On Monday (July 4, 2022), the 10th meeting of the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC), which will continue over two days, kicked off yesterday. The agenda of the meeting includes a review of a number of reports on the achievements of the Committee between the 2019 and 2022 sessions and the vision of the ICESCO Center of Islamic World Heritage, and an examination of nomination files of sites, heritage monuments and cultural elements submitted for inscription on the Islamic World Heritage List.

During the reception of the members of the Committee before the start of the meeting, Dr. Salim AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, stressed that the valorization and protection of the Islamic world heritage rank high among the priorities of the ICESCO’s new vision and strategic orientations, focusing on the special attention the Organization gives to training, capacity building of heritage professionals and cooperating with the Member States in this field.

Dr. AlMalik praised the work the Committee has done over the past three years, and its inscription of more than 350 historical sites and cultural elements on the Islamic World Heritage List, wishing it success in its current meeting.

For his part, Dr. Walid Alseif, IWHC Chairman, thanked ICESCO DG for the care and support the Committee receives from him and the General Directorate of the Organization, stressing that the committee will play its full role in promoting ICESCO’s new vision by documenting and recording the Islamic world heritage.

Thereafter, the Committee meeting started with an opening speech by Dr. Mohamad Zinelabidine, Head of the Culture and Communication Sector, in which he welcomed the attendees, stressing ICESCO’s keenness to ensure the success of the Committee’s action, and reviewed the procedures undertaken by the Organization in the field of heritage preservation under its new vision.

Before the first session of the meeting, Dr. Alseif reviewed the agenda of the 10th meeting, which features the presentation of a report on the achievements of the Committee between the two sessions of 2019-2022, and reviewing the inscription of heritage sites and monuments and cultural elements of Member States on the Islamic World Heritage List, and discussion of the proposal to adopt the list prepared by the scientific committee assisting the Islamic World Heritage Committee, and the proposal to adopt an amendment to the Committee’s rules of procedure.