Dubai, UAE, April 4, 2011: The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation has announced that GEMS Education, a Dubai based company, has become the first education provider in the United Arab Emirates to join the Tony Blair Faith Foundation's Face to Faith Schools program.

Mr Blair says, "I am delighted that GEMS Education has decided to adopt the Face to Faith program through all its 26 schools in the UAE. As globalisation brings us all closer together, and as complex changes take place across the Middle East, we need to educate the children of the world about the importance of understanding and respecting different faiths.  Face to Faith enables students across the world to learn from each other. If schools or colleges want to do well in today's world they must think about partnerships they can create across borders; and with different types of people within their own borders. GEMS students come from 150 different nationalities and the GEMS ethos has great synergies with the vision of the program."

Last week GEMS Education hosted the global Face to Faith annual conference where coordinators from the 16 countries the program is active in have come together in Dubai. These include representatives for the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries including Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian Territories joining colleagues from Australia, the Philippines and the USA to discuss progress on the program's core aims.

Founder and Chairman of GEMS Education, Mr Sunny Varkey says, " I commend Tony Blair for this wonderful educational initiative which he founded in order to help the world be a better place. Religious intolerance is responsible for much of the conflict we see in the world today. Many of the issues that we see in communities around the world are based on a lack of knowledge; so improving our understanding of the many positive things that different faiths have to offer will go a long way in resolving these issues."

"One of GEMS four core values is 'Universal Values'. It acknowledges that we are all different while recognizing that we are all the same. The Face to Faith programme is an important extension of the core values we instil in all our pupils."

Face to Faith aims to build religious literacy. The program brings young people

together using new technology by breaking down stereotypes, increasing

dialogue skills, and ensuring the next generation is prepared for global citizenship in the 21st century.  Face to Faith allows young people to share perspectives on their own national and cultural identity with others around the world. 

With 100,000 students in GEMS schools, many of them in the Middle East, GEMS believes it can play a significant role in promoting the importance of understanding and respect of different faiths.

GEMS teachers are also being trained and mentored to become the GEMS Face to Faith training team so that all of the 26 GEMS schools in the UAE will be actively participating in the Face to Faith programme by the end of 2011. They will actively promote the Face to Faith values among students by encouraging them to investigate specific global issues, discuss a range of different beliefs and learn to respect different opinions.

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About the Tony Blair Faith Foundation
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was launched in May 2008. In an increasingly globalised world, religion is at the very core of life for billions of people and it cannot be ignored. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation aims to promote respect and understanding between the major religions. We empower, support and train young people to take multi-faith action against extreme poverty in over 100 countries, providing them with a positive alternative to those who try to use faith as a means to divide. We provide emerging and current leaders with the education and analysis to understand the role of religion in the modern world and we break down barriers between young people of all faiths and none by using new technology to connect them. To find out more go to www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org

About Face to Faith
Face to Faith is a global schools programme bringing 11-16 year old students together all over the world using digital technology. The programme promotes peace building by creating opportunities for students of different religions, cultures and beliefs learn directly with from and about each other.

Using free video-conferencing facilities and a secure online community students' work together to explore specific global issues such as the environment, human rights and poverty from different perspectives. They investigate the reasons for similar and different world views, practicing the key skills of conflict negotiation and resolution. 

The Face to Faith programme is currently operational in 16 countries - United Arab

Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Australia, UK, US, Canada, Israel, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Italy.  8500+ students have been engaged worldwide with 1000+ teachers trained.

About GEMS Education:
GEMS Education has a global network of world class international schools. With 50 years of experience in education, GEMS provides high quality holistic education to over 100,000 students from 150 countries. It employs over 9,000 education professionals, specialists and staff from around the world. The GEMS approach to learning focuses not only on academic excellence, but also in helping students develop their character and creativity so that they achieve their full potential as human beings.  The GEMS Education school model is unique in the world because it offers a broad range of curricula across a range of tuition fees making private education more accessible to the broader community. GEMS Education also supports Governments' education reform agenda by working with Ministries of Education to lift school performance and improve the standards and expertise of government schools across the globe. GEMS Education has offices in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, India and Singapore.

The Varkey GEMS Foundation is a not for profit education Foundation focused on impacting 10 million underprivileged children globally

For more information, please contact:
Margaret Flanagan/ Chandan Belani
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Tel: (+971) 4 33 44550
Email: m.flanagan@asdaa.com  / c.belani@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2011