Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak addresses the audience at the IGCF 2022 on Wednesday. Kamal Kassim/Gulf Today

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Minister of Tolerance and Co-Existence Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan has reiterated the commitment of the UAE leadership and its people to the pursuit of acceptance, forbearance, brotherliness and friendship.

Al Nahyan said from the 11th edition of the “International Government Communication Forum (IGCF)” held at the Expo Centre Sharjah: “Our ministry and the entire nation are fully committed to the values of tolerance, co-existence, and human fraternity.”

He added: “We committedly work towards establishing balanced and strong cooperative relationships with everyone in order to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness on civilisations, cultures, and religions, and successfully counter extremism, racism, and hatred to achieve peace and accord worldwide.”

The government official was the first of three distinguished speakers at the Wednesday edition of the “Inspiring Talks” at the IGCF.

The IGCF is an annual gathering of government people, thought leaders, and experts from around the world as well as the youth of Sharjah since 2012. Under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, the goal is to create discussions or deliberations on the best possible communication strategies and mechanisms for effective messaging, most specifically by the public sector.

With the theme “Challenges and Solutions,” it was organised by the International Government Communication Centre, an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau.

The two other first day-”Inspiring Talks” guest speakers were Global Commission on the Economy and Climate honourary chairman/former Mexico president Felipe de Jesus Calderon and former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell.

Al Nahyan’s talk was titled “Optimal Communication Strategies for Balanced Relations between Cultures,” wherein he mentioned the “big responsibility” of government institutions in disseminating what everyone must need to be aware of, so that “negativities and biases” are countered in order that “peace, understanding and co-existence” prevail.

He pointed out that as communication is a mechanism for the transfer of information required for the continuing build-up of not only knowledge and skills, but more importantly of relationships, “accuracy and transparency must be over and above gossips and fake news.”