The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the most advanced countries in its tireless work to build a tolerant society and cultural pluralism, where it incubates individuals of more than 200 nationalities who enjoy a dignified life and respect. The UAE has undertaken many creative initiatives to build a tolerant and multicultural society, with the creation of the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence standing out as the world's first ministry dedicated to this mission. The primary mission of the ministry is to strengthen the critical discourse of tolerance and consolidate the UAE's role and position in sowing the seeds of tolerance globally. These are achieved by establishing many projects and initiatives to develop the needed infrastructure to advance societies, increase familiarity and respect between members of society, and provide an appropriate social environment based on love, tolerance, mercy, and kindness.
The government has put forward many unique initiatives to promote tolerance and has drawn a road map towards mechanisms for translating tolerance as a national value emanating from the UAE to the world. Studies have shown that training in dealing with different cultures is crucial to consolidate the principles of a tolerant society in all sectors of life. It starts with educational institutions of all levels (schools and universities) and progresses through governmental and private institutions where many people of different nationalities and cultures work together. There are many examples of international organizations that failed and collapsed due to the lack of adaptation of the work teams with each other and the inability to create a work environment based on understanding and accepting each other.
In general, "culture" is a concept that is still vague and does not have a clear definition. Even people familiar with the subject tend to have differing views about this concept and how it is measured.
Professor Geert Hofstede, one of the most influential researchers in the science of culture, defined this concept as the collective programming of the human mind in which members of a group who live in a geographical area are distinguished from others living in another region.
Professor Hofstede and his colleagues have developed a few practical approaches to measuring the national culture of a particular country in comparison to that of another country.
These powerful tools are currently used worldwide to develop a dialogue between different cultures and stimulate the integration of individuals from different cultures in a crucible of joint action, cooperation, and tolerance. At the same time, these tools are used to improve relations between work teams to create an organizational culture for a thriving environment that can adapt to the globalization of employment and the need for employees of different nationalities to work together as one team. It is, therefore, increasingly important that people learn to work together and respect each other from an early age in a multicultural society such as the UAE. Therefore, encouraging firms and institutions to organize cultural training courses and workshops periodically to stimulate the cultural understanding of people in all aspects of work in the UAE is an urgent need. That shall complement the government initiatives to build a tolerant and multicultural society, which constitutes a competitive advantage for the UAE as a global center for attracting global competencies and foreign investment.
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