The "Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding", in cooperation with the Qatar Press Center (QPC), organised a ceremony to honour the partners of success from media and cultural institutions. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the award, the ceremony witnessed the attendance of the award's media team, officials from the Qatar Press Center, in addition to officials from media and cultural institutions, and representatives of local media and press.

Dr Hanan al Fayyadh, the official spokesperson and media advisor for the award, said: “This day bears a distinctive mark in our journey of achievement. Last December, we celebrated the honouring of the winners of the "Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding", and we said at the time that we had spent a full decade of achievement. Today, we stand to confirm that our success was not an individual act, but rather the fruit of an extended partnership, created by the media institutions that were the extended hand to us. And the partners of success who contributed to us occupying the first place in the world in the field of translation.

Praising the media institutions themselves, which led the award with its legitimate conditions that we move from being just an idea and an award that honours the translator to being a platform under which all translators and even some intellectuals who are interested in translation work will remain.

Saad Al-Rumaihi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Press Center, said: Today, we stand with respect and appreciation before an award that bears a name dear to all our hearts, which is the name of HH the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, may God protect him, who has written throughout his career bright pages of giving to his country and the Arab and Islamic nation. He added: The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding is one of the pillars of the cultural renaissance adopted by Qatar, under the leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. It is an award that transcends borders, transferring sciences and knowledge from all languages of the world to Arabic and vice versa, in a cultural and humanitarian project that enriches the mind and brings peoples closer.

Al-Rumaihi praised the award's media team that travels the world to communicate with scholars, thinkers and writers, and quotes from their cultural treasure, to translate and transmit it to us. Pointing out that this work requires creativity and honesty, because translation is building a solid bridge between two languages and cultures, so that the spirit and originality of the text are transmitted smoothly and beautifully. Al-Rumaihi concluded by saying: We need more efforts that highlight the importance of translation as a means of transferring knowledge and linking cultures, especially since foreign sources, such as international news, are characterized by depth and comprehensiveness. Translators must be innovative and accurate to give the Arab reader a rich cultural experience that matches the original text.

Dr Emtenan al-Samadi, a member of the award’s media team, said: “I am honoured to stand before you as we celebrate a decade of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, this pioneering idea that has provided the highest meanings of appreciation to those who have shouldered the mission of conveying human thought and translating it into the world’s different languages.

The ceremony concluded with the distribution of commemorative shields and certificates of appreciation to Qatari media outlets as the partners and contributors to the success of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding. This honour came in appreciation of their distinguished efforts in supporting the award's message, and enhancing its role as a global platform for spreading knowledge and building bridges of communication between cultures. And as a culmination of a journey of joint work and giving, as it reflected the values of gratitude and recognition of the efforts that contributed to transforming the award into an international beacon in the world of translation, and a space that brings together thought and humanity.
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