In 1995 UNESCO declared November 16 the International Day of Tolerance to expose and increase awareness of the dangers of intolerance in society. While the concept of tolerance is ambiguous and is dependent on context, it usually denotes support for practices that promotes discrimination on ethnic, religious, racial, gender, sexual, class or other, grounds.

Building tolerance and trust in diverse communities is is a gradual process and requires demonstrable commitment. Building tolerance requires access to education. Intolerance is insidious and often rooted in ignorance and fear of difference, that which is 'other'. As such prejudices percolate and take hold whole cultures, religions and nations are regarded with derision, suspicion and disrespect. Intolerance is linked to an exaggerated sense of self-importance and pride, often rooted in antiquated ideas of national superiority and competitiveness. These ideas often imbibed at an early age, ironically arise from a sense of deep insecurity and social dysfunction. By placing a greater emphasis on educating children about tolerance, human rights and fundamental freedoms we advance the cause peace and community. Our broad education is not a finite process, it does not end in school. Adults do not automatically equally dispense justice, tolerance, and good will, on the contrary, parents, law-makers and law-enforcement officials often fall short in the extent and quality of their humanity – thus, they too, need to be considered a prime target of educational efforts. (An edited extract from core UNESCO commentary).

You can find here the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, proclaimed and signed by the Member States of UNESCO on November 17 1995. http://www.unesco.org/cpp/uk/declarations/tolerance.pdf