personal representative of Prince Talal, calls for “international solidarity to face the phenomenon of Human Trafficking, and calls the United Nations and governments to take practical and strict measures to face practitioners. He assures that fighting human trafficking requires a “true will”. Human Trafficking is a human and moral issue that violates the most important right of human race. Although there is no definite statistics of the number of victims of this phenomenon, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of persons being trafficked in Europe only with (100-500) thousand a year. Human trafficking has accelerated in a way described by development circles and human rights activists as “forms of modern slavery”. The shame of this phenomenon will hit most of the world countries. Traffickers exploit the lack of social and legal protection of trafficking victims.
The president of Arab Gulf Program For United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) pointed out that nondiscrimination is the safety valve for balanced and sustainable development. Prince Talal said that believing in the developmental principle is what makes AGFUND specify (Human Trafficking) as the main subject for the prize in 2007 indicating the interest of the core of development sustainability reflected by this direction. In the development demonstration witnessed by the Polish Capital Warsaw on Tuesday 12 December 2006 on the occasion of awarding (the global prize of AGFUND for pioneering developmental projects) for the winners for the year 2006, Prince Talal wishes success for every work aims to benefit human in any place and human achievements must be honored regardless of his race or political belief.
In the ceremony patronized by the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, and attended by ambassadors of developing countries in Warsaw, representatives of international and civil community organizations, Prince Turki Bin Talal has honored the three winning projects of AGFUND prize for the year 2006. They are:
The Project (Community-Based Primary Health Care Development in Azerbaijan) implemented in Azerbaijan by the International Medical Corps (IMC) was awarded the 1st category prize which is specified for the International and Regional Organizations in the field of (Sustainable primary health services, training and job creation for the poor in rural areas).
Also the Project (Discovering the Ocean World: Education resources for primary schools) implemented in Mauritius by Shoals Rodrigues was awarded the 2nd category prize which is specified for the projects implemented by NGOs in the field of (The role of NGOs in the provision of education services and job creation for the poor in rural areas).
In the 3rd category which is specified for the projects sponsored and/or implemented by individuals if the fields of (Fulfilling basic vocational training needs and job creation for the poor in rural areas) the Prize was awarded to the project Work places creation through training of women on vocations and business skills, implemented in Uzbekistan upon the initiative and efforts of Ms. Dildar Alimbekova.
Prince Talal said in his word: The Polish nation that gives the chance to AGFUND Prize to stop in Europe for the third time is one of the nations that have made glorious history. Now it witnesses a decisive phase in its development that is not underestimated by attraction between those who would like to recover the past, and the rising movement that calls for getting rid of the past. Always survival will be for the best and for good future readers.
It noticeable that AGFUND Prize has its ninth year with success and praising from developmental circles especially after adopting movement of awarding ceremony between world continents. Poland is the sixth station after Geneva, Paris, Tunisia, New Delhi and Cape Town. Prince Talal indicated that the great welcome to this prize clearly assures the need of development fields and particularly human development to more motivations to highlight distinguished initiatives and circulate benefits to developing communities.
In this connection, Dr. Ahmad Mohammed, President of the Islamic Development Bank, member of AGFUND International Prize Committee, indicated that categorizing the prize makes it advantageous and gives motives to pioneering development projects in different fields within the frame of subjective competition that achieves support of initiatives. This gives the prize different dimensions over other international prizes for being a motive for developmental projects that has no geographical, political or linguistic borders.