It was inaugurated in 1996, following the 1995 United Nations Year for Tolerance and in connection with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas Gandhi, funded by a donation from Madanjeet Singh.
The purpose of the prize is to honour and reward extraordinary creative achievements in promoting tolerance, as notable models for others in the field of peace-building.
In the frame of the Year, and in connection with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas Gandhi, UNESCO established a new international award, the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence.
The prize was made possible by the generous donation of the Indian artist, writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh, who is also Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO.
Mr Singh was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, and served nine months in Mirzapur jail during the "Quit India" movement against British colonial rule.
The two laureates in 1998 were the educator and peace activist Narayan Desai of India and the Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights of Pakistan.
[2] The 2006 Prize was awarded to Veerasingham Anandasangaree from Sri Lanka, President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) for being a "tireless defender of democracy and peaceful conflict resolution [who] has helped improve knowledge of the Tamul cause, through dialogue, through the promotion of non-violent solutions in Sri Lanka and by taking a stand against terrorism."