This year has been extraordinarily challenging. Reeling from the impact of an unprecedented pandemic, the world cannot wait for 2020 to end. Like other countries, the UAE has had its share of the coronavirus fallouts, but the country never lost sight of its overall vision and strategies. With so many achievements, the year has proved a momentous one for the UAE.
The latest initiative by the UAE this week was the announcement of setting up of the National Human Rights Authority, which will be in line with the Paris Principles for the National Human Rights Institutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
The new body will be “tasked with monitoring the dossier of human rights, develop policies and coordinate with relevant local and international bodies,” His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai said on twitter.
All these changes were an important step towards setting up the new human rights body. Both the legal foundation and the commitment to the Paris principles will ensure the country will always remain an oasis of tolerance and freedoms
This ground-breaking move builds on the reputation of the UAE as a country that values freedoms and individual rights. In October, according to the 12th Annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey and for the 9th year in a row, the UAE emerged as the country the Arab young would most like to live in, even more than the US and Canada.
Everone's preferred destination
The respondents cited the UAE’s respect for human rights and individual freedoms and the supremacy of the law as the main reasons for their choice of the country as the preferred destination for work and living. “The UAE is a country for everyone, and its doors will remain open to all,” Sheikh Mohammed said commenting on the survey results. These are the same reasons that more than 200 nationalities live in harmony here.
In November, fundamental changes to the UAE penal and civil codes were announced that broadened the personal freedoms and equal protections. The changes were aimed at aligning the legal foundation with the country’s commitment to tolerance, as well as to boost its status as an attractive destination for expats to live and work.
All these changes were an important step towards setting up the new human rights body. Both the legal foundation and the commitment to the Paris principles will ensure the country will always remain an oasis of tolerance and freedoms.
The UAE was built on those principle by the founding fathers back in 1971. Those principles are enshrined in the constitution and the legal jurisprudence. With the establishment of the new national human rights authority, the country has ensured that there are no grey areas in this critical part of its future vision.
