Category: Director General

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), affirmed that culture is the fundamental lever of every country’s civilizational progress and renaissance in various creative fields, and the most important gauge of its contribution to the progress of human civilization as a whole. He added that ICESCO is fully aware of its responsibilities towards its Member States in this regard, pointing out that this responsibility is reflected and in the pioneering programs, projects and initiatives implemented by the Organization in the culture, a field that ranks high at the top of its priorities.

This was part of his speech today, Wednesday (January 15, 2025) at the opening session of the 24th Conference of Ministers of Cultural in the Arab World, held under the theme “Cultural and Creative Industries and the Challenges of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence”, by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication in Rabat, capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. The Conference witnessed high-level participation by a number of ministers and senior officials concerned with cultural affairs in the Arab region, and representatives of relevant regional and international organizations.

ICESCO Director-General also stated that the Organization’s activities in the cultural field confirm its ability to take the initiative, follow up and anticipate. Over the past period, it has suggested many valuable initiatives, including a proposal to adopt culture as the 18th SDG, the launch of the project of “the Cultural Index in the Islamic World” in partnership with the Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the inauguration of heritage centers in the Islamic world, and the inscription of more than 740 elements on the Islamic world tangible and intangible heritage lists.

In the same vein, Dr. Al-Malik unveiled a number of cultural initiatives due to be launched by the Organization in the near future, including the “ICESCO’s Index for Cultural and Creative Technologies”, and the “New Economies of Culture Index”. He also reviewed some of ICESCO’s implemented initiatives on civilizational dialogue between nations, respect of the specificities of the other and cultural diversity, most notably the “Read it… to Understand it” initiative to understand the Holy Quran, which was recently taken up by one of the largest European universities to establish a specialized academic chair in Quranic studies in cooperation with ICESCO, as well as the formulation of the “civilizational diplomacy” concept, intended to promote international dialogue between different peoples, civilizations, and cultures.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Dr. Hibo Moumin Assoweh, Minister of Youth and Culture of the Republic of Djibouti, and her accompanying delegation on Monday 13 January 2025, at the Organization’s headquarters in Rabat. Extensive discussions were held on several topics related to the cultural field.

The talks focused on strengthening efforts in training, organizing joint seminars, and attracting Djiboutian talent to work within the Organization, in recognition of the steady progress Djibouti is achieving through its citizens. The Meeting also addressed the importance of supporting and paying attention to traditional industries as a leading sector in the country’s industrial development.

Both parties agreed on the necessity of intensifying meetings to further strengthen relations and ensure fruitful collaboration.

The Meeting was attended by Mr. Mohamed Dohour Hersi, Djibouti’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, and Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of the Culture Sector at ICESCO.

As part of the celebration of World Arabic Language Day, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held the International Forum “The Arabic Language and the Creation of Useful Content” at its headquarters in Rabat on Thursday, 19 December 2024, with the participation of a select group of content creators known for producing useful content in standard Arabic.

The opening session of the Forum began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an, followed by an address by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), delivered on his behalf by Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy DG, who underlined the importance of the Forum’s theme in a world of increasing communication and information, hence the role of language as a powerful tool for communication.

He also pointed out that this Forum reflects ICESCO’s belief in the complementarity between Arabic and the creation of useful content, and is aimed to highlight the contributions of this language to media action and its most recent tools, namely content creation, as well as to highlight the role of Arabic in preserving the civilizational identity of the Islamic world.

Furthermore, Dr. Benarafa stated that Arabic, given its universality, must contribute to the creation of meaningful content that reinforces its international status, cultural understanding and exchange. He also reiterated the urgent need for a qualified language to support the creation of useful content that provides information based on unbiased facts and reliable and objective evidence, in light of ICT revolution.

In a speech delivered on behalf of Mr. Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication of the Kingdom of Morocco, Ms. Samira Lemlizi, Secretary-General Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, noted that Arabic is a communicative and cognitive link across a vast geographical area, and praised the language’s role in preserving national identity and promoting cultural diversity in Morocco.

Afterwards, the winners of the “ICESCO Young Anchors” competition, organized by the Arabic Language Center for Non-Arabic Speakers to encourage non-Arabic-speaking children to practice and master the language, were announced. 200 children from 23 countries took part in the competition, and prizes were awarded to the following three winners: Hussam Mustafa from Canada won first prize, Aisha Timur from Türkiye won the second and Mohammed Aslam from Malaysia won third.

This ceremony was followed by the first discussion panel on the creation of Arabic language and literature content, in which a group of content creators from Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Syria and Palestine presented their inspiring experiences and initiatives in this field. The following session titled “Creating Public Cultural Content in Classical Arabic”, featured rich discussions between content creators from Jordan, Morocco and Türkiye on the challenges they face and how to overcome them.

At the end of the forum, participants formulated a series of recommendations, namely to work towards perpetuating the Arabic language and its major role in shaping the global cultural scene, to support the creation and development of useful content befitting Arabic and its civilizational value, and to invest in visual content to enhance the status of Arabic worldwide.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the European Muslim Scholars Council (EULEMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish cooperation between the two parties in consolidating the values of intercultural and interfaith coexistence, peace and civilizational dialogue.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 at ICESCO headquarters, in Rabat, by Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, ICESCO Director-General, and Dr. Yahya Pallavicini, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Muslim Scholars Council, in the presence of a number of ICESCO’s heads of sector and directors of department and center.
Upon the signing, Dr. Al-Malik expressed his happiness for this step, which lays the foundation for future partnership between ICESCO and the Council of European Muslim Leaders, with a view to pursuing the common objectives, particularly highlighting the tolerant image of our noble religion and combating extremism.

