The Reading Strategy
When talking about the need to stimulate knowledge advancement in the Arab World, reading turns out to be of strategic importance. Some statistics reveal that the average person in the Arab World reads just six minutes each year, far less than international levels.
The strategic goal of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is to empower future generations in the Arab World, through knowledge and education, to devise sustainable home-grown solutions to regional challenges. It is, therefore, imperative to generate and disseminate awareness on the high value of books, and to promote reading amongst Arab children as a lifelong habit.
Perceiving children as the hope and future of the Arab World, the Foundation has developed a strategic plan fostering reading among children, and creating a strong rapport between them and the books, so that they see in them the friend which fills their lives with entertainment and knowledge at the same time.
The reading strategy goes along with the vision of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation which is derived from the words of H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: “Our region’s success depends on creating an environment conducive to acquiring knowledge and on providing tomorrow’s leaders with motivation to build a better future. It is our duty to convert them into great assets to themselves, their nations and to the world”.
To translate this strategy into action, the Foundation has studied experiences of other nations and monitored the reading status quo among Arabs in general, and Arab children in particular. Possibilities of fostering high level partnerships to meet this strategic goal have also been explored. The Foundation’s work plan in this regard is far-reaching and targets all related stakeholders including authors, illustrators, publishers, educators, and the children themselves. The plan features many initiatives: organizing a Children’s Book Fair, establishing children’s libraries as well as children’s mobile libraries that will reach children in their neighbourhoods, and launching a comprehensive children portal that includes information, services, educational games and other initiatives that help creating a new generation of children who appreciate reading.