The National Media Council (NMC) announced a series
of events to support the National
Reading Strategy, which is scheduled to go on until the year 2026. This is in
tune with the Council’s strategic role as a federal authority mandated to
support national events in terms of media and content.
The NMC’s mandate includes setting media
policies that support reading, as well as a national plan to support
publishing. These activities serve to promote reading in UAE society and to
establish it as a lifestyle – especially among the youth.
His
Excellency Mansour Al Mansouri,
Director-General of the National Media Council, has stressed that the
Month of Reading is essential to achieving the UAE’s national objectives, which
prioritise human resources. He added that the directives of the UAE’s wise leaders underlined
reading as indispensable to the country’s culture of openness and tolerance.
H.E.
Al Mansouri reiterated the National Media Council’s resolve to support the
National Reading Strategy with several initiatives to be rolled out in the near
future, including classifying films and publications based on their age, in a
bid to help people select the content that most suits them. The Council will
also be collaborating with the Abu Dhabi Education Council, H.E. added, to
organise workshops titled “How to Choose Your Book” that target students,
teachers, and school administration staff, as well as to distribute books to
schools and government departments. The initiatives also include weekend book
readings for children in public parks, H.E. Al Mansouri revealed, and the
“Reading Radar” competition to promote reading among UAE students.
Besides,
Emirates News Agency (WAM) will launch
several media initiatives and continue to provide thorough coverage of all
events that federal and local authorities take part in during the Month of Reading
in the UAE.
The Agency
will also produce documentaries about
knowledge economy, the passion and enthusiasm of Their Highnesses the
Rulers of the emirates, and the history of the UAE, going all the way back to
the days of the Late Sheikh Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding Father of the UAE.
WAM’s
activities also include interviews with a number of ministers and officials regarding
the books they read, their favourite authors, and their reading patterns. In
addition to that, the events include readings from the most notable
publications included in the libraries of the National Archives, as well as
translations from the “Kalima” project.
WAM
will publish reports, investigations, news, interviews, and surveys that
address the reading patterns of citizens, residents, and visitors.
H.E.
Mohammed Jalal Al Raissi, Executive Director of Emirates News Agency (WAM),
said: “The Month of Reading cements the UAE’s status as a major international
hub for culture and knowledge, and a role model for tolerance and openness.”
WAM
will shed light on the events marking the Month of Reading, H.E. Al Raissi
continued, which are being organised by federal and local government
institutions – as well as the private sector – all around the UAE.
H.E.
Al Raisi promised readers and strategic partners to provide comprehensive
coverage of these events, calling on the wider UAE community to interact
positively with the Month of Reading initiative to reflect a positive image of
the UAE, and realise the visions of its wise leaders and build a knowledge-centred
society.