The Pink Caravan Ride provides free testing facilities in six emirates

The Pink Caravan Ride (PCR) has dedicated 9 fixed clinics across six emirates that will offer
free breast cancer screenings and aid in increasing community awareness of the disease. The
facilities will operate from 4pm to 10pm between January 20 th to February 10 th and give the
public the opportunity to receive hassle-free testing free of charge.

The pan-UAE breast cancer awareness ride organised by the Friends of Cancer Patients
(FOCP), will be offering these free medical screenings at the fixed clinics with the intention to
cater to a broader segment of the community. The medical clinics will be opened to the public
around the UAE prior to the launch of the 11th edition of the annual Pink Caravan Ride, taking
place between February 4 th and 10 th .

PCR will also be offering sessions at the clinics to raise awareness and teach people how to
self-examine in efforts to detect breast cancer early, ensuring prompt treatment and a speedy
recovery. The screenings will be available to both women and men and be available at the
following locations:

Sharjah will be home to three clinics located at Al Majaz Waterfront, Mega Mall, and Lulu
hypermarket in Al Butina.

In Dubai, citizens and residents can head to Lulu Hypermarket in Al Barsha, and Mirdif City
Centre to take advantage of the free medical screening, while in Ajman, the fixed clinic will be
providing early detection for both men and women in China Mall.

Free screenings will also be available at Lulu Hypermarket for Umm Al Quwain in Mall of UAQ,
Fujairah in LULU Mall and Ras Al Khaimah in Mall of RAK, providing citizens and residents this
important service in aid of early breast cancer detection.

Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment is excited to announce the launch of seven fully-interactive ‘Gameboxes’ in Magic Planet – City Centre Mirdif, Dubai and Magic Planet City – Centre Al Zahia, Sharjah. In partnership with leading gaming company Immersive Gamebox (IGB, formerly known as Electric Gamebox), the region’s first hyper-immersive gaming experience will give guests access to a completely new genre of group entertainment starting from 20 January.  

Touted as the World’s Smartest Rooms, ‘Gameboxes’ are interactive digital smart rooms featuring cutting-edge technologies, including patented touch screens, 3D motion tracking, and surround sound to deliver a shared gaming experience like no other. Each ‘Gamebox’ can cater to groups of two to six players, making them the perfect new entertainment destination for dates, mates, and the whole family.  

Players can choose from 12 different experiences in IGB’s growing library of licensed and original IP games created by its in-house studio. All titles will be available at Magic Planet including Alien Aptitude Test, Ticket to Mars, Psychedelic Mansion, James Bunny: Casino Tropicale, and Squid Game lasting 60 minutes each, as well as Temple of Coins, Angry Birds, Block Smash Mania, Trivia Mash-up, lasting 15-30 minutes each, and kids’ games including Temple of Coins Junior, Tip Tap Memory Challenge and Shaun the Sheep: Championsheeps, lasting 15-30 minutes each. IGB will also be providing localised versions of these games in Arabic. 

IGB was co-founded by Chief Executive Officer Will Dean and Chief Financial Officer David Spindler in 2019. It currently has 16 locations across Europe and the US with locations in London, New York, Chicago, Houston, Berlin, and many more, providing guests with unparalleled entertainment experiences. Immersive Gamebox is among Tripadvisor’s Top 10% Worldwide Attractions and has recently been featured in The Guardian’s Culture 2023 picks.   

Be the first to experience the region’s first hyper-immersive gaming experience! Visit Immersive Gamebox at Magic Planet – City Centre Mirdif, Dubai and City Centre Al Zahia, Sharjah or book your tickets online at https://www.magicplanetmena.com/en-ae/immersive-games starting from 20 January.  

During Bodour Al Qasimi’s two-year term as President of the International Publishers
Association (IPA), and the two years preceding her term as the vice-president of the IPA
between 2019-2020, she succeeded in executing a great number of commendable
achievements including bringing many new publishers’ associations to the organisation,
numerous impressive initiatives being launched, inspiring the vision of diversity and
inclusivity to be adopted, expanding the scope of work being conducted as well as
promoting the publishing industry as one of the main pillars of sustainable development
in low-income countries.

Throughout her presidency of the IPA, Bodour Al Qasimi served as a role model,
leading the global publishing sector during a very challenging period during the
pandemic and shaping the IPA’s future. Her efforts have brought about a paradigm shift
in the publishing industry world as she engaged many marginalised communities and
countries, allowing them to be key players in the industry globally.

Increased women’s participation and promoted their empowerment globally
Bodour Al Qasimi’s role as president represented a precedent in itself, as she was the
first Arab woman and the second woman in history to assume the presidency of the IPA
since it was established in 1869. Not only did she help to bring about change at the
association, but also in the world and the publishing industry as a whole, combating the
prevailing culture and stereotypes about women, particularly that of Arab women.

