Bridging Together Children and Books
Contents
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Founder & Chairperson's welcome
In the shadow of the ongoing conflicts in our region and around the world, each of us is faced with the question: how can we help to alleviate the suffering of those affected, especially children? This question was the catalyst for the establishment of the Kalimat Foundation in 2016. Our mission is fueled by a passion to provide a semblance of normality and joy through books, often the only Arabic reading material accessible to many children fleeing conflict zones and living far away from home for an extended period of time. Our commitment is based on a belief in the power of literature to provide refuge, hope and a window to a vast world of knowledge and imagination, even in the most challenging circumstances.
Kalimat Foundation
mandate
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Empowering Children
Through the provision of engaging reading material to vulnerable and visually disabled children from Arabic communities, we aim to ease social integration and also anchor cultural roots, for the purpose of building better prospects in learning and better opportunities in adulthood.
Honouring Arab Culture
We encourage and facilitate, the production and distribution of books in Arabic, in order to protect and sustain culture, heritage and a secure sense of being.
Bridging Communities
Kalimat Foundation is committed to connecting civil society, by suppling literary titles that encourage understanding and dialogue between communities. In similar respect, stories present contemporary social analogies for youngsters, with the aim of supporting integration.
Raising Awareness
We are dedicated to raising awareness on the importance of advancing literacy to disadvantaged youth. We do this through our work in distribution, events hosted to educate the public on literacy for the vulnerable and visually disabled, workshops on new technologies and workflows in accessible publishing, and agreements with publishers and businesses to boost production in formats such as braille, large print, audio and accessible EPUB3.
Building Networks
Kalimat Foundation is dedicated to building a global community with business, institutions, government and non-government bodies, to broaden effectiveness in accessible publishing, from production to distribution.
Fulfilling Needs
As a policy advisor, we assess populations represented by the underserved in our scope of work, their demographics, capabilities, and the teaching, literary and technological resources available or missing. The objective here being to understand needs and gaps to address.
the first seven years in summary
Kalimat Foundation began operations in 2016, to protect the rights of vulnerable and visually disabled children, and their ability to access books. The period was marked by obdurate civil conflict in the Middle East, including Syria, from where large populations fled to new countries and new cultural contexts. The same decade was also signified by growing requests from host nations for Arabic literature. Hand in hand with this call to action, to serve children in new territories and communities, came the step to support the literacy of visually impaired and blind youth, again underserved in their access to suitable reading material.
The paths taken by Pledge a Library and Ara; the foundation’s two main distribution programmes have often faced challenge. Regarding Pledge a Library, administering logistics was sometimes hard, as was receiving approvals where security concerns arose, particularly in public libraries and refugee camps. With Ara, decisions and book deliveries were hampered by obstacles ranging from a lack of guidelines supporting the production of accessible books, to a dearth in population demographics and scant information on organisations that serve those children.
Kalimat Foundation’s credibility has, nonetheless, been widely recognised, thanks to the standing of Kalimat Group in publishing and in the capacity for tailoring books based upon recipient demands. With effort, diligence and assistance from the United Arab Emirates’ foreign missions, intergovernmental and NGO partners; books have since made their way, or been committed to, migrant camps, migrant and community centres, libraries, schools and hospitals around the world. Here is a brief summary on progress over the past seven years.
The global view
Working to sustain the rights of underserved children in reading, upholding Arabic culture, supporting social integration, equity and objectivity, has required vigour and diligence. The foundation’s advances since 2016 are depicted in this section. 31 countries and 46,300 books are delivered globally. 30,000 of these represent accessible formats for the visually disabled. Jordan, with its significant refugee populations arising from civil war in Syria, is amongst our largest receiving territories.
