2018 was the #YearOfZayed in the UAE, 2019 announced to be the #YearOfTolerance!!!

With 2018 soon coming to an end, UAE President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2019 to be the Year of Tolerance.

Announced on Saturday December 15, Sheikh Khalifa stated that 2019 would highlight the UAE as a global capital for tolerance, instilling the values of co-existence and peace in local, regional and international communities. The UAE President stated that it is one of the most important attributes to impact the people, along with the global community to ensure the safety, stability and happiness of peoples across the world.

The Year of Tolerance will focus on “Five Pillars”, with the first one aiming to deepen the values of tolerance and co-existence among cultures and peoples by concentrating on teaching the youth on the values of tolerance. As for the second pillar, it will focus on solidifying the UAE as the global capital for tolerance, via a series of projects with dialogue between various cultures and civilisations, while the third will enact multiple cultural programmes and contributions to build tolerant communities. The fourth pillar will see legislative and policy-oriented objectives that contribute mandating cultural and religious tolerance, and finally, the fifth pillar will promote tolerance and co-existence through media initiatives.

"We look forward to further contributing towards building societies that believe in the values of tolerance, cohesion and dialogue, and establishing concrete models improving tolerance and co-existence both regionally and internationally”, said President Sheikh Khalifa.
“The Year of Tolerance will be celebrated as a national effort towards further advancing a decades-long dream of creating a tolerant and cohesive society, open to peoples of varying cultures and religions from around the world.”

H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan also noted that the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, established the UAE as a global model for tolerance, co-existence and cooperation, and was keen to inculcate these values among his people.

2017 was declared as the “Year of Giving”, while this year was celebrated as the “Year of Zayed”.

الإخوة والأخوات .. وجه رئيس الدولة حفظه الله بإعلان العام القادم ٢٠١٩ في دولة الإمارات عاما للتسامح ... بهدف تعزيز الدور العالمي الذي تلعبه الدولة كعاصمة للتعايش والتلاقي الحضاري .. وترسيخ هذه القيمة التي أرادها زايد سمة ملازمة للمجتمع الإماراتي

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) December 15, 2018

With Khalifa's announcement of 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, we recall the great heritage that Sheikh Zayed founded on tolerance and today characterises UAE's diverse society. The world today needs universal human values to be promoted for the sake of future generations.

— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) December 15, 2018