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Abu Dhabi / WAM
The UAE will celebrate the annual UN Arabic Language Day on December 18, to mark the passing, in 1973, of a resolution to make the Arabic language an official language of the United Nations.
In this report, the Emirates News Agency (WAM), highlights the UAE’s leading efforts and initiatives to preserve and protect the Arabic language and Arab identity. The vision of the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the basis of the country’s efforts to protect the Arabic language and reinforce its position among the world’s languages, enabling it to keep pace with modernisation and development.
The UAE aims to motivate different age groups, with an emphasis on children and the youth, through ensuring that Emirati citizens and other Arabs can be proud of their identity, heritage and history.
The Arabic Language Charter declared by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2012 is a milestone in the UAE’s journey to protect the Arabic language.
The announcement saw the formation of an advisory council, under the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, to ensure the implementation of the Charter’s objective to to protect the essence of Arabic language and enhance its usage.
He also launched a series of motivational initiatives that aim to promote the Arabic language and reinforce its regional and international stature, through the establishment of a committee responsible for modernising the Arabic language, the inauguration of the Mohammad bin Rashid Contemporary Arabic Language Dictionary, and the launch of the Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Arabic Language and the Arab Reading Challenge.
The UAE’s related initiatives also include the establishment of a translation college, part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Media College, at the American University in Dubai.
The Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, which was founded in 2016, upon the directives of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, is a cultural beacon of Arabic language studies.
The Arabic Language Protection Association in Sharjah also acts as a focal point between relevant authorities, organisations and individuals, to reinforce and support the Arabic language.
The ‘Bel Arabi’ initiative launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, is supported by many public and private sector authorities and organisations. The Foundations launches the initiative annually on the same day as UN Arabic Language Day.