La Fundación Kalimat anuncia la finalización de la primera fase de ARA distribuyendo 30.000 libros accesibles a niños de 11 países

The Kalimat Foundation's ARA initiative has become a global model for empowering blind and visually impaired children and ensuring their right to access knowledge resources, as it is the first initiative to survey children who are blind, visually impaired or have other print disabilities in the Middle East, North Africa and East Africa. ARA's quest to provide sources of knowledge to this group of children has been most significant, given that, since its inception in 2017, it has distributed tens of thousands of accessible books to schools, as well as public and private entities in many countries around the world.

The initiative's exceptional efforts came in response to survey results indicating that accessible books in the Arab world are scarce, and that most blind children do not have access to them, and that there was a worrying gap in providing them with the same opportunities as their sighted peers. This led the initiative to produce 30,000 books in accessible formats, including Braille, large print and audio books. These books were made available to more than 45 public and private institutions and entities in 11 countries, in addition to all schools in the United Arab Emirates to support inclusivity, in collaboration with the Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE).

Countries from three continents, Asia, Africa and North America, have benefited from the ARA initiative: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Oman, Algeria and the United States. 

This pioneering success is the first phase of the initiative's adjectives, which aims to support blind and visually impaired children, help them develop their literacy skills by providing reading content in accessible formats, highlight efforts to help them better integrate into society, as well as educate publishers on the technologies and tools used to produce and publish accessible books.

The initiative did not stop at these local and international milestones, but also produced more than 100 EPUB3 titles, giving visually impaired children the opportunity to access a library of books whose size and text colour can be easily modified according to their needs.

Amna al-Mazmi, Director of the Kalimat Foundation (KF), said: "Today we celebrate the distribution of the first production batch of accessible books. We have been able to achieve this remarkable success thanks to the vision of Sheikha Bodour al-Qasimi, founder and president of KF, and her full support for blind and visually impaired children, in line with her firm belief in their right to access the sources of knowledge, and to strengthen their presence and participation in social and creative life on an equal footing with their peers."

"Our future plans include the production of new accessible book titles. We will also provide training to more publishers on the production of EPUB3 books to further enhance the integration of visually impaired children with their sighted peers, and bridge the critical shortage gap in public libraries across the Arab world in terms of accessible Arabic books," she added.

Al-Mazmi noted that future plans also include the Ara Discussion Circle, which will be organised this month and will be attended by blind and visually impaired people, as well as visually impaired organisations and publishers. KF will share its achievements and future goals, and listen to attendees about their needs and interests, in order to work together to bridge the accessible book gap by activating the authorisation of the Marrakesh Treaty.

Over the past six years, KF has made tangible achievements in forging international treaties and opening channels of collaboration with like-minded entities, as well as providing education and training opportunities to elevate the accessible book ecosystem. In 2018, it signed a cooperation agreement with ABC to produce accessible e-books in Arabic, and in 2019, it provided training to 10 publishers in the Middle East and North Africa on the EPUB3 accessible book production mechanism. ARA also organised a series of workshops to raise awareness of the importance of integrating blind children into their communities in the Middle East, North and East Africa.

Thanks to the ARA initiative, KF became the first non-profit organisation in the UAE to obtain publication rights under the Marrakesh Treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The UAE Ministry of Economy authorised KF to facilitate access by the visually impaired and print disabled to published works, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty, and to reproduce, distribute and make available copies of published works in accessible formats to the blind, visually impaired and other print disabled persons.

Commenting on the importance of the Marrakesh Treaty, Adel al-Zumar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Association for the Visually Impaired (EAVI), said: "This agreement was the dream of many visually impaired children in the Arab world: to have reading material in accessible formats, such as Braille or audio books. It will enable many visually impaired people, especially children, to read and access a wide range of accessible books".

KF produced 100 EPUB3 titles, following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Knowledge Without Borders' cultural initiative "1001 Titles" in 2019, to bridge the gap in accessible Arabic content for children aged 3-12. In recognition of ARA's great efforts, it was shortlisted twice for the ABC International Award for Excellence in Accessible Publishing, in the Initiative category, 2020 and 2022.

Thanks to ARA's efforts, many representatives of public and private entities that benefited from the initiative highlighted its significant impact on children's access to knowledge sources and their full integration into the student community, especially in their early years. 

Dr Najah al-Khalayla, director of the Academy for the Blind at the Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum School in Amman, Jordan, said: "A story would never make students feel bored, but rather ignites their passion for learning. The best thing about the Kalimat Foundation's ARA initiative is that it allows students to read the story on their own. Reading these stories enriches their vocabulary and gives them a wider range of words to use in their daily and academic life".

Ensherah Saadeh, Head of Department - Community and Social Engagement at the Australian International School, said: "For children with visual impairment, the library was a dark and mysterious place, but as soon as the Kalimat Foundation provided them with accessible books, including storybooks in Braille, the library became their favourite place and a world full of dreams and imagination".

Khaoula Besharat, mother of Tala, a blind girl, commented: "The storybooks we received from Kalimat Foundation and the workshops offered throughout the year were aimed at giving the blind children a sense of belonging, ability and equality with their sighted peers".

Sponsors, partners and supporters who have contributed to the success of the ARA Initiative trip are the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, UAE Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Community Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emirates Association for the Visually Impaired, 1001 Degrees initiative, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, Sharjah Public Libraries, House of Wisdom, as well as Sharjah Islamic Bank, Sharjah Charity International; ARA's future plan partners, who will continue to sponsor the production and distribution of ARA's second batch of accessible books.