Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has voiced his support for the initiative.

“No nation, people or country rises without reading,” he said on Twitter. “We have a literacy crisis in the Arab world and changing course to knowledge-based development means getting our youth reading. Our goal is for the UAE to be a beacon of science and knowledge, as Andalusia, Granada, Baghdad and others were sources of enlightenment.”

UAE leaders hailed for promoting literacy in push for a knowledge-based economy