The website for the 33rd International Publishers Congress is now live and early bird registrations are open with the the programme online. The theme for the Congress has been confirmed as Reading Matters.
Five innovative African projects have each won a $20,000 grant, while a library restoration initiative is to receive $50,000,and $20,000 will be allocated to Rural library restoration from the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund created by the International Publishers Association and development organization Dubai Cares for activities to promote literacy, book access, indigenous languages, and library restoration in Africa.
On 9 August 2019 the fourth list of books for the UN SDG Book Club were announced. The list of titles in all six official UN languages, aimed at children aged 6-12, focuses on the fourth sustainable development goal – Quality Education.
Dubai Cares commits AED 2,938,800 (USD 800,000) over 4 years to support literacy, book access, indigenous publishing, and library restoration
Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, has been confirmed as the 2020 UNESCO World Book Capital City to follow Athens (2018) and Sharjah (2019).
UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day (23 April) marked the handover of the World Book Capital City (WBCC) from Conakry, Guinea to Athens, Greece.
Sharjah makes a unique contribution to rebuild one of Conakry's most beloved libraries which was destroyed by fire in 2012.
On 18 December, the 2017 UNESCO World Book Capital (WBCC), Conakry, Guinea, received a delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who will host the 2019 WBCC in Sharjah.