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UAEBBY to participate at 33rd IBBY conference in London

The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) is set to participate at the 33rd International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) conference to be held in London.

The four-day conference – to be held between the 23rd and 26th of August in which the UAEBBY will be participating under the sponsorship of Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy – is being organised to bring together IBBY’s 77 national chapters from across the globe so as to allow them to deliberate and discuss effective future strategies for increasing the quality of printing and translation, to enable greater access to children’s books, and device policies to encourage their authorship in their respective countries.

The UAEBBY’s seven-member delegation is headed by UAEBBY President, Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi. Commenting on UAEBBY’s participation at the conference, Sheikha Bodour said, “It is an extremely important event that will open up new avenues to advance our work and push ourselves to even higher heights. UAEBBY is committed to bringing books and children together, and our participation in this conference gives us the opportunity to expand our expertise and further build international relationships through which to develop and promote children’s literature and a culture of reading in the UAE.”

The congress aims to explore how books and stories for children and young people can cross boundaries and migrate across different countries and cultures. The issues that are to be addressed include dual-language texts, cultural exchange, globalisation, and the art of translation.

Other members of the delegation are; children’s book author and UAEBBY Ambassador Noura Al-Noman, Ahmad bin Rakkad Al-Amri, Director of the Sharjah International Book Fair, UAEBBY Ambassador and children’s book author Marwa Al-Aqroubi, Qais Sedki, UAEBBY Ambassador, acclaimed author and Founder and Managing Director of Pageflip Publishing, Susanne Abou Ghaida, UAEBBY Planning and Development Manager, and Ahmed Al-Suwaidi, Corporate Communications Executive at Sheikha Bodour’s Executive Office.

The four-day event will be divided into plenary sessions and discussion panels with keynote speakers, as well as a variety of seminars and workshops that will explore various facets of the main congress theme. In addition, the congress will be hosting the IBBY General Assembly and the presentation of the IBBY Honour List, the IBBY Asahi Reading Promotion Award, and the Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Walking tours of Charles Dickens’ and Peter Pan’s London, as well as tours of the city’s museums with a historic significance, and the old city theatres will be arranged as well as numerous high level networking events.

As a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, UAEBBY aims to help and develop institutions concerned with children’s literature, to promote children’s books and artistic works, facilitate access to children’s books, especially in remote areas of the country, promoting their authorship and production, and encouraging translation of children’s books from and into Arabic.

UAEBBY is one of the 77 regional organisations of the Switzerland-based parent company, IBBY. Established in 1953, IBBY represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to encourage the culture of reading and learning.

• UAE