Technology campus in Abu Dhabi fosters understanding of cultures

Abu Dhabi: The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) became the first associate university partner from the Middle East to join the Tony Blair Faith Foundation's Faith and Globalisation Initiative on Monday in Abu Dhabi.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair signed a memorandum of understanding with Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Chancellor of HCT.

Under the agreement, HCT will deliver the foundation's projects to promote global understanding and build a bridge of inter-faith relations in line with the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

"The world in which young people today are growing up in, is a place where to be religiously illiterate is to be ignorant about the way the world is," said Blair. "The purpose of my foundation is to provide a basis where people learn about those of another faith in order to understand and therefore be able to get on with them better," he added.

Power of education

Shaikh Nahyan said that the partnership reflected HCT's conviction that education on all levels is a powerful force for uniting the world through peace and understanding.

"HCT students will join the campaign to build partnerships across faith lines to show the world how faith can be a positive global force in the 21st century," said Shaikh Nahyan.

Blair said that in an era of globalisation where people of different faiths are being pushed closer together through technology and communication, religion can stand to serve either a positive or negative purpose.

"Does religious faith in these circumstances [globalisation] play a negative role, becoming a badge of identity in opposition to others of different faiths?" asked Blair. "Or does faith play a civilising role, giving globalisation value and helping people come together to understand and learn and live with each other in peace and harmony," he added.

To realise the latter reality is what Blair referred to as "the single biggest challenge of our century". Reflecting on a bygone century scarred by political ideologies such as fascism and communism, he cautioned that religious misunderstanding also had the potential to cause serious divisions.

"The 21st century is unlikely to be scarred by political ideology, but it could easily turn into a century scarred by religious or cultural ideology through conflict with one another," he said.

Bridging disparities

To emphasis the UAE's commitment to bridging religious and cultural disparities, Shaikh Nahyan added that leaders of true faith already understand the importance of the value of human life.

"From the founding of our nation through to our emergence, the UAE recognises that people of true faith share a common vision for the world; that every single human life has value and we should protect the least fortunate among us," said Shaikh Nahyan. "[Because] life itself is a beautiful and compelling mystery and is a gift to be cherished."