His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, valued the launch of Mohammed Bin Rashid Arabic Language Award, which aims to encourage exceptional contributions in serving the Arabic Language and honoring its pioneers. His Excellency said that this award embodies the expanded horizons of the leadership and its insightful outlook, which achieved the highest indicators in response to the requirements of sustainable education by the end of United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), and it is keen to include this achievement within the national data of the UAE Vision 2021, which stipulates that Arabic Language should regain its status as a vital and dynamic language, to be used in all areas, and express the Islamic and Arabic values of the nations, and that the UAE is to be a center of excellence for the Arabic language that hosts scientists and researchers, supports the production of authentic Arabic content, and encourages the translation of international scientific and literary works into Arabic, since sustainable development and education with its various dimensions is required, however, the sustainability of language and identity is a top priority.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has recently launched the award which includes the fields of education, media, Arabization, technology, preservation of the Arabic language, and dissemination of the Arabic linguistic heritage. It is aimed at 10 categories to be honored on a yearly basis, including the higher education and general education category, where the best initiatives, projects, and programs designed and implemented by the higher educational institutions will be honored in order to encourage the use of Arabic language in colleges and universities, and initiatives that help in learning the Arabic language in terms of curricula, and teaching methods, and celebrating the centers and programs specialized in teaching the Arabic language for non-native speakers, in addition to specifying a category for the initiatives that encourage reading in Arabic, spreading awareness of its importance, and facilitating access to its books for the readers.
His Excellency stressed that linking this award with these five areas is only an affirmation of the mechanism to achieve this vision, clarifying that Arabic language does not conflict with development and modernization; rather, investing in it will help the UAE and the Arab World move towards the promising future that the UAE is aspiring for itself and the whole world. He also emphasized the importance of the patronage of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the “3rd International Conference on Arabic Language”- Investment in Arabic Language and its National, Arabic and International Future-, such an investment will enable individuals to master it, which will consequently reflect on understanding, comprehension, the ability to express and think, and transforming skills and abilities into a positive behavior that reflects on work, institution, society, and the whole nation, because these acquired skills have economic impacts and national, social, and personal gains.
All topics related to investment in the language were discussed within 435 research studies distributed in 74 seminars and 6 major sessions, and more than 550 speakers participated in them.
The Conference was organized by the Arabic Language International Council, in cooperation with UNESCO, Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, Association of Arab Universities, and Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization, -ALECSO-, and with the participation of a number of officials, decision-makers, researchers, specialists, and those interested from the various governmental, national, Arabic and International institutions, several ministers and members of the councils and Arab parliaments, and representatives of the Ministries of culture, education, higher education, universities, and media, in addition to thinkers and heads of organizations, authorities, and Arab and international federations.
