Celebrating Arabic resources this World Arabic Language Day

World Arabic Language Day

There are an estimated 400 million people worldwide who speak Arabic everyday.

On 18 December 1973, the United Nations (UN) adopted Arabic as one of the official working languages of the UN General Assembly and its committees. This is why Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on this date. For international communities, multilingualism is the key to effective understanding between people, wide participation and informed decision making. Arabic Language Day is also an opportunity to celebrate the significant role the Arabic language has played in science, culture and philosophy.

Information in Arabic for the global MSIF movement

At MSIF, although our website is mainly English-language, we provide certain sections in Arabic and Spanish, to ensure people around the world can access the information they need. This approach also supports our capacity-building programmes in Arabic-speaking countries, where we have regular contact with 35 MS organisations across 16 Arabic-speaking countries.

The majority of the MSIF news articles are available to read in Arabic, Spanish and English. Find out what is going on across the global MS movement and keep up to date with the latest news here. 

A number of information pages on the MSIF website are available in Arabic and Spanish, such as the ‘About MS’ and ‘Living with MS’ sections. Most recently, we have updated the ‘Fatigue’ information page which is now available in Spanish and Arabic. This information is supported by a comprehensive guide to MS fatigue which has been translated into Arabic by the Association Tunisienne des Malades de la Sclérose en Plaques.

 Searching for multilingual materials in the #MSResourceHub

The #MSResourceHub is another great source for Arabic materials from MSIF and our members. Here you can find written publications, videos and graphics in Arabic, Spanish and other languages. The hub includes a range of topics, from pediatric MS, to COVID-19, mental health and sexual intimacy . Take a look at the Hub to see what’s there for you.

The MS Resource Hub features high quality information resources in over 30 languages! One of the purposes of the hub is to allow MS organisations to search for MS information from across the MSIF movement, and consider any resources they may want to translate. If you are an MS organisation and would like to translate a resource from the Hub, get in touch.

Arabic Atlas of MS 3rd edition report

In countries where Arabic is not the primary language

Of course, it’s not just people affected by MS in Middle Eastern countries who want MS information in Arabic. In all regions of the world, there are people who speak as their first language, even if they live in a country where Arabic is not spoken widely. This is why it is vital that – as a movement – we make information resources accessible to people affected by MS, in the languages they speak.

If you are from an MS organisation in a country where Arabic isn’t the main language, but it’s nevertheless spoken by some people, do you already provide information for people affected by MS in Arabic? Could you add to your resources by sharing Arabic materials from the MS Resource Hub, for example? Or if you’re an MSIF member, do you have any Arabic language resources to add to the Hub?

Raising awareness of MS through Arabic language tools

Make the most of World MS Day with the free #MSConnections toolkit, available in five languages including Arabic. Anyone can use and adapt these tools, to raise awareness and create positive change in the lives of people affected by MS around the world. Use the #WorldMSDay toolkit materials to advocate for change across the Arabic speaking world and shine a spotlight on MS among Arabic speakers.