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United Arab Emirates to host the first WikiArabia Conference in the Gulf region

Dubai, UAE, 5 July 2022: The Wikimedians of UAE user group has issued an open invitation to the public to attend the sixth edition of the WikiArabia conference, a calendar highlight for the Arabic Wikimedian community. Hosting it from 28-30 October, the 2022 WikiArabia conference will be the first-ever edition in the UAE and the Gulf region.

Organisers say that the conference will be an essential catalyst for bridging the gaps and increasing quality content on Arabic Wikipedia. The conference will serve as a platform for the Arabic Wikimedia community to communicate and share ideas, opinions, and experiences through a packed programme. It is expected that these conversations will eventually contribute to the growth of a sustainable society that uses Wikimedia projects as a vital asset in its strategies.

"The UAE is one of the leading nations in the field of data development, and hosting the WikiArabia conference, one of the annual highlights for the Arabic Wikimedia community, is an important step towards emphasizing the need to make quality online data free and accessible,” said Ahlam Bolooki, Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and Leading Manager of the Wikimedians of UAE User Group. "Since 2021, the Wikimedians of the UAE user group has had the ambitious goal of increasing the number of Wikipedia pages about literature, and so far, we have successfully achieved a 500 per cent increase in that section. This, along with our noteworthy education and outreach programmes that have been recognised by the global Wikimedia community, makes our user group eligible for hosting the annual event with grants from the Wikimedia Foundation. After establishing our user group less than two years ago, we are extremely proud to be hosting the WikiArabia conference in the United Arab Emirates. We are eager to collaborate with other Arabic user groups and promote our work internationally.”

All Arabic user groups are welcome to apply for participation or to register their attendance here. The Scholarship and Programme committees will evaluate each application before deciding on the conference schedule. Applications and registrations must be submitted by 11 July 2022.

With the Emirates Literature Foundation as its partner and fiscal sponsor, the Wikimedians of the UAE User Group recently became a member of the Wikimedia community, making it the first user group in the Gulf.