Under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the ICESCO Year of Youth was officially launched in a major international ceremony held in the new administrative capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The ceremony was attended by Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Egyptian Prime Minister, on behalf of the President, and saw the participation of members of the Egyptian Government, senior officials, ministers, ambassadors and youth delegations from the Member States of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

The ceremony opened with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, during a mock conference simulating ICESCO’s General Conference, presented by young representatives of the Organization’s Member States, in the presence of the Egyptian Prime Minister; the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, President of the Egyptian National Commission, President of ICESCO’s General Conference, Dr. Mohamed Ayman Ashour; and ICESCO Director-General, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik.

The mock conference featured discussions on the major challenges facing the Islamic world in the fields of education, science, culture, communication and humanities, which was an opportunity for the young participants to present recommendations on the subject. The activity also focused on the outputs of the ICESCO Innovation Hubs for the youth of the Islamic world and beyond, which were hosted by the Creativity and Innovation Center at Ain Shams University, and yielded a set of ideas and proposals with the aim of contributing to developing strategies to improve educational and social conditions and safeguard and promote heritage in the countries of the Islamic world.

Following the youth mock conference, Dr. Madbouly gave an address where he conveyed the greetings of His Excellency President El-Sisi to the participants, wishing success for the ICESCO Year of Youth initiative. He also highlighted the great interest that the Egyptian President pays to youth issues as well as to training them to be action takers, stressing their pivotal role in the development movements the country is witnessing.

Moreover, the Egyptian Prime Minister announced the launch of a number of initiatives, to be implemented as part of the ICESCO Year of Youth, in coordination between the Member States to adopt youth ideas. He stated that these initiatives include setting up a youth council in the Islamic world to serve as a platform for creating promising leaderships, creating opportunities for partnership between talented people and funding bodies, and providing presidential grants to support young talents in the Islamic world, in addition to launching a fund to support talented and innovative people, sponsoring and financing projects to build young people’s capacities, and organizing a number of competitions.

In his address at the ceremony, Dr. Al-Malik, expressed his thanks to the Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting the launch ceremony, and to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for granting his patronage to the ICESCO Year of Youth, commending Egypt’s efforts to accord due attention to its youth and build their creative and innovative capacities.

The Director-General also expressed ICESCO’s pride to be named, “The Young Organization,” stating that the Organization spares no effort in creating programs to build the capacities of young people and holding conferences and seminars for them in the fields of tomorrow’s professions, artificial intelligence, space sciences, heritage preservation, among others.

In addition, Dr. Al-Malik explained that celebrating the Year of Youth stands witness to the Organization’s faith in the potential of youth, and its determination to design impactful projects and initiatives that support them and prepare them for the future. He added that the Islamic world counts on its youth to achieve progress, calling on the new generations to overcome differences and embrace growth and prosperity.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, President of the Egyptian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, President of ICESCO’s General Conference, highlighted Egypt’s achievements since assuming the presidency of the Organization’s General Conference. He reviewed the key principles of the scholarship initiative in Egyptian universities, which His Excellency President El- Sisi offered to students from countries of the Islamic world.

The Minister stressed the need to promote scientific research and invest in youth, as they represent the majority of the population of the Islamic world, stating that hosting of ICESCO’s Year of Youth reflects Egypt’s keenness to support young people as builders of the future, who will lead the way for their countries to join the ranks of developed nations in the coming years.

During the ceremony, a number of videos were screened which focused on a variety of topics, notably ICESCO’s vision on youth issues, Egypt’s efforts to build young capacities and the opportunities it provides to young people across the world to study in Egyptian universities, in addition to the work carried by young people at the Innovation Hubs workshops, which were held prior to the launch of the ICESCO Year of Youth.

The ceremony concluded with an art performance by a choir of young people from the Islamic world in Arabic, English and French, which reflected pride in youth and their ability to defy difficulties in order to build a bright and prosperous future for all.