The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part on April 20, 2021, in a virtual meeting held as part of the preparation of the annual plan specific to the “Clean Beaches” programme of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection. The meeting brought together 100 partners, experts, teacher-researchers, businessmen, company managers, representatives of youth and civil society, and jury members of the Lalla Hasnaa Prize for Sustainable Coasts.

The programme is part of the “Seas and Oceans” Strategy of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection which capitalizes on youth and digital tools in its endeavors to protect the beach environment and through it the marine environment. The Foundation is a founding member and a sponsor of the Global Ocean Alliance 2020-2030 in cooperation with UNESCO and the UN Agency in charge of coordinating the Alliance.

The meeting featured the evaluation of the previous edition of the “Clean Beaches” campaign, which set the challenge of collecting 700 tons of plastic materials from oceans through mobilizing more than one million young people during summer. The participants also explored cooperation with partners on the procedural sides for the 2021 edition which seeks, among other things, to recycle collected plastic waste to achieve the desired socio-economic and environmental impact. Dr. Abdelmajid Tribak, the Environment programmes expert at the Sector of Science and Technology, represented ICESCO in the meeting.