Abu Dhabi: A society centred around the values of tolerance and social cohesion are the main hallmarks of the making of a successful nation, said Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.
“Tolerance is not just for the individuals but also a critical component of how we engage as nations, as communities, [and] as partners to drive the future course of this planet,” she said.
“Here in the UAE we pride ourselves in being a young nation that has long subscribed to diversity in terms of communities, nationalities, ethnicities, gender, and race. Indeed, our society and business communities are building on a level of multiculturalism that has perhaps never been seen before,” she added.
Shaikha Lubna said that she was proud of the fact that the UAE would continue to lead by example in promoting tolerance and friendship among all people, with this policy one of the main cornerstones for the country.
“We are proud to be the first country in the world to establish a Ministry of State for Tolerance. We salute our leadership for such foresight, and [we] recognise tolerance lies at the very heart of everything the UAE stands for.
“As we reach beyond our national borders to support the region more broadly, the UAE currently has one of the highest per capita system giving programmes in the world, [and] we believe that tolerance should be at the heart of how we engage internationally,” the minister added.
Shaikha Lubna also said she was positive for the future as studies have shown that young people tend to be more open to the values of multiculturalism.
“We have raised such a tolerant young generation, millennials are considerably shown to be intrinsically more patient, more inclusive, [and] more tolerant.
“The globalisation of our communities and the digital revolution often means that young people are brought up in much more diverse communities than their predecessors, and this has led to a wonderful outcome that we should celebrate — the creation of a new generation that is inherently more global in its thinking … and less inclined to division and fragmentation,” she added.
Shaikha Lubna also explained that the Ministry of Tolerance would be using digital technology to grasp what young people are thinking online, and that this would help the ministry come up with relevant policies to engage with the youth.
“We will be looking at leveraging digital technologies and the use of social media by young people. Social media helps us understand [the] youth better and through digital platforms we can monitor and measure how much it contributes to homogeneity and diversity.
“Through online debates we can understand sources of conflict and drivers of tolerance with the aim of enhancing civic online participation among the youth,” she said.
