Category: Director General

The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, refuted all the slanders and falsehoods are not based on any factual or conclusive evidence posted on some websites and circulated on social networks in the Kingdom of Morocco as part of a claim that the Organization has laid off Moroccan staff members and substituted them with nationals of other Member States.

In a comprehensive and detailed note supplemented with facts, figures, graphs and substantial proofs and evidence, Dr. AlMalik explained in detail the action plan adopted by the Organization to achieve the progress of ICESCO, since he has gained confidence of the members of the Extraordinary Session of the General Conference (Makkah Al Mukarramah Area, 8-9 May 2019) to assume the position of ICESCO Director General. He added that ICESCO had set up a number of technical committees made up of the officials of ICESCO, specialized experts and international administrative and financial consulting firms with international reputation to conduct a thorough diagnosis of the Organization’s financial and human resources as well as of its administrative system and internal regulations.

After examining the situation of the Organization, taking note of its executive reports, considering its internal regulations, and meeting with ICESCO’s concerned staff and officials, these committees and consulting firms presented a comprehensive package of solutions, proposals and recommendations intended to develop and reform the working mechanisms of ICESCO, and conduct structural overhaul for the Organization. These recommendations were gradually implemented in a balanced manner, in a bid to develop and upgrade ICESCO, meet the needs of Member States in the fields of education, science and culture, and place ICESCO at the international position it deserves so as to become a beacon of international outreach.

The note also states that the overall number of ICESCO staff members on 09 May 2019, the day on which Dr. AlMalik assumed office as ICESCO Director General, was 165, of whom 81% were Moroccan nationals. This number stands now at 148 staff members, 114 of them are Moroccan nationals accounting for 77% of the total staff. These figures refute the claim that ICESCO is “liquidating” Moroccan staff members. After the departure of the Moroccan staff members and the recruitment of new Moroccan ones, the rate of Moroccan staff members inside ICESCO slightly decreased by 4%.

This situation is not to be compared with other international organizations which usually witness shakes that affect staff members at every director change. According to the note, the number of staff members who have definitively left work at ICESCO since 09 May 2019 and received their end-of-service allowances are 59, including 16 international staff members from twelve (12) different nationalities, and 43 local staff members, including some members who are over 60 years old. The rest are older than 55 years and spent no less than fifteen (15) years of work at ICESCO. By contrast, 39 new staff members have been recruited since 09 May 2019, including 19 Moroccan nationals and 20 international staff members from 12 nationalities, made up of highly skilled young staff aged between 25 and 40 with outstanding expertise. Most of them have been appointed at leading positions in vital sectors, not to mention that Member States demand constantly that their expert nationals be recruited by the Organization.

In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik underlined that the distribution of staff members among ICESCO staff categories had been flagrantly imbalanced given the higher number of local administrative staff members at the expense of the number of experts and specialists in charge of the implementation of ICESCO’s programmes and activities in Member States. The imbalance also affected the age categories of the personnel which affected badly the Organization’s performance and its ability to develop and renew itself.

The note also reviewed 32 achievements scored by ICESCO since May 2019 following the implementation of the developmental vision in light of the above-mentioned diagnosis and guided by the solutions and proposals put forward by the technical committees and consulting firms. The note also underscores that the implementation of this vision that is designed to reform and develop the Organization’s working methods received negative reactions from some parties which are hostile to development and to the measures taken to this end through publishing falsehoods and slanders, which are not based on any factual or conclusive evidence, on some websites and social media in a desperate attempt to drag the Organization into the internal affairs of the Seat Country and to disrupt the excellent brotherly relationships between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At the close of the note, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed the Organization is keen to promote and strengthen relationships and ties with all Member States and their specialized and official parties, and particularly with the Seat Country, the Kingdom of Morocco, under the sound leadership of His Majesty King Mohamed VI who continuously extends his unwavering support and dedicated attention to the Organization following the example set by his late father His Majesty King Hassan II, May Allah bless his soul, with whose sound vision it was made possible to establish this Organization and grow under his blessed care.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) upholds the call of Mr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, to the countries witnessing the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) to suspend studies at schools and events to curb the outbreak of the virus. Last week, ICESCO issued a statement wherein it urged its Member States to take the quickest and most efficient measures to prevent the spread of the virus and substitute face-to-face classes with the teaching alternatives available in each country should educational institutions temporarily shut.