For his part, Dr. Pallavicini stressed the Council’s keenness to enhance cooperation with ICESCO given its leading roles in promoting dialogue, harmony and tolerance.

The five-year MoU provides for the joint organization of exhibitions in Europe to highlight the biographies of the Prophets and Messengers, shed light on the values of humaneness and mercy in their biographies, hold international conferences, seminars and training workshops in areas of common interest, and support Euro-Mediterranean cooperation through youth, academic and cultural exchange programs.

The MoU also includes developing educational initiatives and conducting training sessions to address contemporary challenges facing religious leaders in Europe, exchanging ideas and views on issues of peace, dialogue and peaceful coexistence, promoting interfaith dialogue, and issuing and exchanging scientific and research reports, books and periodicals.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Mr. Sultan Raev, Secretary-General of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), held discussions on ways to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations in cultural fields, with a particular focus on heritage preservation and promotion.

The meeting, held today, Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at ICESCO’s headquarters in Rabat, coincided with the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the renowned Turkmen poet and thinker Magtymguly Fragi. This event was co-organized by ICESCO, TURKSOY, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

During the meeting, attended by Ms. Lachin Ovazgeldiyeva, Turkmenistan’s delegate to TURKSOY, both parties reiterated their commitment to building a fruitful partnership. This partnership aims to implement programs and projects for the benefit of Member States of both organizations. Key objectives include promoting coexistence, peace, intercultural dialogue, recognizing figures of the Islamic world who have contributed to human civilization, and preserving tangible and intangible heritage of Islamic nations.

The meeting also explored several proposals for collaboration. Both parties agreed to maintain close coordination to develop implementation plans for the selected programs and projects.

ICESCO was represented at the meeting by Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of the Science and Environment Sector; Mr. Anar Karimov, Head of Partnerships and International Cooperation; and Ms. Sally Mabrouk, Director of the Office of DG.

The headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) hosted the International Conference on “Interfaith Harmony: Nurturing Peaceful Coexistence”, organized on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, by ICESCO, in partnership with the State Committee for Religious Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Rabat, to discuss the role of religion in building peaceful societies and ways to address the challenges of promoting coexistence and interfaith dialogue as a tool for conflict resolution.

The conference, which saw high-level attendance led by Andre Azoulay, Advisor to His Majesty King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as a number of ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Rabat, began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by a presentation by Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of ICESCO’s Center for Civilizational Dialogue, in which he stressed the importance of this international conference in the path of establishing world peace.

In his address, Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), stressed that the current global developments and transformations place great responsibilities on everyone to build peace and maintain security, as the current situation requires a moment to uphold the values of human partnership, pointing out to the need to recognize the efficiency of faith and its people as peace bearers in shaping the future of humanity.

He added that ICESCO’s newly coined concept of “civilizational diplomacy” serves as a tool to resolve culturally rooted conflicts, indicating that the Organization is tirelessly working to ensure the steady progress of international peace. He also lauded Azerbaijan’s remarkable success in managing its unique diversity, commending the partnership between ICESCO and Azerbaijan.

For his part, Mr. Ramin Mammadov, Chairman of the State Committee for Religious Affairs of Azerbaijan, highlighted the great attention that Azerbaijan pays to promoting the culture of diversity, coexistence and harmony, and supporting the values of religious freedom, commending ICESCO’s efforts to promote coexistence and peace.

Rafael Huseynov, Deputy Chair, Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, stressed that the Islamic world’s civilization is a common and diverse heritage shared by many peoples, who remained united under the umbrella of civilization regardless of their different languages, religions, customs and traditions.

The first session discussed “Interreligious Harmony as a Basic Element of Sustainable Development” with the participation of experts from Egypt, Azerbaijan, Libya and Senegal. The second session tackled the “Best Practices in Religious Coexistence” with the participation of experts from Azerbaijan, Italy, Britain, and Tunisia.

ICESCO DG took the distinguished guests on a tour of the sideline exhibition “Shared Humanity, Diverse Faiths” to highlight religious diversity and tolerance in Azerbaijan.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Mr. Ramin Mammadov, Chairman of the State Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and together they discussed ways to promote cooperation between the Organization and the Committee, within the framework of the special partnership relations between ICESCO and Azerbaijan in areas of common interest.

The meeting was held on Monday, December 16, 2024, at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, in the presence of Amb. Nazim Samadov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Morocco. During the meeting, Dr. AlMalik commended the strong relations between ICESCO and Azerbaijan, which led to a number of joint programs and projects and a remarkable participation of ICESCO at COP29, held in Baku last November.

The DG also stated that the International Conference, “Inter-Faith Harmony: Nurturing Peaceful Coexistence”, to be held on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at ICESCO headquarters, in cooperation with the Committee and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Rabat, represents another addition to the series of partnerships between ICESCO and Azerbaijani institutions, and aligns with the Organization’s vision to anchor the values of coexistence, peace and civilizational dialogue.

The two parties discussed a proposal for cooperation between ICESCO and the Committee to implement several programs in the fields of education, health and social services for the benefit of countries in need, agreeing to review a set of projects in this regard.

At the close of the meeting, Mr. Mammadov gifted Dr. AlMalik a copy of the Holy Quran printed in Azerbaijan.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General, Mr. Anar Karimov, Head of the Sector of Partnerships and International Cooperation, and Amb. Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of ICESCO’s Center for Civilizational Dialogue.