Kalimat Foundation for Children’s Empowerment (KF) of Sharjah has distributed five libraries across four health and social institutions in Tunis as part of its ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative that aims to provide books and learning materials to children and public and school libraries in underprivileged communities worldwide.

The donated libraries were distributed in the presence of Sheikha Jameela bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director General of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services and Deputy Chairperson of KF’s Board of Trustees.

Two libraries were handed over to the Tunisian Union of Aid to Mental Impairment in the town of Djerba Midoun, and a library each to Hospital d’Enfants Bab Saadoun Children, Children’s Hospital and Orphan Care Centre in El Kef city in Northwest Tunisia.

Sheikha Jameela bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, said: “The ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative aims to achieve its sublime goal of delivering books to children and young adults living in areas where there are few or no public libraries or bookstores.

“The UAE and Emirate of Sharjah have played an impressive role in the development of culture and knowledge not only at a local level, but has exceeded boundaries with innovative initiatives and humanitarian programmes to reach different Arab countries – Tunisia being the most recent beneficiary. These exchanges and cross-border cooperation have cement ties with our sister countries, an aspect of international relations that goes a long way to serve our present and futures.” She noted that the delivery of books to this region holds great value for children’s development, including some with special mental abilities by fostering a culture of reading and a love of books.

Dr. Mongi Ben Hamouda, head of the Tunisian Union of Aid to Mental Impairment’s branch in Djerba Midoun, said: “KF’s initiative contributes to supporting the knowledge of children with intellectual disabilities by providing them with books that help enrich their experiences by opening up new world contained within books – an important factor in the treatment and rehabilitation approach embraced by the union.”

He added: “We highly appreciate Sharjah’s efforts to extend their cultural role to benefit other nations. It is a shining example of how a nation conducts itself in the humanitarian and global welfare fronts, and reaffirms Sharjah’s stature as the Arab capital of culture, knowledge and humanitarianism.”

KF launched the ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative during its participation in the 36th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2017. It has received strong support by several prominent government and private organisations in the emirate, such as the Sharjah Media Council, Sharjah Book Authority, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Sharjah Ladies Club, Knowledge without Borders, the ‘1001 Titles’ initiative and the UAE Board on Books for Young People, and other establishments and personalities.

Since its establishment in 2016, the KF has been actively engaged in launching and implementing a series of programmers and initiatives to provide books and reading materials to children in refugee camps and equip public libraries with books. KF’s initiatives are in line with its dedicated efforts to give children in underprivileged regions access to sources of knowledge, corresponding to its vision to create a future knowledge based Arab generation with wide knowledge and understanding of other cultures in the world.