One Million Book Challenge gets 100,000 boost from foundation

Dubai: The One Million Book Challenge of the second phase of Dubai Cares got a major boost on Monday as the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation pledged a donation of 100,000 books.

The decision by the foundation came a day after the charity campaign announced its second phase, which focuses on volunteerism by Dubai residents.

"Our contribution to the Million Book Challenge underscores our mission towards establishing knowledge societies across the Arab world," said Yasser Hareb, Acting CEO of the Foundation.

"It is critically important to educate and encourage our children to nurture their reading habits. Reading is an essential tool towards building knowledgeable and innovative societies."

The Million Book Challenge encourages school pupils in Dubai to collectively read one million books in two weeks. A book will be donated to underprivileged countries for each book read by a Dubai pupil.

The distribution of books will be managed by the global organisation, Room to Read, and Arab NGOs.

Literary classics

"The books donated by the Foundation will cover a wide range of subjects, including international literary classics that will be presented in a simplified and attractive manner," said Hareb.

"Several titles will be translated from various languages including English, French, Italian, and Swedish. We hope our contribution will widen the horizons of children across the Arab world and educate them on virtues such as cooperation, tolerance, honesty, integrity, among other typical values of our Arab culture," added Hareb.

Hareb also announced the Foundation's plans to provide grants to writers who embark on writing children's books and help meet the objectives of the Dubai Cares campaign.

"Through 'Oktub', the Foundation's ambitious authors' grants programme, we are eager to contribute to the noble goals of Dubai Cares campaign, which closely reflect our vision for the region's future," he said.

"There is also an acute need for talented writers for children in the region. We hope our initiative will enable aspiring Arab writers across the Arab world to explore this important literary genre."