The UAE celebrates the International Day of Human Fraternity

The UAE celebrates the International Day of Human Fraternity, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2020, after an initiative submitted by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, with the aim of making February 4 an annual occasion to encourage tolerance and unity among people and spread the values ​​of coexistence and acceptance of others.

The occasion comes in light of the efforts and influential role played by the UAE to promote the dissemination of the values ​​and principles of peace, tolerance and coexistence at the global level, as it is sufficient to point out that the adoption of the International Day of Human Fraternity on the fourth of February of each year was based on the anniversary of the birth of the most important document in modern human history. The “Human Fraternity Document,” which was signed on the same day in 2019 by two of the most important religious figures in the world, His Eminence the Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church, in Abu Dhabi, the capital of human brotherhood.

The work of the fourth international conference of “PLURIEL”, organized by the Trends Center for Research and Consultation in cooperation with the University Platform for the Study of Islam, begins today, under the title “Islam and Human Brotherhood… The Impact and Prospects of the Abu Dhabi Declaration for Coexistence,” and will continue until the seventh of this February, in the hall. Major conferences at Trends headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The conference is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, and coincides with the fifth anniversary of the signing of the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Coexistence,” and the International Day of Human Fraternity.

The conference, in which more than 57 speakers and session chairs from 40 universities and research institutions representing four continents, along with specialists in the fields of scientific and academic research and religious thought, participate, is an important opportunity to examine, through 12 sessions and five lectures, in depth the impact of the Document on Human Fraternity, which was signed by Pope Francis and Dr. Ahmed. Al-Tayeb five years ago.

The conference aims to read the impact of the Document on Human Fraternity on its fifth anniversary, and explore the transformations necessary to strengthen global human brotherhood. It will also shed light on three main axes: the social-legal axis and the geopolitical axis. The third axis explores the religious and theological thinking that is stimulated by the Document on Human Fraternity. .

Since its signing, the document has formed the starting point for many initiatives that establish the spirit of tolerance and coexistence between all religions, the most prominent of which is the Abrahamic Family House project, on Saadiyat Island in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, which includes a church, a mosque, and a synagogue under the roof of one edifice.

Since its inception, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has been considered one of the UAE's most prominent initiatives aimed at spreading and disseminating the values ​​of tolerance and human coexistence.

The award bears special symbolism due to its association with the name of the late founding leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, in addition to its role in deepening the principles associated with promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence around the world.

The award announced the names of the honorees of its award for the year 2024, as the two Islamic societies in Indonesia, the Nahdlatul Ulama Society and the Muhammadiyah Society, the world-famous Egyptian heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub, and the community leader Sister Nelly Leon Correa from Chile, participate in the award.

This year's honorees were chosen by an independent jury, which selected them based on their exceptional efforts in confronting complex societal challenges and encouraging peaceful coexistence and solidarity among people at the local and international levels. The award winners will be honored during the award ceremony held on February 5th at the Founding Zayed Memorial in the capital, Abu Dhabi.

In a related context, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, in partnership with GEMS Education Group, launched the second edition of the “Arts of Expressing Human Fraternity” initiative, during which more than 100,000 students, male and female, from 43 schools across the country were invited to create artistic forms to express the values ​​of human brotherhood. In the context of ensuring awareness of the International Day of Human Fraternity among young people.

The UAE’s efforts and role in promoting the values ​​of human brotherhood and tolerance between people and religions are highlighted at the international level through a group of periodic activities, such as the Forum for International Efforts for Tolerance, which discusses the broad outlines of an international strategy to promote tolerance at the global level, raise awareness and promote the concepts of peaceful coexistence and international cooperation, with Renouncing violence, extremism and hatred, and providing innovative and creative solutions to spread awareness of tolerance among the youth of the world.

The UAE annually hosts the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, which discusses the humanitarian problems and issues facing people in today’s world that have resulted from intellectual and sectarian conflicts in Muslim societies.

100,000 students from 43 schools across the country were invited to create artistic forms to express the values ​​of human brotherhood.