"Tolerance is the respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, forms of expression, and ways of being human," says UNESCO on their website.
The International Day of Tolerance
In 1996, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/95, proclaiming 16 November as the International Day for Tolerance.
Why is Tolerance Important?
Tolerance between people makes it possible for conflicting claims of beliefs, values, and ideas to coexist as long as they fit within acceptable moral values, says "Theconversation.com" on their website.
How to Create a Tolerant Society
The "tuc UK blog" talks about listening, reflecting, and learning to fight against intolerance. We should listen to each other and value their feelings and opinions. Reflecting on a person's viewpoint and trying to understand why they think the way they do reaps greater rewards than bluntly condemning it out of hand. Accept the opinion from others even though it is extremely different. It is important always to be willing to learn more about the lives of others and talk to different people about their different perspectives. The UNESCO also expresses similar ideas on their website. They say it requires individual awareness. The awareness to rethink our own behavior through reflection. False information like propaganda can cause less understanding of others. Access to information is extremely important for fighting for tolerance, says UNESCO. To fight against intolerance, everyone should have access to different statistics, opinions, newsletters, and articles for learning.
Besides that, it is important to invest in education because "intolerance is very often rooted in ignorance and fear: fear of the unknown, of the other, other cultures, nations, religions." Children should be encouraged at home and in school to be open-minded and curious. Therefore, greater emphasis needs to be placed on educating more and better. Greater efforts need to be made to teach children about tolerance and human rights, about other ways of life for learning.
But UNESCO also states on their website that fighting intolerance through law and enforcing human rights laws is one of the ways to create tolerance worldwide. The state must also ensure equal access to courts, human rights commissioners, or ombudsmen so that people do not take justice into their own hands and resort to violence to settle their disputes. "#actlocalthinkglobal" is one of the mottos of UNESCO when it comes to tolerance. If you start to change in local and small communities, it can develop into a general solution for intolerance.