Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft - Das internationale Forum der Deutschen Bank - Award ceremony

The US$ 100,000 award was presented at The Seed, Sabancı Museum, Istanbul on 4 November 2009 by Dr. Josef Ackermann, CEO Deutsche Bank, in the presence of Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul.

The third Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award went to Barış İcin Müzik (Music for Peace), an urban intervention in the form of a community music project located in Edirnekapi, one of Istanbul’s most disadvantaged inner-city neighbourhoods. The project brings free musical education to local school children from the ages of 7 to 14, and recently completed a new facility for musical training and performance for talented teenagers in the heart of their community.

The unanimous decision by the jury praised the vision and generosity of the project’s sponsor Mehmet Selim Baki, the palpable impact on the children’s musical and social skills, the clear messages that it gives for inner-city living and the potential for the project to act as model for similar initiatives in other urban areas. The jury said: ‘Music is an essential element of urban life, in streets and other public spaces, connecting people and catalysing the best of a city’s potential. With more than a hundred participants, this project brings a remarkable quality to the neighbourhood: not only to the children themselves, but also to their families, and their local community. They are proud and their music creates a communal spirit, bringing together officials, educators and families.’

Of the 87 submissions, five were shortlisted. Along side the winner, two stood out as ‘Special Mentions’ due to their unique and critical contributions to vulnerable urban populations in Istanbul. Mr. Ersin Akyuz, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank Turkey awarded US$ 10,000 each to Kadın Emeğini Değerlendirme Vakfı (Foundation for Support of Women’s Work) that offers skills, childcare and employment support for new migrant women in Istanbul, and Umut Çocukları Derneği - Bakırköy Gençlik Evi (Children of Hope Foundation – Bakırköy Youth House) for their work on the Bakirkoy House, a shelter that also acts as a training centre towards employment for young men who have been forced to live on the streets.  By awarding ‘Special Mention’, the jury admired these projects’ vision with the hope they would become model projects for others to follow.