The literacy objective
Kalimat Foundation serves the rights of children who live in very difficult circumstances to read and develop capabilities in literacy. The objective being to support equitable development in education and society. Action largely resides in two domains: Arabic speaking children who have been forcibly displaced from their homelands, and children who are visually disabled.
Four initiatives have correspondingly represented the vanguard of the foundation and its work. An outset programme for book donations and Eid with them, both at Emirati Jordanian Camp in northern Jordan, were one-off endeavours in 2017 for the resident Syrians fleeing civil unrest. Pledge a Library delivers books to youngsters separated from their motherlands, whose subject matter helps to maintain cultural connections, support literacy and ease social integration. Ara, on the other hand, sets out to fulfil the objectives defined in the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty, contributing to the accession of the United Arab Emirates, through advocating and putting into action, the production and distribution of accessible content.
The road to empowerment
APR 2016
APR 2017
MAY 2017
1,000 books donated to the Emirati Jordanian refugee camp on an outset programme prior to the Pledge a Library initiative launch.
AUG 2017
Ara initiative launched with the goal of distributing and producing books, for visually impaired and blind children.
NOV 2017
Pledge a Library initiative launched at Sharjah International Book Fair 2017, with the aim of delivering books in Arabic, to Middle Eastern refugee and asylum-seeking groups around the world.
DEC 2017
2,000 books distributed to children in refugee and asylum-seeking communities in Sweden.
DEC 2017
400 braille, large print and audio books distributed to visually disabled children in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
MAR 2018
Surveying beings on populations of visually impaired and blind children in the Middle East, North and East Africa.
NOV 2018
WIPO-led Accessible Books Consortium and Kalimat Foundation agree on collaboration for the production of born accessible books in Arabic, adapted for visually disabled children.
DEC 2018
3,500 books distributed to children in refugee and asylum-seeking communities in Armenia, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong and Tunisia.
DEC 2018
1,450 braille, large print and audio books distributed to visually disabled children in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
APR 2019
10 MENA publishing houses trained on born accessible production for the visually disabled.
DEC 2019
6,100 books distributed to children in refugee and asylum-seeking communities in Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Russia and Greece.
DEC 2019
1,580 braille, large print and audio books distributed to visually disabled children in Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
FEB 2020
Ara shortlisted for the ABC 2020 international Excellence Awards, under the initiative category.
APR 2020
100 accessible EPUB3 books produced in Arabic, allowing for advanced benefit in reading on digital platforms for the visually impaired and blind.
DEC 2020
500 books distributed to children in refugee and asylum-seeking communities in the United Kingdom, Kenya and Somalia.
JAN 2021
1,366 braille, large print and audio books distributed to visually disabled children in Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.
APR 2021
Partnership agreement signed with Book Aid International for Africa, in support of the Pledge a Library initiative.
NOV 2021
Memorandum of Understanding signed with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to help identify and recommend recipients who match the foundation’s distribution objectives.
JUN 2022
The UAE Ministry of Economy approves Kalimat Foundation as the first Emirati non-profit organisation licensed to publish titles in accessible formats, in accordance with the statutes and aims defined in the WIPO-led Marrakesh VIP Treaty.
OCT 2022
Memorandum of Understanding signed with Sharjah Public Libraries and House of Wisdom to support Ara – Phase 2.
NOV 2022
- Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), to help identify and recommend recipients who match the foundation’s distribution objectives.
- Ara shortlisted for a second time at the ABC 2022 international Excellence Awards, under the initiative category.
MAY 2023
- Launched a merchandise line in collaboration with the Emirati artist Mohammed Al Mansoori and assigned him as Kalimat Foundation’s first ambassador to support “Pledge a Library”.
- Memorandum of Understanding signed with Majid Al Futtaim.
JULY 2023
Granted ‘Authorized Entity’ on the ABC Global Book Service, and became the 1st entity from the MENA region to integrate its accessible catalogue.
OCT 2023
ABC Special Commendation Award
Foundation programmes
Outset programme and Eid with them
On these individual projects, in May and September 2017, Kalimat Foundation teams visited Mrajeeb Al Fhood, also known as Emirati Jordanian refugee camp. The purpose behind the first intervention was to deliver 1,000 books. As for the subsequent visit, the objective was to celebrate the Islamic Eid Al adha festival with the children separated from homes and families, and deliver further gifts.
Pledge a Library
Pledge a Library delivers titles to forcibly displaced children from the Middle East, recently settled in countries in the region, in Europe, South America, or further afield. It also distributes books to those living amongst disadvantaged communities in places such as Kenya or the Somaliland region. The compact libraries provided each contain 100 Arabic language books.
To date 12,500 books have been committed and distributed in 17 countries. Close to 89,000 boys and girls are able to access these. Where the need for Kalimat Foundation libraries presents itself, recipients are evaluated on the youngster populations that can benefit, reading capabilities, and the potential gain in the foundation’s contribution. Pledge a Library in this regard, donates to refugee camps, community centres, schools and universities, institutes, public libraries, hospitals and NGOs.
Pledge a Library has set foot in four continents and 17 countries, where 89,000 children have access to the foundation’s books.
On average, with Pledge a Library book donations to libraries, schools, community centres and hospitals around the world; we understand that there are about seven children that have access to every one book delivered.
Pledge a Library book distribution timeline
Ara
Ara means ‘I see’ in Arabic and the Ara programme serves blind and visually impaired children, as well as those with print disabilities, by supporting the production of accessible Arabic content to help literacy and learning. Its purpose reflects objectives in the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty, on the availability of books in accessible formats. Ara exists to develop capabilities in literacy, by providing reading content in print braille, large print, audio and accessible EPUB3. On average each child receives 10 accessible books. The education of regional publishers in born accessible technologies and workflows further stands under this umbrella. This comes thanks to a cooperative agreement with the Accessible Books Consortium, a partnership headed by the World Intellectual Property Organization, that embodies the likes of the World Blind Union, libraries for the blind, global standards authorities and publishing bodies.
Such a step has meant that Kalimat Foundation is the first organisation in the Middle East to facilitate training and technical workshops to publishers, to produce books in accessible EPUB3 formats in Arabic. Advantages here include read aloud functionality and compatibility with text-to-speech programmes, interactive text, bookmarks, tables of content, simple navigation and usage on a variety of electronic devices, marking significant progress in literacy support. A survey of blind and visually disabled youngster communities conducted across 20 countries in 2018 and 2019, commissioned by Kalimat Foundation, evidenced a need for children’s stories, as well as books on history, the sciences, the arts and foreign languages, juxtaposed against a considerable regional shortfall inaccessible Arabic literary content.
In parallel, following the production of 30,000 accessible books under the Ara remit, 9,000 have been distributed or set in transit, locally, regionally and internationally. Ara adds to its remit, the development of greater awareness for visually disabled children across the Middle East, North and East Africa, to advance their social integration. In this regard, Kalimat Foundation has set baselines and benchmarks and produced case studies to aid policy making, in local, regional and international frameworks, to better serve blind and visually impaired youth.
With the significant void in reading resources for the blind and visually impaired in the region, Ara’s drive to literacy means that on average, every one child receives approximately 10 audio, large print and print braille books.
In the survey of 223 organisations that care for blind youngsters in the Middle East, North and East Africa, there were on average seven children to every one teacher. In a number of cases the teachers were also blind or visually impaired.
Visual disability youngster proportions as reported by 61 out of 223 organisations.