In this regard, ICESCO reiterates its complete willingness to support Member States’ efforts in such a way as to ensure permanent access to education and regularity of teaching process in the best conditions.

ICESCO’s call and initiative to promote scientific research by setting up a prize to reward individuals or group who will find an effective cure or develop vaccine against Coronavirus (COVID 19) received wider media coverage. In China, New China News Agency (Xinhua), China Global Television Network and CNNM published ICESCO’s two statements on the fight against Coronavirus in many languages. The Anadolu Agency published the two news items in Arabic and Turkish. Other news agencies followed suit, including Saudi Press Agency, Elaph and Sabq newspapers in Saudi Arabia, Emirates News Agency (WAM) and Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).

For its turn, Sky New Arabia website published the Organization’s statement about the prize. In its report “what teachning alternatives to adopt should schools be closed due to Coronavirus?”, the Qatari Aljazeera Mubasher website mentioned ICESCO’s call to resort to teaching alternatives if schools must shut temporarily because of the virus. The Egyptian DMC Channel, Al Ghad Satellite TV, the state TV channel and the Tunisian channel Nessma have broadcasted the Organization’s initiative.

A large number of electronic news outlets in many countries published news about the call and the initiative. These include Hespress, Al Omk, Al Youm 24, Scoop Press, Nour 24, Al Maghreb Al Yaoum, Kech 24, Nafs, and Le 360 in Morocco; Youm 7, Al Ahram, Sada Al Balad, Shorouk News, Masrawy, Al Dostour, Al Bawaba News, El Fagr, and Sout Alomma in Egypt; and Emarat Al Youm and 24 in the United Arab Emirates.

The call and the initiative were also met with great interest from a number of newspapers, including Akhbar el-Yom in Egypt and Okaz, Al Yaum and Makkah in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), at the Organization’s headquarters in Rabat, received Sheikh Mohamed El Hafed Enahoui, President of the African Ulema Forum and  President of the Islamic Cultural Gathering in Mauritania and West Africa.

At the outset of the meeting, Sheikh Enahoui congratulated Dr. AlMalik on the Organization’s new vision which makes ICESCO a beacon of civilizational outreach for Muslim countries, and on its openness to all world countries in such a way as to serve Muslim communities in these countries and present the true image of the Islamic civilization which advocates peace, coexistence and tolerance.

Talks also focused on ICESCO’s initiatives and endeavour to contribute to countering social and humanitarian challenges facing peoples of the Islamic world, such as offering a US$ 200,000 in prize money to anyone who discovers an effective cure or develops a vaccine against Coronavirus (COVID-19); calling upon Member States to counter the danger of the spread of the Coronavirus and ensure the use of the teaching alternatives available in each country in the event the educational institutions were to be closed temporarily; and reaffirming ICESCO’s full support to Member States’ efforts so as to ensure the sustainability of the right to education and the regularity of the educational process in the best appropriate conditions.       

Sheikh Enahoui extended an invitation to Dr. AlMalik to attend the upcoming session of the Conference on the Biography of the Prophet (As-Seerah An-nabawiyyah), to be organized by the Islamic Cultural Gathering in Mauritania and West Africa.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Sheikha Nawal Al-Hamoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah, Honorary President of Deerat Al Khair for Voluntary Work, and her accompanying delegation, and together they explored cooperation relations in the field of voluntary work.

          During this meeting, which took place yesterday, at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, in the presence of a number of officials of the Organization, the two parties discussed the importance of supporting and empowering youth and women, two groups at the center of  the priorities of ICESCO’s new strategic vision, through the implementation of programmes and activities aiming at rehabilitating, training, honing the skills and building the professional, financial and economic capacities of these groups.

          As part of ICESCO’s openness to cooperation with civil society organizations, the two parties also explored cooperation in creating specific programmes to empower women at the social, knowledge and economic levels.

