On the evening of Friday, June 28, 2024, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held the fifth ceremony of the "Avicenna International Award For Intercultural Cooperation For Peace" at St. John Baptist Church in London. This year's award winners were the British artistic couple Professor John Baily and Ms. Veronica Doubleday, who received the award for their four decades of outstanding efforts to preserve and promote Afghan folk music and empower women in the country.

The award was presented to the British artistic couple in the presence of nearly 150 guests from civil society, institutions, diplomats, journalists, artists, cultural figures, and representatives of the British government and private organizations.

The keynote speaker at the ceremony was Professor Michael Barry, a university professor and internationally recognized researcher in Islamic art and civilization. In his speech entitled "Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage: From its “Medieval Renaissance to its Present Dark Age," Professor Barry addressed issues such as the deprivation of women from work and education and the imposition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan by the Taliban regime.

Do I call what is being done to Afghan Women today Slavery? Yes! Why? Why not gender apartheid? Because the expression apartheid was political hypocrisy to try to suggest to the world that separate but equal development was the intention of apartheid. I actually quote the United States Supreme Court of 1896 to justify racial segregation as separate but equal development. That is not the case that we are seeing in Afghanistan today. What we are seeing in Afghanistan is the designation of a category of human beings, half the entire human family, to be degraded to second-class status forever and to be preserved in that degraded status through fear and punishments, beating, and ultimately execution by pistol to the temple or worse even by stoning as the current Taliban leader, said Barry.

The other speaker at the ceremony was Ms. Tessa Dresdale, speaking on behalf of the winners of the fourth round of the award. After referring to the efforts of Jewish organizations in helping Afghan refugees, Tessa said about the Avicenna International Award: "We saw the award as another connection across faiths and across communities." Tessa further said, "There are more that unite us than divide us." Jewish Organizations were the fourth winners of this international award in 2023.

Soliman Haqpanah went through the biographies of the award winners. The ceremony was also accompanied by live music performances, including oud (Arabic music) and Afghan music, performed by Michael Gasco from Spain and Soliman Haqpamah from Afghanistan.

Ms. Benafsha Yaqoobi, a human rights activist from Afghanistan, also spoke at the ceremony. Ms. Yaqoobi referred to the systematic imposition of gender apartheid and the difficulties of life for Afghan women who are fighting today for their fundamental rights, to be seen as equals, and for the right to live. She then expressed her gratitude for the outstanding efforts of Professor John Baily and Ms. Veronica Doubleday and presented the Avicenna International Award to these two winners.

Ms. Veronica Doubleday and Professor John Baily performed pieces of Afghan folk music at the end of the program and after their speeches.

The Avicenna Peace Award honors distinguished individuals, institutions, initiatives, and projects. It advocates dialogue, intercultural exchange, mutual coexistence, and non-violent approaches.