By : Basel Khaled - Nahla Makled
As part of its social responsibilities to support the cultural development in Egypt, Orange, the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services in Egypt, announced its sponsorship of the "Egypt collects a million books" initiative, which was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the iRead Foundation and under the auspices of the Prime Minister with the aim to inspire young people to read and to emphasize the value of cultural role in society.
The initiative was launched during a conference at the Ministry of Youth and Sports' premises and was attended by Dr. Ashraf Sobhi, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Maha Nagy, Chief Communications Officer at Orange Egypt, Amira El Tohamy, Senior Public Relations Manager, Engy El-Sabban, iRead Foundation's Board of Directors member, Ahmed Mourad, writer, novelist and board member of iRead, Dr. Ahmed Mansour, Secretary General of Egypt’s National Postal Authority, Ms. Hala Hegazy, Managing Director and Group COO at Nile Radio Productions, and a group of media representatives.
The program, which is the first of its type in Egypt, intends to collect one million books from across the nation over a nine-month period, sort them, and redistribute them to locations designated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, such as universities, schools, and youth centers. Unused books will be recycled and provided to passionate readers, motivating a large number of young people to participate, creating a cultural buzz and nurturing a spirit of competition among governorates to collect books, which will all contribute to the Guinness World Records entry.
Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports, stated, "The ministry is working in this context in light of His Excellency the President's initiative to build a decent life, which includes improving citizens' lives culturally, socially, and behaviorally through the increase of such cultural initiatives in coordination with the Ministry of Culture." The program has a favorable impact on society in general and on youth in particular, emphasizing the importance of culture and awareness for Egyptian sustainability.
Maha Nagy, Chief Communications Officer at Orange Egypt, expressed her pride for sponsoring the "Egypt Collects a Million Books" campaign and resuming collaboration with iRead on new innovative initiatives. Furthermore, she stated, "The initiative demonstrates a new, sophisticated method for spreading culture by involving the community, recycling sources of knowledge, and identifying a participatory way to provide the millions of books that have outlived their usefulness to passionate readers. We at Orange Egypt are overjoyed to support this initiative, which is consistent with the company's corporate social responsibility strategy. "
Ahmed Murad, a writer and novelist, emphasized on the role played by the Egyptian government, represented by all its affiliated bodies, in promoting the initiative and increasing the number of beneficiaries, with the goal of encouraging a conscious and educated generation. "The initiative will contribute to the development of a more favorable cultural setting for younger readers. Moreover, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration with the initiative, will make sure to figure out the locations from which the books will be collected, appoint the working group that will sort and classify the books in preparation for distribution, and develop a plan to publicize and market the initiative".