            For her part, Sheikha Nawal expressed her keenness to establish a fruitful partnership between ICESCO and Deerat Al-Khair Group in the fields of the Organization’s work, including culture, and suggested organizing a forum that gathers prominent intellectual figures in the Islamic world to discuss cultural issues.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Mr. Miguel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), explored ways to promote cooperation between the two Organizations to strengthen coexistence and dialogue between cultures, in light of the great changes and challenges facing the world today.

At the outset of the meeting, which took place today, Friday, at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik welcomed Mr. Moratinos and his delegation, stressing that ICESCO’s new vision adopts openness, cooperation and effective partnerships with all entities in its areas of competence, namely education, science and culture, as it seeks to serve Muslims in its 54 Member States and Muslim communities in non-Member States as well.

Moreover, ICESCO Director General explained that in order to widen the scope of cooperation with non-Member States, the Organization is establishing contact with many of them regarding becoming Observer States in the Organization. He added that one of the manifestations of ICESCO’s openness was the “Forum Future”, which it organized in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation at its headquarters on 17-18 February. The Forum brought together more than 30 experts working at international organizations such as UNESCO and other eminent bodies, specializing in strategic foresight and artificial intelligence and coming from different countries, some of which are not ICESCO Member States.

For his part, Mr. Moratinos thanked ICESCO Director General for his warm welcome, praising ICESCO’s important role in its areas of competence, and stressing that it is one of the organizations that the Alliance of Civilizations would cooperate and work with in many fields, especially those related to the dialogue between cultures, which is becoming ever more important and complex. He added that at a time when there is ongoing talks about the need to protect the environment and save the planet from global warming, there is also a need to preserve our humanity, learn about coexistence and mutual respect, and understand the existence of different religions, cultures and civilizations.

Mr. Moratinos called on ICESCO to cooperate and participate in the Ninth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, to be held on 29 November- 01 December 2020, in Fez, Kingdom of Morocco, stating that it is the first the Forum is held in Africa. He added that this session marks the 15^th anniversary of the UNAOC, which started as an initiative by the UN Secretary General, maintaining that the session will assess the work of the UNAOC since its inception and devise a plan of action to save humanity.

ICESCO Director General reaffirmed the Organization’s readiness to cooperate and support this major event, as it relates to its areas of competence, maintaining that the Organization has a Division of Dialogue and Cultural Diversity affiliated with the Cultural sector.

A number of ICESCO officials talked about key ICESCO activities scheduled for the upcoming period, including the First Meeting of the First Ladies of ICESCO African Member States, to be held end of next March, in Niamey, capital of Niger, in cooperation between ICESCO, the Nigerien Government and the First Lady of Niger, Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou. This meeting will be dedicated to discussing issues of community development in Africa, empowering women, combating illiteracy, and facing violence against girls.

The Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Mohamed M. AlMalik, today, at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, met with Dr. Khalifa Al Suwaidi, , member of the Board of Trustees of Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, and together they explored ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and the Foundation in the sector of education, in light of ICESCO’s new vision, which adopts openness and cooperation with the civil society institutions operating in the Organizations’ areas of competence.

The two parties also reviewed the preparations for the awarding ceremony of “Hamdan– ICESCO Prize for Voluntary Development of Education Facilities in the Islamic World Countries”, to be held at ICESCO headquarters early April 2020, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chair of the Prize, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance of the United Arab Emirates. Likewise, the two parties discussed arrangements for holding the second edition of the Prize.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Director of External Relations and Cooperation at ICESCO.

Today’s meeting is the second between Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Dr. AlMalik, after the one held early February, in Zabeel Palace in Dubai, following the close of the 40^th session of ICESCO Executive Council, held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, which adopted the Organization’s new vision and a number of key decisions contributing to ICESCO’s fresh start. During the first meeting, Dr. AlMalik invited His Highness to award the winners of the Prize’s first edition.

Established in 2017 with support from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and in cooperation with ICESCO, the Prize aims to incentivize and pay tribute to authors of voluntary initiatives and charity works in education, namely in the development of educational institutions in Islamic world countries.

The Prize is awarded biennially to three winners from among individuals or institutions having contributed to developing education institutions in Islamic world countries. The value of the Prize stands at US$ 300,000. Each winner receives a shield and a reward of US$100,000 which will go to charity work, especially developing education institutions.