Over 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the summit in November.
The UAE is home to over 200 nationalities, with an Emirati population of around 20 per cent. That makes the country in general, and its most populated emirate of Dubai in specific, as ground zero for one of the world’s largest concentrations of immigrants.
To mark the International Day of Tolerance which falls on November 16, Dr Hamad Al Sheikh Ahmad Al Shaibani, the managing director at Dubai-based International Institute of Tolerance (IIT) has announced the world’s first World Tolerance Summit to be held on November 15-16 in the emirate.
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The theme for the inaugural tolerance summit is ‘Prospering from Pluralism: Embracing Diversity through Innovation and Collaboration.’ Over 1,000 government leaders, media influencers and youth representatives are expected to attend the summit.
The IIT is part of the Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives championed by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE.
Sheikh Mohammed has taken several active measures to promote tolerance including the creation of a Ministry of Tolerance two years ago.
In a statement to the press at the time, the UAE Minister of Tolerance and IIT-Board of Trustees chairman Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan said, “Tolerance is not simply enduring the existence of opinions, ideas, behaviours or practices that do not concur with your own.
“It is about being secure in your own culture and beliefs, so that you respond to what is different with curiosity and compassion rather than with fear and intolerance.”
The upcoming summit will also feature ‘Tolerance Awards’ that will recognize individuals striving towards this goal. Sheikh Mohammed already launched the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Tolerance two years ago along with a specific hand signal of a dove to signal tolerance.
There are already laws in place in the UAE to promote tolerance. For example, the UAE Law on Tolerance, officially known as the Anti Discriminatory Law, criminalises prejudice against any religion or race and can result in fines of up to Dhs2 million along and a 10-year prison sentence for the most serious offenders.
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