Values of tolerance continue to dominate public events and activities in the UAE as part of relentless efforts to promote cross cultural and religious interactions, as well as dialogue and peaceful coexistence, especially during the ‘Year of Tolerance’.

It is heartening to note that the Zayed House for Islamic Culture, ZHIC, has registered one million participants in the “Covenant for Million Tolerant” e-initiative launched last April as part of the Year of Tolerance programmes, aimed at promoting the values of tolerance within the UAE community. According to statistics, visitors to the e-platform reached 1,300,000, of which 68 per cent were males and 32 per cent were females. The interesting part is also that the participants were from various nationalities from across 200 countries, with the overall proportion of local participants to other nationalities being 51 to 49 per cent, respectively.

Moreover, 116 UAE ministries, institutions, companies and private sector entities took part in the ZHIC initiative to urge their employees to participate in the Covenant.

Separately, the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Volunteering Programme aims to attract young people from different nationalities, to train and enable them to promote the values of tolerance among the world’s communities.

The programme has intensified its efforts during the Year of Tolerance and organised a series of forums in various countries to highlight the UAE’s role in spreading the values of giving and peaceful coexistence.

This week, the UAE and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation announced the UAE-Unesco Global Tolerance Leadership Programme, designed to nurture inclusive societies by developing the capacities of young leaders to foster tolerance, inclusion and intercultural dialogue.

Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and Chair of the UAE National Commission for Education, Culture ,and Science; and Nada Al-Nashif, Unesco’s Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, announced the initiative, which marks a major advance in the pursuit of Unesco’s objectives in creating just and peaceful societies through the effective engagement and participation of young women and men. 2019 is named the ‘Year of Tolerance’ in the UAE, and on the occasion of the International Day for Tolerance, the UAE chose to partner with Unesco to establish the Global Tolerance Leadership Programme to celebrate and nurture this fundamental value. The programme will shed light on the growing challenge of discrimination and exclusion, while providing practical tools to design and implement impactful approaches to promote the values of diversity and tolerance.

Using Unesco’s Master Class methodology, the Leadership Programme will convene globally recognised experts and some 40 young leaders around the world to build their skills, knowledge and capacities.

The young leaders will also be given the opportunity and support to establish and implement their own local projects, using the knowledge and tools gained from the training.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has already announced that the UAE Pioneers Award for the current year will honour individuals and initiatives that promote the spirit of tolerance and peaceful coexistence in UAE society.

Sheikh Mohammed has also called on citizens of the UAE to nominate individuals and projects that actively promoted tolerance in the Year of Tolerance on the Twitter hashtag #UAE_Pioneers and through the website uaepioneers.gov.ae

The United Arab Emirates is indeed a shining model of tolerance and openness in the region. That’s one big reason for every citizen and resident to be proud of.