She also empowered women in the industry, launching the ‘PublisHer’ initiative, which is
a platform for promoting and assisting female publishers. The impact she has made
during her reign will echo into the future as the next two terms of presidents will also be
women, namely, Karine Pansa and Gvantsa Jobava.

Moreover, Bodour Al Qasimi had a strong role in women’s empowerment across the
globe by being an excellent example of a leader during difficult times. While
participating in international conferences and book fairs, she promoted gender equality
and equal opportunity, calling for more cooperation among female publishers to
exchange expertise and ensure a successful career for themselves and their peers.

Developed a rescue plan for publishing associations worldwide
Bodour Al Qasimi transformed the challenges posed by the pandemic on the publishing
sector, which hindered its growth, into great opportunities to shape the future of the
industry, as she instilled the concept of partnership between publishers from different
cultures.

These partnerships resulted in issuing the report, ‘From Response to Recovery 2020-
2021.’ It included surveys and case studies, gathering the opinions of a number of
representatives from the book industry. IPA’s team, led by Bodour Al Qasimi
communicated with more than 33 publishing associations around the world,
representing 70% of the global publishing market, worth around $90 billion annually.
Surveys and communications were geographically distributed in the following manner:
Asia 40%, Africa 27%, and Europe and the Americas 17% each.

Bodour Al Qasimi wanted the report to be a reference for IPA’s exerted efforts, aiming
to enhance the adaptability and sustainability of the publishing sector, as well as to
learn from the difficulties that publishers went through globally. As a result, the
‘International Sustainable Publishing and Industry Resilience’ (InSPIRe) initiative was
launched based on these survey reports.

Made 40 on-site visits to identify with the challenges that face publishers
In order to ensure that the findings and proposed solutions through the IPA’s report
synchronised with local frameworks of publishing associations worldwide, Bodour Al
Qasimi conducted 40 on-site visits around Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe,
where she met with publishers in their own countries, especially those societies that had
long been isolated from the publishing sector and cultural scene.

Established the first educational academy in the history of IPA
These continuous visits made by Bodour Al Qasimi became a step towards establishing
the pioneering ‘International Publishers Association Academy’ initiative, where over 150
leading officials and executives in the publishing industry, from more than 40 countries,
were enrolled. Those that benefited from the initiative included publishing houses,
distributors, authors, teachers, book fairs, culture and free speech advocates.

Work through the academy now provides dialogues, lectures, and scientific analyses on
modern publishing strategies, market trends, and the readers’ preferences for more than
15,000 publishers in over 70 countries.

Launched IPA Africa Publishing Innovation Fund
Al Qasimi continued her efforts by establishing the ‘IPA Africa Publishing Innovation
Fund,’ where she helped to distribute these grants to support the development of
publishing practices, including educational publishing and initiatives that provide
sources of knowledge for low-income communities, in order to increase access to
books, strengthening knowledge and culture, as well as empowering intellectuals and
creatives.

Publishing associations from 11 Arab countries joined the IPA
Arab publishers were widely supported and encouraged by the IPA President as they
represent huge publishing markets that had a great influence in shaping the culture of
about 430 million Arabs around the world. These efforts have attracted the attention of

foreign publishers towards Arabic literature, as its readers start showing more interest in
the translated works from Arabic writers.

Even before Bodour Al Qasimi assumed her roles as Vice-President and President of
the IPA, she made every effort to increase the Arab publishers’ presence in the industry
and continued to do so through her reign. Her valiant efforts opened the doors for a
number of associations in the region including the ‘Emirates Publishers Association’ in
2009, ‘The Saudi Publishers Association’ and the ‘Tunisian Publishers Association’ in
2015, the ‘Jordanian Publishers Association’ in 2017, associations of Iraq, Mauritania
and Morocco who joined in 2018, Somalia in 2020, and most recently, Libya and Sudan
in 2021. Additionally Syria was also welcomed to join as an observer member in 2022.

Bodour Al Qasimi was adamant to open the doors of the IPA to new members, its
concepts and cultures, empowering the societies whose voices had long been ignored
to effectively contribute to the progress of the publishing sector and promote their
cultures worldwide. This was in line with her goals of sustainable development and
common values.

Bodour Al Qasimi’s extensive experience and years of dedication to the book industry
all accumulated through her time at the IPA and her many achievements before
becoming president are a testament to that. Her continuous efforts to enhance
Sharjah’s status as a global cultural centre resulted in the emirate being named,
‘Sharjah World Book Capital 2019’ by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She is also founder and CEO of the internationally
renowned ‘Kalimat Group’, and founder of the ‘Emirates Publishers Association’, where
she was able to link the Emirati publishing community to the global counterpart,
attracting more attention to Emirati literature and culture.