Human rights in the UAE are progressing – Opinion

UAE rights record under review this week UN Human Rights CouncilThe (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in which the UAE will shed light on the steps it has taken to implement recommendations made during previous reviews, and highlight recent human rights developments in the country.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with a friend from Dubai who founded the award-winning Crossroads of Civilizations museum in the city. The museum’s collection of artifacts and exhibits documents his country’s historical role as a cultural crossroads on global trade routes between Europe, Africa and Asia. The museum’s key message is that human tolerance of diversity and multiculturalism in all its forms can foster creativity and human development.

One gallery in a museum is known as the Multifaith Gallery. It displays rare and precious Christian, Islamic and Jewish books, all of which are treated with equal care and respect. It may surprise some to learn that the museum reflects and embodies the UAE Constitution, which outlines the freedoms and rights of all citizens.

It protects civil liberties, including freedom of speech and the press, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the practice of religious beliefs. Everyone is equal before the law, regardless of race, nationality, religious belief or social status.

The national leaders of the UAE have repeatedly expressed their hope that the country will become a progressive, tolerant and rights-respecting country. Of course, the challenge for leadership is how to make this happen.

Is the UAE a progressive, tolerant and rights-respecting country?

Earlier this year, a coalition of 53 NGOs concerned with monitoring the human rights situation, including the International Movement for Peace and Coexistence (IMPAC), submitted a shadow report reviewing the UAE’s efforts and achievements over the past 50 years. Shadow reports are reports prepared by NGOs in response to the official reports submitted by Council member states to the UN Human Rights Council every four years.

The Shadow Report details how the UAE has made significant strides in promoting and protecting human rights in recent years, and how these developments have significant implications for the wider Middle East.

The coalition also organized an international seminar in Geneva in conjunction with the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council to discuss current and future human rights challenges in the UAE.

During the workshop, IMPAC considered the UAE’s educational regulations, drawing on research from the Tel Aviv Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), which uses methodological standards based on UNESCO and UN declarations, and International Recommendations and Documents on Education for Peace and Tolerance. In December 2021, IMPACT-se produced a detailed report following an in-depth review of the UAE curriculum.

In 2016, the UAE launched a cutting-edge Moral Education (ME) curriculum that is taught in all grades, from 1 to 12, in all public and private schools in the UAE. It is an initiative launched under the directive of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed to help all empower young people to judge what is morally right to become morally autonomous adults. These materials were recently revised to reflect the positive aspects of the changing situation in the Middle East, in other words, abraham agreement.

According to Markus Sheff, affect yourselfCEO, UAE’s new curriculum is already ahead of other regional countries. In its findings, IMPACT-se indicated that the materials used in UAE schools were designed to show that prosperity and national pride are closely linked to peace and tolerance.

Engagement and cooperation with non-nationals and the world is welcomed. Language and ethics education programs encourage cultural diversity, curiosity and joy. Students prepare for a competitive world; they are taught positive thinking and happiness. In terms of women’s rights, support women’s active participation in all walks of life.

President bin Zayed’s directive is both visionary and courageous as it reveals the humanitarian concerns and political will to bring about change. It is an educational system with direction. Direction is essential because if we don’t know where we’re going, any road will do. The UAE is heading in the right direction, as we believe the UPR will show.

In stark contrast to Israel’s other close neighbours, they have gone in the wrong direction: Syria, Iraq, and of course Iran especially, have little concern for happiness, tolerance or human rights.

The possibility of learning from and building on the UAE’s impressive achievements should be widely embraced. These pioneering initiatives can and should be replicated elsewhere in the Middle East and beyond. We believe the UPR will agree.

The author is CEO of IMPAC, a Brussels-based international NGO accredited by the European Parliament dedicated to promoting dialogue and democratic values. @IMPA Coexistence