Mohamed El Bachiri, whose wife died in the attack on the Brussels metro, received the Citizenship Award at the fifth occasion of the Diwan Awards on Friday.
The award has traditionally honoured Belgians with diverse talents. This year, the organisers wanted to pay tribute to all the victims of the attacks in Brussels.
"A man, Mohamed El Bachiri, symbolises both their suffering as well as their faith and hope in the human being. It is his commitment to genuine dialogue between communities that we salute with affection and solidarity with all those who believe in a fairer world and a victory of dignity against obscure violence", commented the organiser of the non-profit association, Divers-City. The Citizenship Prize was awarded to him "on behalf of all those who fell and their loved ones".
In addition to this prize, twelve other awards were presented, including the Associations Prize for the "Papy Boom" organisation, received by a 28-year-old who has followed the career path of a specialist educator for the residents of nursing homes.
Rachida El Garani, who works for the VRT and is preparing her first feature film, has been nominated as woman of the year, while the Sports Prize goes to Jaouad Achab, multiple-time world, European and Belgian taekwondo champion.
The Diwan Award for Teaching was awarded to Khalid Benhaddou. The latter began his career as a teacher of Islam and is today the imam of the Al-Fath mosque in Ghent and chairman of the platform of the Flemish imams and Muslim theologians.
The N'wicha sports school, founded in 2011 by the professional boxer Najat Hasnouni-Alaoui, was also awarded the jury prize. This school is open to all those for whom sports halls are not always accessible.
The Brussels Times
