Year of Tolerance is ending, its legacy isn't

TOLERANCE, AN EMIRATI TRAIT: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid chairs the Cabinet meeting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The UAEVice-President said tolerance is an intrinsic part of Emirati heritage. - Photo courtesy: Dubai Media Office

With the Year of Tolerance coming to an end, the UAE Cabinet has affirmed that the initiatives and activities launched in 2019 would continue as the virtue of tolerance "is an intrinsic part of Emirati heritage established by the country's founding fathers".
Chairing the Cabinet meeting on Sunday, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Year of Tolerance is a vehicle for achieving progress and development.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed that the UAE is benefitting from its efforts and from the cultural diversity of its society to consolidate and institutionalise tolerance to become a sustainable value in the country and the world as a whole. "Tolerance is part of our heritage and we will continue to consolidate it in our society to set an example for the world," he said.
He made these remarks as the Cabinet approved a national initiative to promote the role of the government as an incubator for tolerance.
Sheikh Mohammed said: "At the end of the Year of Tolerance, which was a year of achievements and giving ... we have issued directives to launch a national initiative to further promote tolerance and dedicate it as a value in all our government programmes and activities.
"The government is the first incubator of tolerance. Its practices, laws and processes will continue with us ... and everyone will be an ambassador for tolerance and responsible for promoting its values.
"We want the culture of tolerance to be a lifestyle in the fabric of our policies, work environments and society as a whole, such that the UAE be a leader in the field of tolerance and a unique model for spreading it globally," the UAE Vice-President added.
The initiative aims to raise awareness among all employees working in federal and local entities by instilling the culture of tolerance in their daily processes. In this manner, these entities - thanks to their values of tolerance, respect for coexistence and support of the innovation that stems from diversity - will echo well beyond their institutional confines and spread the spirit of tolerance in society.
Key resolutions adopted
1-Regulating stem cell centres: Resolution on regulation of umbilical cord blood and stem cell centres. This aims at regulating and improving the services provided in these centres, in addition to achieving the desired benefits within a legislative framework that helps enhance public health.
2-Food security council: Establishment of the Emirates Council for Food Security. This council will be tasked to supervise the implementation of the National Food Security Strategy and follow on all its strategic directions, organisation of the food dossier in the country, developing the national food security system and the relevant legislation in a comprehensive manner covering the seven Emirates, and aligning and complementing national efforts and defining priorities in this regard.
3-Centre for education planning: Ratification of an agreement between the government of the UAE and the Unesco regarding the Regional Centre for Educational Planning in the UAE
4-Boosting efficiency of products: Application of mandatory standards in the electricity and food sector to strengthen safety, security and health in society while ensuring that all segments of society are taken into account. These measures are equally geared towards raising the efficiency of products in the country in accordance with best practices and developing the relevant technical regulations and regulatory systems.
5-Tax authority budget: Budget of the Federal Tax Authority and the General Pension and Social Security Authority for the fiscal year 2020, and the final account of the Emirates Real Estate Corporation for the fiscal year 2018.
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