Worldwide book distribution
Cumulative book distribution across programmes
Top 10 countries, % book distribution across programmes
Ara
Pledge a Library
Multiple programmes
Activities by country in chronological order
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
250
Type of institution:
Centre for the visually disabled
Year:
April 2017
Jordan
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
150
Type of institution:
School for the visually disabled
Year:
May 2017
Jordan
Programme:
Outset programme
Books distributed:
1,000
Type of Institution:
Refugee camp
Year:
May 2017
Jordan
Programme:
Eid with them
Distribution:
Books, toys and games
Type of Institution:
Refugee camp
Year:
September 2017
Sweden
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
2,000
Type of institution:
Library
Children reached:
14,000
Year:
September 2017
France
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Schools and a library
Children reached:
1,500
Year:
March 2018
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
600
Type of institution:
Non-profit organisation
Year:
March 2018
Tunisia
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
500
Type of institution:
Hospitals, an orphanage, and charitable organisations
Children reached:
5,000
Year:
April 2018
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
840
Type of institution:
Library
Year:
June 2018
Egypt
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
10
Type of institution:
Individual donation
Year:
June 2018
Brazil
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
600
Type of institution:
Schools, libraries and migrant centre
Children reached:
8,000
Year:
August 2018
Armenia
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Libraries
Children reached:
4,000
Year:
October 2018
Germany
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
1,200
Type of institution:
Schools, and hospitals
Children reached:
15,000
Year:
October 2018
Hong Kong
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Schools and libraries
Children reached:
3,000
Year:
October 2018
Kuwait
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
1,100
Type of institution:
School
Year:
March 2019
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
20
Type of institution:
Library
Year:
March 2019
Italy
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
2,000
Type of institution:
Schools and libraries
Children reached:
4,500
Year:
April 2019
Jordan
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Charity organisations and school for the blind
Year:
April 2019
Jordan
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
700
Type of institution:
Schools
Children reached:
7,000
Year:
April 2019
Lebanon
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
600
Type of institution:
Non-profit organisation
Children reached:
1,500
Year:
July 2019
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
60
Type of institution:
Library
Year:
July 2019
Jordan
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
2,000
Type of institution:
Refugee camp
Children reached:
6,000
Year:
September 2019
Russian Federation
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Library
Children reached:
6,000
Year:
September 2019
Greece
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
600
Type of institution:
Charity organisations and libraries
Children reached:
7,000
Year:
October 2019
Kenya
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
100
Type of institution:
Cultural and literary initiative
Children reached:
1,500
Year:
February 2020
United Kingdom
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Charites and non-profit organisations
Children reached:
2,000
Year:
July 2020
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
20
Type of institution:
Cultural centre and library
Year:
August 2020
Somalia
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Library
Children reached:
2,000
Year:
November 2020
Palestine
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
1,346
Type of institution:
School
Year:
January 2021
Bahrain
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
1154
Type of institution:
Charity and school for the blind
Children reached:
74
Year:
May 2021
Egypt
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
2,200
Type of institution:
Charity
Children reached:
200
Year:
May 2021
Gambia
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
300
Type of institution:
Charity
Children reached:
700
Year:
May 2021
Saudi Arabia
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
755
Type of institution:
School for the blind
Children reached:
55
Year:
May 2021
Netherlands
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
100
Type of institution:
Asylum seekers' centre
Childen reached:
49
Year:
June 2021
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
950
Type of institution:
Libraries and the general public
Year:
August 2021
Tanzania
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
500
Type of institution:
Libraries
Children reached:
10000
Year:
September 2021
Saudi Arabia
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
5620
Type of institution:
Charity organisations and school for the blind
Year:
March 2022
Italy
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Cultural centre and school
Year:
April 2022
Egypt
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
2000
Type of institution:
Charity organisations
Year:
April 2022
Kenya
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Cultural initiative
Children reached:
1500
Year:
June 2022
Morocco
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
1120
Type of institution:
Non-profit organisations
Year:
June 2022
Morocco
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
400
Type of institution:
Schools and non-profit organisation
Children reached:
2080
Year:
June 2022
Nigeria
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Cultural centre and non-profit organisation
Children reached:
2080
Year:
June 2022
United States
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
110
Type of institution:
Library
Year:
June 2022
Ethiopia
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
200
Type of institution:
Schools
Children reached:
592
Year:
September 2022
Jordan
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
80
Type of institution:
Charity organisation
Year:
September 2022
Jordan
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
100
Year:
September 2022
Algeria
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
2470
Type of institution:
Libraries
Year:
January 2023
Oman
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
1400
Type of institution:
Schools
Year:
January 2023
United Arab Emirates
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
3066
Type of institution:
Schools
Year:
January 2023
Impromptu give aways and donations
Programme:
Ara
Books distributed:
904
Type of institution:
Various
Year:
Various dates
Chad
Programme:
Pledge a Library
Books distributed:
600
Type of institution:
Cultural Centre/Reading Campaign/School
Children Reached:
3,000
Year:
December 2023