2019: Year of Tolerance

On Saturday, President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced that 2019 would be the ‘Year of Tolerance’ in the UAE

Historic visit

The year will begin with the visit of Pope Francis who will hold a Papal Mass in Abu Dhabi in February, a landmark mass that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of Catholics in the UAE during his first visit to the GCC. Pope Francis will visit the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque to hold a private meeting with the Muslim Council of Elders.

Land of tolerance

The UAE is home to people from over 200 countries – representing a variety of religions, ethnicities and cultures – all living and working together in peace

New landmark

In 2015, the Abu Dhabi government approved plans to build a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, a non-profit social and religious Hindu organisation, will build and manage the temple. The temple, expected to be completed by 2020, will have seven towers representing the seven emirates in the UAE.

Special focus

In 2016, the UAE became the only country to introduce a ministry and minister for tolerance. Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi was the first the Minister of State for Tolerance. In the 2017 Cabinet reshuffle, Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan was appointed as Cabinet member and Minister of Tolerance.

National Tolerance Programme

Launched in 2016, the programme is implemented in collaboration with UAE federal and local entities under five main themes:

• Strengthen government's role as an incubator of tolerance

• Promote tolerance among young people and prevent them from fanaticism and extremism

• Integrate international efforts to promote tolerance and highlight the leading role of UAE in this area.

• The programme includes a number of initiatives, such as 'Tolerance Week', 'The UAE Tolerance Centre' and 'The Tolerance Responsibility Programme'.