00:00A 9-year-old Moroccan girl has won this year's Arab Reading Challenge, beating 10.5 million
00:10participants from across the Arab region and the world.
00:14Maryam Lehcen Amjoun, the youngest of five finalists, was crowned during an award ceremony
00:20held at the Dubai Opera House and will take home 500,000 dirhams in prize money.
00:26His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister
00:30of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, honored the winners of the competition's various categories
00:35and presented them awards amounting to 11 million dirhams.
00:40The audience took part in an instant voting poll choosing Amjoun as the first winner of
00:45the competition.
00:46The panel of judges were also part of the voting process and had asked the finalists
00:50various questions before the top winner was chosen.
00:54The third edition of the competition has witnessed a record-breaking number of participants,
00:58which had gone up from 7.4 million last year to 10.5 million participants in 2018.
01:05Launched in 2015 by Sheikh Mohammed, the Arab Reading Challenge aims to establish a culture
01:11of reading among the new Arab generations across the globe and highlight the importance
01:15of knowledge in shaping their future as well as the future of their communities and countries.
01:24For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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