Webster Vienna Student Wins Prestigious Tolerance Award in Dubai

Rania Ali, a student in Webster Vienna Private University's International Relations program, was one of three people honored with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Tolerance Award in Dubai on February 19, 2020. Ali, a Syrian national, won the Tolerance Award in the Visual Arts category for her efforts in spreading awareness about refugee and women’s issues through filmmaking.

After escaping from war-torn Kobane at the age of 19, Ali is currently pursuing a career in International Relations at Webster Vienna and works as a human rights advocate. She chronicled her perilous journey in a deeply personal and immersive documentary, "Escape from Syria: Rania's Odyssey," that has been viewed over 9.2 million times, shared over 93,000 times and won multiple awards.

The first global initiative of its kind, the biennial award is initiated by the International Institute for Tolerance (IIT) under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The Gulf News stated that the awards were founded "to encourage entrepreneurship in establishing 'tolerance norms' at the national and international level, in addition to promoting interfaith dialogue and portraying the true image of Islam as a religion of tolerance." Nominations for the awards were received through the award’s website from around the world across the five categories and forwarded a shortlist of candidates to the jury.

The award ceremony held at the Dubai Opera saw the presence of a number of dignitaries, ministers, students as well as government officials. The awards and trophies were given to the winners by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Office.

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^{Contact: Vildana Kurtović, Head of Marketing and Student Recruitment}

^{Webster Vienna Private University |Tel. +43 1 269 9293 – 4308 | Vildana.Kurtovic@webster.ac.at}

^{About Webster Vienna: Webster Vienna Private University is situated in the beautiful Palais Wenkheim in the heart of Vienna, Austria.  The University is a division of Webster St. Louis, opened in 1981 and is accredited both in Austria and the USA. Webster Vienna focuses on excellence in teaching, the joining of theory and practice, small class sizes, and educating students to be lifelong independent learners prepared to participate in increasingly international society.  Webster Vienna offers competitive bachelors and masters programs in international relations, media communications, psychology, and business; as well as an executive education program for working professionals.  With a strong alumni base, Webster Vienna educates future global leaders. For more information, visit our website, webster.ac.at or find us on Instagram, @webster_vienna.}