Culture & Education | Monday 13 June, 2016 5:59 am |

The ‘Reading Nation’ Ramadan campaign launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai on the first day of the Holy Month of Ramadan, has successfully collected more than two million books in its very first week. The astounding success of the campaign is attributed to the overwhelming national response from individuals and diverse organizations, as well as the unanimous support garnered from government entities across the UAE. 

Furthermore, the number of individual donors has surpassed 10,000 people who have donated varying amounts via unified SMS/toll-free numbers that have been designated to support the campaign. 

Speaking on the huge response to the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign, Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares, said: “The remarkable response to the campaign on the official and national levels reinforces the special bond between the UAE leadership and its people. The campaign is heading confidently and steadily towards achieving its targets and indeed surpassing them. 

“We encourage people to show their generosity during the Holy Month of Ramadan to convey yet again the noble humanitarian message from the UAE to the wider Islamic world. This year’s campaign is distinct from previous humanitarian initiatives that were launched by the country and provides much-needed hope to millions of children as it aims to build an educated generation that can confront future challenges.” 

Mohammed Abdullah Al Zarouni, Manager at the Emirates Red Crescent office in Dubai, said: “It is the endeavor of the Reading Nation Ramadan Campaign to provide less privileged children with an effective education and light the lamp of knowledge in their lives. The wider objectives of the campaign are in line with the diverse humanitarian efforts of the Emirates Red Crescent.  The UAE extends varied types of humanitarian assistance to those in need around the world. This campaign complements our social and humanitarian agenda through contributing to the establishment of a strong network for spreading knowledge and highlighting the critical role of education in achieving sustainable development.”

He added: “The UAE Red Crescent is working relentlessly to achieve the goals of this campaign in distributing the books to those who need them most. We have already begun the delivery of the books in Jordan and Iraq – these are countries with the highest numbers of refugees in the entire Arab world. We hope our collective efforts as a nation will help the children who are facing exceptionally difficult and challenging circumstances.” 

The Reading Nation Ramadan campaign will continue until the 19th day of Ramadan that coincides with UAE Humanitarian Day. The goal of the campaign is to provide five million books to students-in-need in refugee camps and underprivileged students in schools around the world. Two million books will be provided to children and students in refugee camps. The campaign will also facilitate the supply of two million books to some 2,000 school libraries around the world. In addition, Reading Nation will support the foreign educational program of Emirati humanitarian organizations through donating one million books to this cause.