Seeks to Encourage Arab Youth to Actively Promote Native Language Online

Dubai-UAE: 10 December, 2013

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) today launched the 'Bel Arabi' initiative seeking to promote the use of the Arabic language on social media and related online resources.

The Bel Arabi initiative specifically aims to reverse stereotypical perceptions that the Arabic language is just about literature, poetry or calligraphy. In addition to building its potential as a vital communication tool in the age of technology and the internet, Bel Arabi will mobilize people around the world to come together in large numbers to in promote the use of the Arabic language. More importantly, the initiative will aim to enhance the visibility of websites and applications that support the Arabic language.

Making the announcement at a press conference held at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, pointed out that the launch of the 'Bel Arabi' initiative coincides with the first 'International Day for the Arabic language' on 18 December. Earlier this year, the United Nations had announced that the day would be marked annually to celebrate the Arabic language and encourage its active use.

The Bel Arabi initiative will kick off at midnight on 18 December with youth across the Arab world encouraged to communicate only in Arabic throughout the day across all social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. As part of this objective, MBRF will create a specific hashtag for the Arab youth that will trend the initiative across various networking platforms.

His Excellency Jamal Bin Huwaireb said: "Arabic is the language of the Holy Koran and the Hadit. The language is spoken by nearly half a billion people around the world and carries the region's identity, values and vision as a unique agent of cultural diversity. Arabic has also served as a link language and helped facilitate a dialogue among civilizations with its potential to foster diversity of expression, interaction, and exchange.

"The Bel Arabi initiative is based on ideas generated and shared by the young Arab community in the institutions of higher learning in the UAE. Our conversations with this generation have led to the creation of an initiative that empowers the Arab youth to contribute to the establishment of a knowledge-based economy. At a time when the Arab world is looking to emerge as a global powerhouse, the use of the Arabic language will serve as a cohesive force in projecting a strong regional voice."

He added: "The hashtag created specifically for Bel Arabi will aim to inform people about key developments of the campaign and serve as an effective measurement tool for tracking the success of the program. The mere appearance of the hashtag on the list of tags in circulation on Twitter will prove a success in itself."

The initiative will draw the collaboration of educational institutions and public and private sector enterprises including the Higher Colleges of Technology as academic partner, Taghreedat, Google and its Arabic Web Days program as knowledge partners, and Next PR as the official media sponsor.

Dr Tayeb Kamali, Vice Chancellor of Higher Colleges of Technology in UAE, said: "Higher Colleges of Technology is honored to host the launch of Bel Arabi at a time when there is an urgent need to encourage the use of the Arabic language among our youth. We are delighted to partner with the Foundation in the launch of this landmark initiative. We will not only encourage our students to publish tweets in Arabic, we are also set to introduce several key initiatives through the Institute of Abjad Hawaz to strengthen the new generation's affiliation to the Arabic language."

Representing the youth at the press conference, Mehdi Al Ghafari who is credited with conceptualizing the initiative, expressed his gratitude to the UAE leadership led by the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for their continued support of youth initiatives and for creating opportunities that enable the generation to contribute to nation building.

He added: "Among half a billion people who speak Arabic as a native language, only 140 million people use the internet. On 18 December, the Bel Arabi initiative will encourage this entire population base to express its love for the mother language. This will add up to an incredible number of almost 1,400,000 tweets within 24 hours or about 16 tweets per second."

Headlining the press conference, Dr Fayeq Oweis, Director of Localization at Google, spoke about the importance of the role played by Google in the field of translation. He added that Google's Arabic Web Days, an annual initiative created to boost the amount of Arabic content on the internet, will continue to enhance the content of Arabic language on the internet through a series of online activities for the duration of the month. Arabic Web Days is currently driven by 270 specialists in 10 countries, including the GCC region.

On his part, Mina Takla, Co-founder of the Taghreedat, articulated his support to Bel Arabi. A widely popular online forum that seeks to enrich digital Arabic content, Taghreedat will look to translate and localize sources of open education programs, and expand the availability of education sources in the Arabic language for internet users around the world, especially students.

On 18 December 1973, the General Assembly of the United Nations introduced the Arabic language as one of its official languages ​​as part of its 28th resolution. On 18 December this year, the language for the first time will be marked worldwide as a communication tool that cuts across borders and cultures.

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© Press Release 2013