The Foundation is the charitable arm of Kalimat Group, a publisher in the United Arab Emirates, with international partnerships including Britain's Bloomsbury[1] and France's Gallimard Jeunesse.
[4][5] The foundation was established in 2016 by Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, a member of the ruling family of Sharjah, who is a strong advocate for education and literacy.
More recently the campaign has extended to Arabic speaking communities in East and West Africa, as a result of partnership in June 2021 with Book Aid International in the United Kingdom.
[7] The foundation's Ara initiative was launched in 2017 to make accessible book formats available,[8] supporting objectives set in the 2013 Marrakesh VIP Treaty.
[9] More recently, in 2022, the foundation received license by the UAE Ministry of Economy and authorisation by the World Intellectual Property Organization, to publish literary works in accessible formats, without contravening copyright laws.