Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi has become the first-ever Arab woman to head up an 124-year-old international organisation.
It was announced on Monday that Sheikha Bodour has been appointed President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), an organisation which was established in 1896. She will officially assume the position at the beginning of next year in January 2021.
Prior to being appointed president, Sheikha Bodour had been vice president of the international organisation since 2018.
For years, Sheikha Bodour has continually championed the publishing industry in the UAE and the wider GCC region.
In 2007, she founded Kalimat Group, which became the first publishing group in the UAE focussing on children’s books in Arabic. She is also the founder of the Emirates Publishers Association, which was established in 2009, and is the founder of the UAE Board on Books for Young People.
Being an avid supporter and leader in the UAE publishing industry, earlier this year Sheikha Bodour launched a Dhs1 million emergency fund to help the industry which has been struggling due to the knock-on effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Emirates Publishers Emergency Fund worked with local publishers and Emirati bookmakers in order to identify the challenges the industry is currently dealing, with the aim of helping to boost business.
“With every crisis, comes an opportunity, and we need to rope in appropriate mechanisms to boost industry resilience and emerge out of it stronger,” Sheikha Bodour said at the time. “Today, we stand with our publishers to support and lead them onward to fulfilling vital projects that will boost our knowledge and creativity.”
