Sharjah24: Kalimat Foundation, a UAE-based global non-profit, is marking five years of empowering disadvantaged and visually impaired children through books and literacy.

Since being established, the foundation has transformed the lives of 155,749 young readers in 25 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America and continues to support both young refugees and the visually impaired worldwide through two initiatives – the ‘Pledge a Library’ and ‘Ara’ (I See) programs which aim to advance literacy and uphold the rights of children to access books in all formats. 

Commenting on this momentous anniversary, founder and chair of the Kalimat Foundation Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), said: “Children, no matter where they are or what their circumstances, have a right to access basic education and literacy. At Kalimat Foundation, we view this as a fundamental human right. We design our outreach initiatives following the human-centric development approach of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, who envisions a world where people from all socio-economic backgrounds can live dignified, self-sufficient lives and be active members of their communities. 

“We believe in the power of books and reading to empower children and broaden their horizons through new perspectives and critical thought”, she further noted. “For five years, Kalimat Foundation has been delivering on its promise to improve the literacy journeys of vulnerable and visually impaired children. We are helping them rise above their adversities and readying them for greater success in life by providing quality reading materials in formats accessible to them.”

Thanks to the ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative, refugee groups from across the Middle East have benefited from over 100 compact libraries. Launched by Kalimat Foundation in 2017, these libraries contain over 15,000 generously donated Arabic language books and can be found in refugee camps, community centres, schools, public libraries, hospitals and NGOs in 18 countries.

At the recently concluded Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2021, Kalimat Foundation further enhanced its mobile library program with its new ‘Letters of Joy’ campaign where letters written by individuals to refugees will accompany the portable libraries worldwide in order to forge connections and friendships with those experiencing the tragedy and trauma of displacement and impermanence. 

Kalimat Foundation has furthered its goals of advancing its philanthropic agenda through meaningful collaborations with like-minded partners. The foundation has committed to fulfilling the need to provide a rich resource of Arabic children’s books for underprivileged and forcibly displaced children in Africa and the Middle East and in June signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK-based Book Aid International (BAI), whereby the foundation will deliver 15 new libraries, each containing 100 Arabic language books, with BAI contributing English language content. 

The foundation has also signed an MoU with the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC). Together, they will work closely to promote their shared goal of improving learning opportunities for children in crisis-affected areas.

Key to the success of the foundation has been its determination to address issues of accessibility.

Blind and visually impaired children across seven countries in the MENA region, have also benefitted from Kalimat Foundation’s incredible work. The foundation has supported the production of 30,000 accessible books in Braille, large print, and audio formats under its ‘Ara’ (I See) initiative. 20,634 of them have been distributed in the region, including to all UAE public libraries. 

An agreement signed in 2018 between Kalimat Foundation and the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) to collaboratively produce 100 Epub3 titles signaled an unprecedented achievement for the region’s publishing and education sectors. A series of workshops were also organised by ABC for 10 local and regional children’s book publishers, educating them in born accessible technologies and workflows.

Furthermore, earlier this year, the issue of a lack of Arabic-language reading materials in accessible formats for the 3 – 12 age group was addressed when the Foundation launched 100 titles in the Epub3 or ‘born accessible’ format through an MoU signed in 2019 with the ‘1001 Titles’ initiative of the Sharjah-based Knowledge without Borders (KwB). 

For its outstanding achievements in advancing the accessibility of books, ‘Ara’ was short-listed for the 2020 ABC International Excellence Award in Accessible Publishing and was among the top 3 in the Initiative Category. Kalimat Foundation is also currently working with different publishing houses to produce more titles in Epub3 format.