The Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence (; previously the Ministry of Tolerance from 2016 to 2022) is a government ministry in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

that is in charge of regulating and maintaining

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...

and

coexistence Coexistence is the property of things existing at the same time and in a proximity close enough to affect each other, without causing harm to one another. The term is often used with respect to people of different persuasions existing together, ...

between various indigenous and overseas communities in the country. Established in February 2016 in accordance with the National Tolerance Programme, the ministry was the brainchild of

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

ruler Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Sheikha Lubna Khalid al-Qasimi served as its inaugural minister until she was succeeded by Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan in October 2017. As of March 2025, the UAE remains the only country in the world with an entire government agency dedicated to religious tolerance.

References

Tolerance and Coexistence 2016 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Ministries established in 2016 Government agencies of Abu Dhabi {{UnitedArabEmirates-stub