Photos: Meet the 2019 UAE Pioneers awardees

Fourteen individual and group initiatives, including two Christian expatriates in the UAE, were honoured on Tuesday as ‘UAE Pioneers’. The prestigious award, was conferred by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. In its sixth edition, the UAE Pioneers Award coincides with the Year of Tolerance this year. The awardees were felicitated in Abu Dhabi at the end of the government meetings.

The Voice of Tolerance Choir headed by Jamila Bint Salem Musabbeh Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education. The Choir includes more than 400 students representing 40 nationalities from 68 public and private schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. It represents creativity that embodies not only art, but also transcends the values of tolerance and human sentiments.

Sheikh Mohammed congratulates UAE Pioneers awardee, Rev. Andrew Thompson, author of "Celebrating Tolerance: Religious Diversity in the United Arab Emirates" released in February 2019, which tells stories of people living harmoniously and peacefully in the UAE and celebrates a culture of tolerance and understanding among different religions.

Sheikh Mohammed honours Shaikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance.

Sheikh Mohammed honours Nasser Al Dhaheri, a thinker, writer and short film director. Al Dhaheri has adopted the "Year of Tolerance" slogan in his writings, works and films. He has directed a number of short films on tolerance to be shown in conjunction with the International Day for Tolerance.

Another group awardee is the Zayed Gandhi Digital Museum, which pays tributes to Shaikh Zayed and Mahatma Gandhi. The UAE team was led by Noora Mohammad Al Kaabi and Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to UAE.

The International Institute for Tolerance, the first institution dedicated to raising awareness about tolerance, coexistence and peace through education, which represents a global UAE beacon to achieve solidarity and unity among members of the same society, and promote the concepts of equality, justice and freedom. The award was received by Dr. Hamad Al Shaibani, Managing Director of the Institute.

The Interfaith Hall at the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, which embodies the concepts of tolerance through collections belonging to different religions, including religious texts and manuscripts emphasizing the common human history and tolerance between civilizations and religions, was received by Mohammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi.

Saji Cheriyan, an Indian Christian businessman, was honoured for building the Mariam Um Eissa mosque (Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Mosque) for workers in Fujairah. Built at a cost of Dh1.3 million in the East Ville Real Estate complex of Al Hayl Industrial Estate, the mosque can accommodate 250 worshippers at a time. Several more hundreds pray on the courtyard of the mosque shaded with neem trees.

The team of tolerance and coexistence programme headed by Dr. Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, which focuses on rooting the culture of tolerance and coexistence by linking the principle of tolerance to the UAE national identity.

The honours list included the Humanitarian Fraternity Working Group, headed by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honours Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon. “We want to see tolerance in all areas of life. We want to educate the tolerant student, train the teacher to educate tolerant generations, and consolidate the values of tolerance that embody the true image of the UAE society,” Shaikh Mohammed said during the awarding ceremony.

The Global Tolerance Leadership Task Force headed by Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, which is an initiative between the UAE government and UNESCO that reflects the UAE’s trends and seeks to consolidate the spirit of tolerance, and the participation of the world in the UAE model in building societies of tolerance.

The Interfaith Alliance for Community Security, chaired by Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, was honoured as a joint global ethical system launched from the UAE to facilitate the building of bridges between religions, NGOs and experts in all fields.