Bodour Al Qasimi chairs the Board of Trustees meeting "words"

Sharjah, December 15 / WAM / Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and President of the Kalimat Foundation, chaired a meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which was held today to review the most prominent achievements for the year 2025 and discuss the vision and strategic plans for 2026 within the framework of the Kalimat Foundation’s ongoing commitment to empowering children cognitively and promoting their right to access reading and knowledge around the world.

During 2025, as part of the “Adopt a Library” initiative, the Foundation achieved a wide-ranging impact that reached 42 locations around the world by donating 4,600 books in the Arabic language for children, distributed among 46 mobile libraries in eight countries that included Brazil, the Comoros, Morocco, Greece, the United Kingdom, Uganda, and Portugal, which reflects the Foundation’s efforts to support children in the most needy environments.

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi stressed during the meeting that the Kalimat Foundation continues to consolidate its model based on facilitated publishing as a sustainable empowerment tool and not a temporary intervention, stressing that investing in knowledge represents one of the most profound and influential forms of support in the lives of children and their communities.

She added that accessible publishing represents a knowledge system that rebuilds the child’s relationship with reading, education, and life. It opens new doors for the child to understand himself and the world around him and gives him tools that enhance his independence and ability to make decisions, noting that the Foundation is constantly working to develop its programs and tools to empower children cognitively because the child who is able to access knowledge becomes more capable of protecting his rights, participating in the development of his society, and consciously interacting with the challenges of his time.

During the meeting, the Board of Trustees reviewed the most prominent achievements of 2025, most notably the cooperation with Canon to launch an innovative experience that allows blind people to “feel images,” in addition to launching the first phase of comprehensive accessible books in a qualitative step that enhances the concept of knowledge availability. The achievements also included participation in regional workshops in Tunisia organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Within the framework of the “Adopt a Library” initiative, the Kalimat Foundation continued its humanitarian presence by supporting Arab children in hospitals and treatment centers, supporting Palestinian children through the Emirates City for Humanitarian Services, and supporting children in need in private schools in the Emirates, in addition to restoring a library in the Ifrane region in the Kingdom of Morocco. The Foundation also launched a product line in cooperation with the French-Tunisian artist “L Cid” to support the “Adopt a Library” initiative, in a way that enhances the sustainability of the initiative and links it to the creative arts.

The year 2025 also witnessed the organization of reading workshops and specialized training courses for blind and visually impaired children within the “I see” initiative, which aims to develop the cognitive abilities of these children in the areas of reading and writing. The initiative provides a variety of books and publications in multiple accessible formats, including Braille books, large print books, audio books, and electronic books in EPUB3 format, in line with the Foundation’s commitment to enabling this group to have equal access to knowledge tools and cultural content.

The Board of Trustees discussed the features of the Kalimat Foundation’s vision for the year 2026, which focuses on enhancing accessible publishing, developing more comprehensive content, and expanding local, regional, and international partnerships to ensure that knowledge reaches children in various environments. The vision includes empowering the family, consolidating the culture of reading through specialized community programs, and improving the Foundation’s efforts in innovation and sustainability through more efficient cultural charitable work models. It also includes promoting specialized studies and raising the Foundation’s international presence in support of its role in building a fair and comprehensive reading environment.

Participating in the meeting were Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Treasurer, Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Her Excellency Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Secretary General of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Muhadthetha Al Hashemi, His Excellency Ahmed bin Rakad Al Ameri, Ahlam Bulooki, and Fouad Mansour Sharaf, members of the Kalimat Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

The meeting reflects the pivotal role played by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in directing its strategic paths, ensuring the sustainability of its humanitarian and cultural impact, and enhancing its presence as a leading global institution in empowering children through knowledge.

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