His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, affirmed that the notion of giving and spreading goodness lie at the heart of the UAE’s Arab identity and stems from of the country’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Sheikh Nahyan continued “ The announcement of the year 2017 as the year of giving by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, was based on three main pillars: social responsibility, volunteering and serving the nation. These concepts reflect an actual translation of the culture of giving upon which the country’s vision is based, stemming from its Arab and Islamic identity, in addition to the foundation established by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.” “The Ministry of Culture worked on translating the vision of our wise government in the field of culture and knowledge into reality, delivering more than 31cultural services, programs and activities throughout the year serving all segments of the society across the UAE.”, explained Sheikh Nahyan. Zayed Al Khair Convoy … Spreading Culture and Goodness His Excellency further explained that events organized by the Ministry within the year of giving 2017, work on the promotion and development of the role of social responsibility among all those who live on the land of the UAE. Almost 160 federal, local and private organizations and institutions participate in Zayed Al Khair Convoy, which aims to spread cultural, intellectual and knowledge awareness among all segments of the society across the UAE over the course of 2 days. The convoy included numerous activities focusing on the values of goodness and giving , including medical examinations, registration of Emirates identity cards, theatrical plays, cultural events, folk songs, poetry, cultural competitions, training courses for young people, discovering talented and creative people, encouraging productive families, providing schools with books , in addition to other recreational activities for children. Reading in Majalis … Creating new audience for culture and creativity His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak noted that the ministry organized the initiative Reading in Majalis to deliver knowledge to a large number of neighborhoods in the UAE, through the selection of 12 cultural and intellectual figures in the fields of culture, arts, theater, music, poetry and literature. This project received more than 2000 participants including youth, university students and parents from various Majalis in Sharjah, Muwaileh, Al Fujairah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwwain, Majlis of Suaad Rabea Al Bdour , Dubai, Dubai Women’s Foundation, Al Ain and Al Mushrif. People with determination prioritized His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak pointed out that people of determination came at the top of the Ministry’s priorities in the year of giving. The ministry printed more than 500 literary, cultural and short stories books from its releases in Braille in partnership with the Zayed Foundation for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs. This reflects the Ministry’s focus on enriching and developing the knowledge content for the blind and encouraging them to read. The Ministry also worked on discovering and developing the talents of people with disabilities in cooperation with federal and local institutions. Laborers and workers On the other hand, the Ministry organized a charity book exhibition to collect and resell donated books at minimal costs, in addition to giving the revenue to the Emirates Red Crescent Society. The Ministry also partnered with federal and local authorities and institutions and local businessmen to provide cultural and entertainment workshops to workers according to their needs. Archaeological sites and the Book Bank initiative His Excellency added that the Ministry also organized initiatives to support the cleanliness and the protection of archaeological sites in coordination with cultural institutions across the country. The book bank initiative is another project launched by the ministry, which involves collecting used books from individuals and institutions through the ministry’s cultural centers and distributing them to libraries, universities and institutions inside and outside the country. Culture and creativity for inmates of punitive and correctional institutions “The Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development did not overlook inmates of penal institutions, but it in fact was keen on providing cultural and knowledge services befitting to the conditions of this category.”, added Sheikh Nahyan. The Ministry launched the initiative “We start with you” to develop and promote cultural and social awareness among inmates of penal institutions and to enhance their positive behavior to support their social acceptance in the society, in cooperation with the penal and reform institutions in the UAE. His Excellency said that the initiative has already been implemented in penal institutions in Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. Workshops to improve the skills of inmates, rehabilitate them culturally and enhance their positive behavior and social acceptance were conducted, in addition to supporting their talents and enriching their libraries with a number of books and publications from the Ministry’s publications. Sheikh Nahyan finally noted that all of these initiatives would have never been successful without the support and efforts of our wise leadership represented by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and their Highnesses, Members of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Rulers of the UAE. Categories To the UAE community.