Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Dr. Jamal Bin Huwaireb, Chief Executive Officer of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, to discuss ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and the Foundation. The cooperation comes within the framework of the agreement signed between the two parties in March 2023, which provides for capitalizing on the expertise and capacities of both sides for the benefit of ICESCO Member States to improve their ranking in the Global Knowledge Index, issued annually by the Foundation and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The meeting, held on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at ICESCO’s headquarters in Rabat, in the presence of Dr. Hani Turki, Director of the UNDP Knowledge Project, discussed ways to address the challenges associated with the data included in the Knowledge Index report. The meeting also focused on the importance of countries updating these data to assume the appropriate position for the level of progress achieved in the fields monitored by the Index.

The two parties discussed the participation of the index officials in the Conference of Ministers of Education in the Islamic World, to be hosted by the Sultanate of Oman in Muscat next October, as well as ICESCO’s participation in the Knowledge Summit in Dubai in November 2024. The two sides also discussed holding workshops for experts from ICESCO Member States to elaborate on the working mechanisms of the Knowledge Index, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between countries to reflect reality in the annual index report, and to exchange expertise and experiences in this regard.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties reaffirmed their keenness to strengthen the existing cooperation between ICESCO and the Foundation, and to sustain coordination with the Organization’s Member States regarding the Knowledge Index.