The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in several sessions of the High-Level International Forum commemorating the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark United Nations Fez Action Plan on the role of religious leaders and actors to prevent incitement to violence that may lead to atrocity crimes, which was held on July 20-21, 2022, in Fez.

In her intervention during the session on “Implementing the Fez Action Plan: Experiences and Best Practices,” Dr. Huda Abdullah Megeirhi, Expert at ICESCO Center for Civilizational Dialogue, highlighted the alignment between the Organization’s new vision and strategic objectives, and the Fez Action Plan, noting that the Center for Civilizational dialogue endeavors to promote peace and respect for human rights, counter extremism and hate speech, and combat incitement to violence. She added that ICESCO’s “Civilizational Diplomacy” Initiative is aimed at curtailing extremism, promoting dialogue, and creating civilizational human communication networks, inviting the participating parties to cooperate in this project.

For her part, Ms. Rana Rana Ezzeddine, Specialist at ICESCO’s Legal Affairs and International Standard Department, presented the Department’s intervention during the session on “How can the implementation of the Fez Action Plan be supported on the international level?,” in which she reviewed ICESCO’s key programmes and projects geared towards spreading values of harmony and peace, and principles of citizenship, human rights and coexistence.

“The Organization seeks to develop scientific guidelines on the protection of personal data, combat against racism and hate speech online, and the ethics of artificial intelligence. It also endeavors to support the activities of various centers working in the field of peace, and cooperate with the parties responsible for developing educational curricula to further integrate human rights and tolerance into the curricula,” explained the Specialist.