Washington, April 30 (IANS): Actress Salma Hayek has received the 2015 Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity award from the Arab American Institute.

Hayek was recognised in the Individual Achievement category for her role as producer of the animated film "The Prophet", inspired by Khalil Gibran’s book.

"I'm a citizen of the world, and my country is humanity, kids are poets from the moment they're born; they get Gibran's message without thinking about the meaning of individual words," Hayek said during the award ceremony here on Wednesday, reports Efe.

The institute highlighted the Salma Hayek Foundation's work to end violence against women and attract global attention to humanitarian crises.

In Gibran's "The Prophet" nine directors interpret the work of the poet from Lebanon.

One of the selected poems tells the kaleidoscopic and symbolic story of an imprisoned poet and a mischievous little girl.

The movie, brainchild of Roger Allers ("The Lion King") and Bjarne Hansen, illustrates the poems of Gibran, and includes contributions from artists from around the world.

"Animating a work already read by 120 million people around the world was a challenge, so I recruited nine leading animation directors and gave them total freedom to imagine a story based on his poems," she said.