The change appeared on phones this morning…

Eagle-eyed residents may have spotted a change to their network provider name on Wednesday, November 16 to ‘Tolerance’. If you did spot you’re probably wondering ‘why?’ Well, it’s to help celebrate International Day for Tolerance.

November 16 was declared by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as International Day for Tolerance back in 1995. According to UNESCO’s 1995 Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, ‘Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human.’

The change to the network was noticed on all network providers – Etisalat du and Virgin mobile.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak was named the Minister of Tolerance by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai back in October 2017. Sheikh Mohammed tweeted the announcement stating, ‘Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak is an honourable Emirati, popular throughout local and global communities.’

During the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East And West For Human Coexistence, earlier this month on November 3, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak stated, ‘We are a country that sees tolerance and coexistence as a way to achieve economic and social progress and a way to ensuring freedom of belief, protecting places of worship, spreading the principles of mercy and affection among people, and that tolerance and human brotherhood are the way to get rid of conflicts and hatred, to combat extremism and terrorism, and to spread peace and security all over the world.’

The UAE even dedicated the year 2019 to the Year of Tolerance. It was declared by the late UAE President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Images: Getty Images