Dr. Salim AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Dr. Coffi Dieudonné Assouvi, DG of the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD), held a meeting to discuss prospects of strengthening cooperation between the two organizations, particularly in building the capacities of professionals in the scientific, cultural, and educational fields.

Dr. AlMalik opened the meeting, held on Monday, December 16, 2024, by emphasizing ICESCO’s commitment to advancing collaboration with CAFRAD through the joint implementation of practical programs and projects benefiting the Member States of both organizations.

For his part, Dr. Assouvi expressed his gratitude to ICESCO’s Director-General for the meeting and highlighted the strong alignment between the missions of ICESCO and CAFRAD. Established in 1964 as an intergovernmental organization, CAFRAD now comprises 36 African Member States, making it the second-largest African organization by membership after the African Union, with its headquarters relocated from Tangier to Rabat, Morocco, in 2020.
Dr. Assouvi highlighted that CAFRAD’s work focuses on four pillars: training and scientific research, publishing and documentation, organization, and consultancy. He reaffirmed CAFRAD’s commitment to enhancing its partnership with ICESCO, especially in capacity-building initiatives targeting professionals in education, science, and culture. Additionally, he highlighted CAFRAD’s dedication to supporting emerging economies, such as the purple economy, green economy, and solidarity economy, to achieve sustainable development.

In conclusion, Dr. AlMalik underscored ICESCO’s open-door policy to a new phase of collaboration with CAFRAD, and invited Dr. Assouvi to hold meetings with the heads of ICESCO’s sectors to agree on a series of projects that the two organizations could jointly implement.