Initiative aims to raise community awareness of legislation conducive to transforming value of tolerance into sustainable institutional endeavour

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - May 18, 2019:   In response to the  declaration by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, of the year 2019 as the ‘Year of Tolerance’, the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai (SLC) has launched its ‘Tolerance-related Legislation’ awareness initiative.

This initiative is aimed at raising awareness of the recently issued forward-looking legislation, inspired by the UAE wise leadership’s vision of promoting tolerance as an ethical human value and establishing it as a culture in social practices and government policies. The initiative emanates from the SLC’s commitment to shedding light on the drive towards legislative excellence that supports the national endeavour, namely: to position the UAE as the exemplary country of tolerance, love, and co-existence.

The UAE tolerance-oriented legislation drive is guided by the deep-rooted Emirati values and the principles of tolerant Shari’a, and is compliant with the provisions of local legislation and international conventions. 

H.E. Ahmad Saeed bin Meshar Al Muhairi, SLC’s Secretary General, explained that the ‘Tolerance-related Legislation’ awareness initiative is in implementation of the Dubai Government strategy of observing noble values and humanitarian principles when enacting legislation.

“Tolerance is foremost among these values; it is one of the main pillars of the UAE society, which is anchored on the values espoused by the country’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.”, H.E. Al Muhairi affirmed. He added that the SLC initiative is in implementation of the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who said: “We intend to transform the value of tolerance into a sustainable institutional work that will reflect positively on our people.'

H.E. Al Muhairi added: “The main objective of ‘Tolerance-related Legislation’ awareness initiative is to raise community awareness of the issued local legislation that promotes tolerance,  using innovative and interactive online media. This is in line with the SLC’s keenness on contributing to the success of the ongoing national initiatives relevant to the “Year of Tolerance”.

We, at the SLC, implement the vision behind our leadership’s ‘Year of Tolerance’ declaration through developing forward-looking legislation and ensuring proper implementation of issued legislation in the Emirate of Dubai. Through this new qualitative initiative, we hope to enrich legislative knowledge and create a clear community understanding of ‘tolerance’ as a value promoted in local legislation, in an effort to modernise the legislative and legal system so it will cope with Dubai’s ambitious  development process.

We are going to utilise all channels to highlight key legislation that helps instill the values of tolerance, openness, and respect. At the forefront of such legislation is Law No. 9 of 2017 Establishing the International Institute for Tolerance, which paves the way for positioning the UAE as a global model for tolerance, co-existence, peace, and multiculturalism.”

H.E. Al Muhairi concluded: “We are very confident that the ‘Tolerance-related Legislation’ awareness initiative will further our objective, namely to enrich the legislative culture. We reaffirm our commitment to upholding the value of tolerance as one of the key pillars of the Fifty-year Charter, aimed at building an integrated city ‘governed by law and bound by the spirit of compassion, love, harmony, and tolerance.’ ”

Under the initiative, the tolerance-related local legislation published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Dubai will be posted on social media platforms, and will be circulated within official correspondence. One piece of tolerance-related legislation will be highlighted at the beginning of each month of the ‘Year of Tolerance.’ The objectives and provisions of the featured legislation will be simplified for better understanding by all segments of the society.