By Alhagie Babou Jallow
The Gambia is set to join the global community to celebrate this year’s World Copyright and Book Day on the theme, “Are you a reader?”.
The World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated annually on April 23rd to commemorate and honour writers around the world, as Intellectual Property Rights.
Sanna Jawara of Gambia’s Copyright Office under the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) shed more light on the significance of the day. “It is dedicated to the celebration of the birth and death of well-known writers, and these Gambian authors. UNESCO chose the date with a view to paying tribute to books, the authors who wrote them, and the copyright laws that protect them,’’ he stated.
While the actual designated date for the celebration is April 23rd, The Gambia, according Mr Jawara, has rescheduled the celebration of this year’s occasion to May 2022 due to its coincidence with the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Further on the importance of the occasion, and the relevance of the selected theme, the NCAC Copyright Officer said this year’s theme is dear to the heart of every book-loving and person and anyone passionate about knowledge and intellectualism. “The first word revealed to the Holy Prophet of Islam by Angel Gibril was “Iqra”, which means ‘read!’
He went on: “The World Book and Copyright Day is also an occasion to encourage people across the globe to discover the pleasure of reading; and it hoped that it will increase people's understanding, appreciation, adherence, and respect for copyright laws and other measures meant to promote and protect intellectual property rights, especially copyright and related rights”.
Mr Jawara finally advised the nurturing of the culture of reading and the promotion and protection of the art of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.