PAM Secretary General, Dr. Sergio Piazzi, has been awarded the “Premio Mediterraneo Istituzioni 2010” (Mediterranean Award for Institutions 2010” by the Fondazione Mediterraneo – Maison de la Méditerranée. The ceremony was held on 14 June, at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, Italy.
The Mediterranean Award was established in 1998 and represents a point of reference for dialogue and peace in the Mediterranean. The Award is assigned every year to personalities from the political, cultural and arts sector, for their action towards the reduction of conflicts and for the further building of intercultural dialogue in the region.
Dr. Piazzi was conferred with the Award for his commitment to strengthen the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean. The list of honour in the Institutional Category for 2010 includes, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mons. Fouad Twal, Roman Catholic Archbishop and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, André Azoulay, Senior Councelor to H.R.H. Mohamed IV, King of Morocco, President of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation and member of the High Level Group of the UN Alliance of Civilisations, Carl Bildt, Foreign Affairs Minister of Sweden, and Carlo Giovanardi, Undersecretary within the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy.
The Fondazione Mediterraneo is an international non-profit Organisation, which includes specialists and internationally recognised scholars on Mediterranean issues, politicians with international and diplomatic experience, and who have been involved in Mediterranean affairs. The Fondazione Mediterraneo has actively supported the establishment of PAM and in 2007 it was granted the Observer Status to the Organisation.
The Fondazione was established in 1994. From then until 2005, it carried the name Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo (Foundation Lab Mediterranean), to underline the experimental character of its activities.
The Fondazione later established the Maison de la Méditerranée, a physical and virtual space with branch offices in various countries, as a tool of institutional visibility of the Greater Mediterranean and as a platform for meetings, development strategies, information exchange and communication.
While thanking the Fondazione Mediterraneo for the recognition bestowed upon him, Dr. Piazzi highlighted the activities in which PAM in engaged, not only at the regional level, but also in other international fora, where it is necessary to constantly represent the voice of the Mediterranean. “PAM is a platform for dialogue and consensus building, where parliamentarians can freely express and share their views and concerns, and exchange best practices in order to foster equality, democracy and understanding at the political, economic and cultural levels of PAM member states”, said Dr. Piazzi.