On this occasion, the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to preserve and enhance the status of our beautiful language and support Arabic content everywhere stand out, consolidating its presence among community members, especially the new generation. These efforts, confirmed by numbers and statistics, have a major impact in the face of globalization and the blurring of identities, as well as studies indicating a decline in reading rates and a lack of Arabic content, especially on the internet.
These efforts include the launch of many leading and global initiatives, including the 'Arabic Reading Challenge', the 'Arabic Language Charter', the 'Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language', the 'Bil Arabi' initiative, the 'Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language', and many more. The numbers and initiatives speak to the UAE's efforts to strengthen the Arabic language, and here are some of them.
'Arabic Reading Challenge' The ninth cycle of the 'Arabic Reading Challenge', the largest of its kind in the Arabic language worldwide, attracted more than 32 million students from 50 countries, representing 132,112 schools, under the supervision of more than 161,000 supervisors. The 'Arabic Reading Challenge', launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the State, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has attracted more than 927,000 Arabic schools over nine cycles, with the total number of participating supervisors exceeding 877,000. It also recorded massive growth rates in participation, starting from the first cycle, which attracted 3.6 million students, up to the ninth cycle, where the number of participants in its qualifiers reached more than 32 million, an increase of over 795% compared to the first cycle.
'Mohammed bin Rashid Award' The 'Mohammed bin Rashid Award for the Arabic Language' also reflects the UAE's commitment to preserving and sustainably developing the Arabic language. Within its vision and strategy to enhance the presence and enrichment of the Arabic language, the Award allocated about 2.8 million dirhams, distributing 257,000 dirhams per category. Previous cycles of the Award have seen great success and wide participation from many individuals and institutions from different parts of the world. Over the past nine cycles, the Award has attracted more than 17,200 participants and 90 winners from individuals and institutions from various countries worldwide. It has also honored many international figures in the field of the Arabic language, making the Award a global platform that celebrates excellence and contributes to enhancing the status of the Arabic language in various educational, technological, media, and cultural fields.
'Historical Dictionary' The 'Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language', launched by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah, and President of the Sharjah Arabic Language Authority, represents a major achievement for all Arabs, making a qualitative leap in documenting the Arabic language and serving current and future generations. It achieves comprehensive documentation through 127 volumes containing 12,141 roots and 348,406 examples from the Quran, Hadith, poetry, and prose, totaling approximately 14 million words. The project involved a team of 780 participants, including editors, proofreaders, supervisors, and administrators from 20 Arab institutions, including linguistic academies, universities, and centers.
In recognition of this achievement, in December 2024, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi received a certificate from the Guinness Book of Records for the 'Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language' being named the largest and most extensive historical linguistic project in the world, consisting of 127 volumes.
'Dubai Libraries Summit' The second cycle of the Dubai International Libraries and Publishing Summit 2025, organized by the Mohammed bin Rashid Library under the theme 'The Future of the Publishing Industry' last November over three days, showed a significant increase of 27.3% in registered numbers compared to last year. Real attendance and participation in sessions also increased by 31.5%, while the number of participating nationalities rose by 33%.
Every year on December 18, the world celebrates World Arabic Language Day, which coincides with the anniversary of the Arabic language being adopted as an official language by the United Nations General Assembly in 1973, due to its global status and pivotal role in enriching cultural diversity.
The summit also recorded a 50% increase in the number of international speakers compared to the first cycle.
'Miqyas' 'Arabic Scale', known as 'Miqyas al-Daad', announced in a move to enhance Arabic reading proficiency for native Arabic-speaking students, the completion of the final phase of its field survey. The study covered more than 110,000 students across 204 schools in 70 cities and villages in nine Arab countries. This methodology involved building a massive linguistic treasure trove comprising over 70 million phrases and words extracted from the analysis of more than 8,000 Arabic books in various fields and topics, carefully selected to represent the diversity and richness of the Arabic language.
'Arabic Language Days' The Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language, affiliated with the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, has launched numerous initiatives, including the 'Arabic Language Days' festival, which won the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Award for the Arabic Language in the category 'Best Initiative to Promote a Reading Culture and Build a Knowledge Society'. The festival represents an annual celebration that embodies Abu Dhabi's vision of promoting the Arabic language as a source of culture, creativity, and progress.
This year, the Center launched the community campaign for sustainable reading under the slogan 'Knowledge Society, Society of Knowledge', in line with the declaration of 2025 as the 'Year of the Community'. The number of beneficiaries of the campaign's activities and initiatives reached 57,549, representing about 115% of the target number. The campaign included over 2,000 creative activities, 250 of which were key events and initiatives implemented in cooperation with 97 government and private entities, with the participation of around 400 creators.
Every year on December 18, the world celebrates World Arabic Language Day.. 127 volumes are contained in the 'Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language'.. 32 million students and pupils participated in the ninth cycle of the 'Arabic Reading Challenge'.. The United Arab Emirates' efforts to preserve and enhance the language of the daad and support Arabic content are everywhere.
