**working session between ICESCO and Yemen’s Prime Ministry to identify priorities

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Yemeni Prime Minister held on January 19, a virtual working session to explore existing cooperation between ICESCO and Yemen and the programs and projects for the upcoming period as part of Yemen’s proclamation of 2021 a Year of Recovery.

Dr. Maeen Abdulmalek Saeed, Yemeni Prime Minister, presided over the Yemeni party in the presence of Mr. Azzedine Al-Asbahi, Ambassador of Yemen to Morocco, while Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), presided ICESCO’s team of heads of sectors, advisors, and experts.

The Prime Minister of Yemen welcomed Dr. AlMalik and his team recalling that his Government declared 2021 “the Year of Recovery.” Dr. Saeed is working toward implementing a wide range of reforms to systems of education and culture as part of the reconstruction process.

The parties then examined the needs of the country to alleviate the suffering of its people and mitigate its aftermath. The parties agreed to implement a series of joint workable projects in the areas of education, culture, heritage preservation, information, and communication.

ICESCO DG reaffirmed the Organization’s willingness to extend assistance to Yemen, particularly in the reform of education policies, the training of educational staff, rehabilitation of educational leaderships, scholarships for Yemeni students enrolled at prestigious universities, the training of Yemeni students on leadership, and overcoming learning loss.

The DG added that ICESCO’s assistance will also include the restoration of several historic heritage sites and museums following the technical teams’ assessment of the damage caused to those sites and rehabilitate endangered ones. The DG also inscribed  Yemeni heritage sites and cultural items on the Islamic World Heritage List, supporting arts symbolic to Yemeni identity, and honoring Yemeni women innovators and creators, as part of the ICESCO celebration of 2021 as Year of Women.

Dr. AlMalik stressed that the Organization will set up an expert group to visit Yemen and meet officials from the targeted areas while reaffirming that ICESCO is standing with Yemen in the “Year of Recovery” and beyond and deploys all its means and expertise to contribute to rebuilding the country.

The Organization will also carry out foresight studies on the country’s future through ICESCO Center of Strategic Foresight. The heads of sectors and advisors put forward ideas and proposals for programs and projects to implement in Yemen.

The Yemeni Prime Minister lauded the ideas and proposals while reiterating that this meeting opened larger prospects for discussion and cooperation and that ICESCO’s far-sighted vision enabled the Organization to take further action than other international organizations, crediting the understanding of the General Directorate of the nature of the Arab-Islamic region.

At the close of the meeting, the parties agreed to arrange for the visit of ICESCO’s delegation to Yemen and devise executive plans for the programs and projects discussed during the meeting.