The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) participated in AllAfrica Women Agenda (AWA) Forum, organized by the “AllAfrica Global Media” group, under the theme “Food Sovereignty: Feeding Africa by Women,” as part of celebrating International Women’s Day, to deepen discussion about women’s contribution to improving living conditions in African societies.

Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Head of the Human and Social Sciences Sector, represented ICESCO in the two-day Forum, which started on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. In her speech during the opening session, she stressed the need to achieve food security in the African continent, noting that the second goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is to achieve zero hunger, remains severely threatened, according to the World Food Program’s 2021 report.

ICESCO’s representative highlighted that the Organization is working, through programmes and initiatives in its Member States, to rehabilitate women and girls and train them for leadership. She also called for the need to give priority to the use of innovative and smart technologies to preserve the ecosystem and biodiversity, meet the population’s needs for agricultural products and achieve food security.

She concluded her address by emphasizing the importance of establishing research and institutional networks in the field of agriculture and developing local African knowledge to achieve food security, with a focus on involving women in the fields of science and environmental protection.