Dubai: The 2016 celebrations of UAE Pioneers will be changed this year during UAE National Day when 45 federal, governmental and local personalities are honoured in recognition of their exceptional efforts in supporting the Year of Reading.
As per the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, some amendments will be made to the 2016 UAE Pioneers Award’s celebrations.
Shaikh Mohammad said: “The UAE pioneers are the ones who took our country to the top in the past and are serving it today. This year will be the year of the true cultural and knowledge change and the UAE National Day is the best occasion to celebrate the Year of Reading supporters.”
“October will be the month of national reading during which we will choose the best initiatives and most prominent figure in the Year of Reading,” Shaikh Mohammad said, adding that a total of 880 governmental, federal and local initiatives have been launched to support the Year of Reading.
A reading community is a civilised one and the ones who support reading are truly the ones who support civilisation and a knowledge-based economy and set the stage for UAE’s next generations, Shaikh Mohammad said.
The honouring ceremony, which will be held in the presence of a number of shaikhs and senior officials, will see 45 medals presented to those who made unique efforts in backing the Year of Reading.
The honoured bodies and personalities will fall within seven main categories, including schools, universities, institutions, media, publishing and individuals as well as some cultural and national personalities who will be given honorary awards.
The achievements of those honoured will be documented in the Cabinet and their biographies and winning initiatives will be written down in a special book which will be published later.
In addition, the initiatives of governmental, federal and local bodies that were launched to support the Year of Reading will also be honoured, in addition to the initiatives of private sector institutions, schools and universities.
The ceremony will also honour the most prominent media programmes and figures who supported the Year of Reading as well as the champions of reading in schools and universities across the UAE. The ones who encouraged reading the most in schools will also be honoured.
The UAE’s best mother who encouraged her children to read and the best father who established a unique library for his children to read will also be honoured.
