T
wo young girls in a university set out to study the tolerance culture of the UAE and the results reiterated the all-round acceptance that UAE extends to all its people.
Ardra Meletath, 19, and Nermin Abu Al Zakhab, 21, of the Canadian University of Dubai undertook a research among 200 young people representing more than 40 nationalities, with over 55 per cent of respondents from a non-Arab background. The survey found that 82.5 per cent of those surveyed felt accepted in the UAE, ■ while 96 per cent said they do not discriminate on the basis of individuals’ differences.
The project, which culminated in the research paper Exploring tolerance in diverse cultural and social settings among youth in the UAE was among the winners at the 7th annual Abu Dhabi University Undergraduate Research Competition. Shortlisted from over 700 original entries, the students’ presentation won them a top-three place and Dh1,500 prize money in the Tolerance, Psychology and Sociology category of the region-wide contest.
“I’ve always known the importance of tolerance and feel that I’ve been a very tolerant person even before exploring the subject,” says Meletath, who has just completed her first year of Bachelor of Arts in Communication majoring Public Relations. She came the UAE as a four-year-old.
“Having been educated in an all-Indian high school, I didn’t have much first-hand experience of [tolerance], until coming to Canadian University Dubai. That really opened my eyes to the extent of diversity in our community here,” she says. “I don’t think there’s anywhere in the in to world where we could benefit from such diverse cultural learning experiences,” says Meletath.
Nermin Al Zakhab, 21, Syrian-Russian, a third year student who has done her Bachelor of Arts in Communication majoring in Public Relations, and who was born and raised in the UAE, was exposed to diversity as a big part of her upbringing. “Born into a diverse family and educated at an international school with children from 93 nationalities, interacting with other cultures was the norm for me,” she says.
The decision to undertake the study, say both students, was driven by the inalterable fact of the world being a global village.
“As this is the Year of Tolerance, we wanted to take the opportunity to explore what this idea actually means to young people, and how it varies across communities,” says Al Zakhab.
Dr Ghada Abaido, assistant professor, Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences, Canadian University of Dubai, said: “The research findings reveal that the majority of youth in the UAE have a concrete understanding of the value of tolerance and prastice it daily. This could be because certain core values are embedded within the UAE society.”