Hope’s 50-year UAE tour described by Hope
At 7.42pm UAE time Tuesday, the UAE Hope probe, the first Arab interplanetary mission, is expected to reach Mars, having traveled more than 426 million km since its launch on July 20 last year.
Time is not a coincidence. Hope will reach Mars in the year we mark 50 years since its founding in 1971 – the perfect symbol for a nation that has also traveled great distances in a short time. In just five decades, we have grown into a modern, dynamic center that plays an important role at regional and global levels.
While we are proud of these achievements, the focus as we mark our half-century is on the lessons we can draw from our experiences that have prepared us for the future.
Building a nation on the principles of tolerance, openness and acceptance has paid off for UAE in every way. We are one of the most diverse organizations in the world, with people from many nationalities and religions living, working and worshiping side by side. People – especially young people – from all over the world want the UAE to be their home in order to build a better life for themselves, as it is considered the region ‘s leading country for live and work there for the ninth year in a row, according to Arab Youth Study.
Upholding our traditions as we constantly strive to improve our practices to reflect our place internationally requires a careful balance, but progress is a step in the right direction. total movement. Last year, our laws on investment, foreign property, divorce, alcohol, and criminal conduct were substantially updated, reflecting the principles of tolerance and support for women’s rights, while strengthening our position as a hub that attracts people from all walks of life.
This domestic perspective feeds into our relationship with other countries: We favor pragmatism over dogmatic flexibility. The historic Treaties of Abraham were born in 2020, in which the UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel, from our desire to shape a prosperous and realistic future for the region. The previous status quo did not work; it was time to refresh our thinking and develop a new strategy to try to overcome long-standing issues.
The Hope probe is the perfect symbol for a country that has also traveled a great distance in a very short time.
Omar Ghobash
This brings me to a third principle: Our conviction that multilateral alliances and global institutions are the most effective way to achieve peace and prosperity. To that end, the UAE funds a wide range of UN agencies that improve the situation of people and we are seeking elected membership of the UN Security Council for the term 2022-2023. Our aims are to promote inclusion and interfaith communication, to encourage digital and financial innovation as well as future preparation, to build sustainability around the critical public health issues and climate change, and secure peace by reducing conflict through dialogue and funding peace-building efforts.
This international perspective is in the DNA of our people: The Arabian peninsula has been a center of trade between east, west, north and south for thousands of years, and we preserve the that in terms of attitudes, economics and cultural exchange.
At the same time, we recognize that there are two sides to this coin. We have created a country full of opportunity and tolerance in an area full of terrorism and conflict. There is a balance to be struck between wealth and security, and we will never endanger the safety of our people or allow financiers to undermine the stability and sovereignty of states in their efforts to deliver better outcomes for the people. aca.
While we are proud of what we have achieved in the short five decades, we acknowledge that much work remains to be done. While rapid progress has been made in key areas such as human rights – particularly in relation to gender equality, religious tolerance, and occupational rights – we can, and will, do more. To that end, the consultation process for our National Human Rights Plan, which we will launch by the end of 2021, has now begun.
We know that there will be calls for faster movement with some and others resisting change, but this is a situation we accept. The UAE is a young country that dreams big and learns fast. We take a unique and important place in the world, both in terms of place and in the lessons learned, which we seek to share through engagement with the international community . As we conclude the first 50 years of our history, the Hope probe – a symbol of human efforts to advance to a new horizon – will reach Mars as a celebration of UAE’s own beautiful journey.
Let the new chapter begin.
• Omar Ghobash is the UAE’s Deputy Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy.
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