To promote tolerance, the UAE appointed a Minister of State for Tolerance, launched the National Tolerance Programme, passed the Anti-discrimination/Anti-hatred law and set up centres to counter extremism.
On 15 December 2018, H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed declared 2019 as the Year of Tolerance. The announcement aims to highlight the UAE as a global capital for tolerance and its approach, since its establishment, to be a bridge of communication between peoples of different cultures in a respectful environment that rejects extremism and emphasises on the acceptance of the other.
The Year of Tolerance will focus on five main pillars:
- to deepen the values of tolerance and co-existence among cultures by teaching the youth the values of tolerance
- to solidify the UAE as the global capital for tolerance through a series of initiatives, projects and dialogues between various cultures and civilisations
- to implement multiple cultural programmes and make contributions to build tolerant communities
- to focus on legislative and policy-oriented objectives that contribute to mandating cultural and religious tolerance via dialogue
- to promote tolerance through targeted media initiatives and projects.
SBC
The Swiss Business Councils (SBC) are non-profit organisations, licensed by their respective Chambers of Commerce & Industry, and were originally established in Dubai in 1996 and in Abu Dhabi in 2000.