Leading Malaysian civil society activist Anwar Fazal has been awarded a prestigious peace award by a leading American university.

Anwar will be conferred the award - called the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Peace Award - at a function in Penang tomorrow.

The award is given by the Alabama-based Morehouse College. The American Civil Rights activist Rev Martin Luther King jr. was an alumni of the college, which also holds his archives.

In its citation, the university said Anwar was chosen for his "innovations and tireless endeavors to advocate for the welfare of consumers and the protection of the environment not only in Malaysia, but throughout the world."

Anwar was described as "a giant in the effort to preserve the health and well being of the inhabitants of our planet."

Noble virtues

Anwar is presently the chairperson of the Taiping Peace Initiative, the Malaysian Interfaith Network and a director of Citizens International.

He has also been involved in several global citizens networks and consumer rights movements.

The award was created to celebrate the lives and work of three men from three different cultures and countries - non-violence believer Mohandas Gandhi, Buddhist philosopher Dr Daisaku Ikeda and Martin Luther King.

The university said that Anwar was being recognised by the award for his work to protect the health and welfare of consumers worldwide.

"(It is) also for his endeavors to promote social ethics, human rights and environmental protection. He wonderfully embodied the noble virtues of the individuals for which this award was named."