Today, on November 16, the world celebrates International Day for Tolerance established by UN in 1997 for 12th time. It’s not widely known in Ukraine, and our Jewish communities usually have no special events on this day.
“Principles of tolerance declaration” by UNESCO of 1995 says that tolerance is “respect, acceptance and correct understanding of rich cultural diversity of our world, forms of our self-expression and ways of manifestation of human individuality”. The Declaration calls for “acceptance of the fact that people vary in appearance, status, speech, behavior and values and have the right to live in peace and preserve their individuality”.
The Declaration also considers threats of intolerance and suggests methods and programs to fight it.
In his 2005address for the International Day for Tolerance UN Secretary general says that fighting intolerance is a major direction of UN work. In parallel to population growth and migration increase we have rise of xenophobia and extremism all over the world. Tolerance means learning more about each other, finding the best in each others traditions and faith.