The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, refuted all the slanders and falsehoods are not based on any factual or conclusive evidence posted on some websites and circulated on social networks in the Kingdom of Morocco as part of a claim that the Organization has laid off Moroccan staff members and substituted them with nationals of other Member States.

In a comprehensive and detailed note supplemented with facts, figures, graphs and substantial proofs and evidence, Dr. AlMalik explained in detail the action plan adopted by the Organization to achieve the progress of ICESCO, since he has gained confidence of the members of the Extraordinary Session of the General Conference (Makkah Al Mukarramah Area, 8-9 May 2019) to assume the position of ICESCO Director General. He added that ICESCO had set up a number of technical committees made up of the officials of ICESCO, specialized experts and international administrative and financial consulting firms with international reputation to conduct a thorough diagnosis of the Organization’s financial and human resources as well as of its administrative system and internal regulations.

After examining the situation of the Organization, taking note of its executive reports, considering its internal regulations, and meeting with ICESCO’s concerned staff and officials, these committees and consulting firms presented a comprehensive package of solutions, proposals and recommendations intended to develop and reform the working mechanisms of ICESCO, and conduct structural overhaul for the Organization. These recommendations were gradually implemented in a balanced manner, in a bid to develop and upgrade ICESCO, meet the needs of Member States in the fields of education, science and culture, and place ICESCO at the international position it deserves so as to become a beacon of international outreach.

The note also states that the overall number of ICESCO staff members on 09 May 2019, the day on which Dr. AlMalik assumed office as ICESCO Director General, was 165, of whom 81% were Moroccan nationals. This number stands now at 148 staff members, 114 of them are Moroccan nationals accounting for 77% of the total staff. These figures refute the claim that ICESCO is “liquidating” Moroccan staff members. After the departure of the Moroccan staff members and the recruitment of new Moroccan ones, the rate of Moroccan staff members inside ICESCO slightly decreased by 4%.

This situation is not to be compared with other international organizations which usually witness shakes that affect staff members at every director change. According to the note, the number of staff members who have definitively left work at ICESCO since 09 May 2019 and received their end-of-service allowances are 59, including 16 international staff members from twelve (12) different nationalities, and 43 local staff members, including some members who are over 60 years old. The rest are older than 55 years and spent no less than fifteen (15) years of work at ICESCO. By contrast, 39 new staff members have been recruited since 09 May 2019, including 19 Moroccan nationals and 20 international staff members from 12 nationalities, made up of highly skilled young staff aged between 25 and 40 with outstanding expertise. Most of them have been appointed at leading positions in vital sectors, not to mention that Member States demand constantly that their expert nationals be recruited by the Organization.

In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik underlined that the distribution of staff members among ICESCO staff categories had been flagrantly imbalanced given the higher number of local administrative staff members at the expense of the number of experts and specialists in charge of the implementation of ICESCO’s programmes and activities in Member States. The imbalance also affected the age categories of the personnel which affected badly the Organization’s performance and its ability to develop and renew itself.

The note also reviewed 32 achievements scored by ICESCO since May 2019 following the implementation of the developmental vision in light of the above-mentioned diagnosis and guided by the solutions and proposals put forward by the technical committees and consulting firms. The note also underscores that the implementation of this vision that is designed to reform and develop the Organization’s working methods received negative reactions from some parties which are hostile to development and to the measures taken to this end through publishing falsehoods and slanders, which are not based on any factual or conclusive evidence, on some websites and social media in a desperate attempt to drag the Organization into the internal affairs of the Seat Country and to disrupt the excellent brotherly relationships between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At the close of the note, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed the Organization is keen to promote and strengthen relationships and ties with all Member States and their specialized and official parties, and particularly with the Seat Country, the Kingdom of Morocco, under the sound leadership of His Majesty King Mohamed VI who continuously extends his unwavering support and dedicated attention to the Organization following the example set by his late father His Majesty King Hassan II, May Allah bless his soul, with whose sound vision it was made possible to establish this Organization and grow under his blessed care.