(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
SHARJAH, 2nd October, 2022 (WAM) – Kalimat Foundation, the UAE-based global non-profit organisation founded by Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), to uphold children's rights to access books particularly in the Middle East, has recently concluded a successful book donation drive of 1,500 books across four schools in the Kingdom of Morocco, in collaboration with the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The Foundation mobilised both its initiatives - Pledge a Library, which reaches out to refugee and immigrant children in need with portable curated libraries of 100 Arabic language books, and 'ARA' (I see) designed by the nonprofit to boost reading accessibility for visually-disabled children by providing accessible books in Braille, large print, and audio formats.
The libraries in two public schools, the deep-rooted 100-year-old Ahmad Al Sharqawi and Imam Malik, have received Pledge a Library's portable collection of 100 quality Arabic language titles for children and young adults.
The Association Marocaine pour l'insertion has benefited from an ARA donation of 1,000 books in accessible formats, while Fondation Orient-Occident, a Moroccan non-profit organisation that serves as a bridge between migrants, refugees, the disadvantaged youth and employment opportunities through professional training, received 2 portable libraries stocked up with physical books as well as 100 titles in accessible formats.
The two schools and the foundation were strategically selected by the Foundation owing to the fact that they support the education and learning of over 2,200 refugee, blind and visually-impaired children.
Amna Al Mazmi, Director of Kalimat Foundation, said,“Since we came into being, Kalimat Foundation's sole mission has been to deliver books as well as educational and reading materials to as many Arab refugee children as possible in our region and around the world. This donation drive is part of our new strategy to cover larger parts of the African continent, and we are absolutely delighted to have brought so many more children in need of quality books within the Foundation's beneficiary circles. We hope that the stories we left with them will inspire them to dream, to dare and reach their full potential as contributing members of their community.'
“The increasing number of Arab refugee children around the world and the large demand for books written in the Arabic language has made our role in enhancing the literacy of young vulnerable populations more pertinent than ever before. In Sharjah, we believe in the power of well-crafted stories to unlock true human potential and our leadership has placed reading and literacy at the core of sustainable development. In line with this belief, we have designed the Pledge a Library and ARA initiatives to advance literacy and uphold children's right to access books in all formats,' she added.
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