INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR TOLERANCE

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR TOLERANCE

On 16 November each year, the international community observes the International Day for Tolerance, with activities directed towards both educational establishments and the wider public.  Sixty years after the signatories of the UN Charter resolved to "practice tolerance" and to "live together in peace with one another as good neighbours", tolerance is still a main focus of UN action. The decision to observe the International Day was taken by the General Assembly in its resolution 51/95 of 12 December 1996.  This action came in the wake of the United Nations Year for Tolerance, 1995, proclaimed by the Assembly in 1993 on the initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The International Day of Tolerance focuses the world's attention on tolerance as an essential condition for peace, democracy and sustainable development.  The world’s leaders recognized this when, in adopting the Millennium Declaration in 2000, they placed tolerance among the fundamental values on which international relations in the twenty-first century must be based.

Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human.  It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief.  Tolerance is harmony in difference.  It is not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace.  [Article 1.1 of the Declaration on Principles of Tolerance, proclaimed and signed by the Member States of UNESCO on 16 November 1995].