Knowledge without Borders bags MBR Arabic Language Award

SHARJAH: Knowledge without Borders (KWB), a Sharjah-based cultural initiative dedicated to fostering a culture of reading in Emirati households, has won the “Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic Language Award” for its excellence in fostering a culture of reading and thereby furthering the UAE’S efforts in developing a knowledgebased society.

The award comes in recognition of projects and programmes KWB has launched since its establishment in 2008, which have encouraged Arabic language reading in diverse genres.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, presented the award to Noura Bin Hadiya, Manager of KWB, at the awarding ceremony on Thursday, in the presence of Dr. Yousef A. Al Othaimeen, Secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, Dr. Ali Moussa, Secretary-general of the Arabic Language International Council, and Mohamed Al Murr, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Arabic Language Award; and several dignitaries and event guests.

Kwb’s ‘Home Library’ initiative has successfully distributed a free library each to all 42,366 Emirati households in Sharjah, and its ‘Mobile Library’, initiative takes rich reading materials to schools, public places and residential districts across the UAE, giving both grown-ups and children easy access to their favourite books. Their other cultural initiatives include ‘On-board Library’, which was launched in collaboration with Air Arabia; and the ‘Knowledge Cart’, ‘Neighbourhood Library’, ‘Digital Library, and ‘Hospital Library’, initiatives which are all geared towards making books and reading a mainstay in Emirati social life.

Noura said: “Since its inception in 2008, Knowledge without Borders has launched all its projects and initiatives with the single objective of creating a generation of avid readers who are able to contribute effectively to the cultural project of Sharjah, and the UAE. It was established in keeping with the directives of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, who considers the development of human capital by nurturing their minds with knowledge central to nation building, out of his strong belief in the instrumental role of knowledge in the progress of nations.”

The initiative seeks to promote Sharjah as the UAE’S cultural capital. One of its primary objectives is to make reading a part and parcel of community life, and participates in numerous events and activities to highlight the key role cultural education plays in the intellectual development and overall growth of the nation’s youth - key factors responsible for the establishment of building a knowledge-based society.