The Emirates celebrates "International Day for Tolerance" It continues its pivotal role in strengthening the voice of moderation

Abu Dhabi, November 16, 2017 – The UAE today celebrates the International Day for Tolerance, which was adopted by the United Nations on November 16 of each year, as an annual occasion to encourage tolerance and unity among people, and spread the values ​​of coexistence and acceptance of others.

This year, the occasion coincides with the activities and activities of the National Festival for Tolerance and Coexistence 2025, which began yesterday, Saturday, in Umm Al Emarat Park in Abu Dhabi and continues until November 18, under the slogan “Hand in Hand.”

The festival provides a platform for community, cultural and humanitarian dialogue that brings together different groups of society. This year, it celebrates the People’s Republic of China as a guest of honour, in addition to the participation of more than 26 countries through artistic, cultural and heritage activities and distinguished pavilions.

In 2025, the UAE continued its pivotal role in strengthening the voice of moderation and spreading the culture of tolerance and openness around the world. It organized the activities of the fifth session of the World Conference on Tolerance and Human Fraternity, and also witnessed the holding of the activities of the second edition of the Council on Human Fraternity, with the participation of leaders, officials, experts, and an elite group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, youth leaders, and pioneers of change around the world in the context of celebrating the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity.

The country hosted the activities of the Second International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations and Tolerance, organized by the Emirates Researchers Center for Research and Studies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, under the slogan “Empowering Youth for a Tolerant Future.”

The Emirates Research Center launched the “Coexistence Platform”, which is the first digital platform based on artificial intelligence, which aims to spread the vision of the UAE’s leadership on the issue of dialogue and tolerance. It allows the user to ask questions about tolerance, coexistence and peace, and provides accurate and documented answers with official sources.

The third edition of the “World Governments are Incubators of Tolerance” conference, launched by the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, focused on enhancing dialogue between policymakers, academics, and researchers to exchange best practices in the field of promoting tolerance and inclusivity, studying the role of government policies in shaping societies’ attitudes toward diversity, and evaluating the effectiveness of various government initiatives aimed at promoting tolerance globally.

Last April, the UAE hosted the “Global Summit for Justice, Love and Peace,” the largest peace conference in the world, which witnessed the announcement of the Peace Charter entitled: “A Love Letter to Humanity,” signed by 12 Nobel Prize holders.

Over the past years, the UAE has succeeded in securing its position among the top 20 countries in the world in global competitiveness indicators for tolerance and coexistence, thanks to its path full of achievements in this field. In 2013, it established the Hedayah International Center for Excellence in Combating Violent Extremism, which is the first independent applied research institution supporting dialogue, research and training to combat extremism. It also established in July 2014 the Council of Muslim Elders, which is an independent international body aiming to promote peace in the Islamic world.

In July 2015, the UAE issued a decree law on combating discrimination and hatred, aiming to enrich global tolerance and confront manifestations of discrimination and racism, whatever their nature.

In February 2016, the UAE created a Ministry of Tolerance for the first time in the world, and its name became, according to the ministerial amendment in July 2020, the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, which plays a pivotal role in consolidating the values of tolerance at the local and global levels, through its pioneering programs and initiatives, the most prominent of which is the “Government Incubator of Tolerance” initiative, which seeks to make the state’s “federal and local” institutions a role model in establishing a culture of tolerance in work environments, and the “Government Incubator of Tolerance” initiative. “Knights of Tolerance,” which focuses on preparing community leaders who believe in the values of tolerance, coexistence, and human brotherhood, in addition to tolerance clubs in schools and universities.

At the international level, the Ministry adopts pioneering initiatives such as the Global Alliance for Tolerance, and other international initiatives that work to enhance cooperation between countries and institutions around the world to spread a culture of peace and mutual understanding.

On June 21, 2017, the UAE issued the law establishing the International Institute for Tolerance, and the World Council of Muslim Communities was established in 2018, which works to promote and disseminate the values ​​of moderation, dialogue, tolerance, and belonging to the homeland.

The UAE designated 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, a year that witnessed the historic meeting between His Eminence the Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, and His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church, in Abu Dhabi, which resulted in the Human Fraternity Document for World Peace and Coexistence being issued.

During its presidency of the Security Council in June 2023, the UAE led efforts to adopt historic Resolution No. 2686 on tolerance, international peace and security, which included for the first time international recognition of the existence of a link between hate speech and acts of extremism and international peace and security. The resolution also urged the dissemination of the values ​​of tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

The UAE has launched many international awards that celebrate the efforts of individuals and entities that are in the interest of promoting peaceful coexistence, including the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, the Mohammed bin Rashid Tolerance Award, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for World Peace, and the Emirates International Award for Peace Poets.

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