Category: Director General

The Headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) hosted a major cultural and artistic event in commemoration of World Children’s Day 2022. Organized by ICESCO in partnership with the office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Morocco and the HIBA Foundation, the event brought together a high-caliber host of ministers, ambassadors accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco, representatives of international organizations and bodies, as well as child and young artists.

In his opening remarks at the event, which was held on Monday, November 14, 2022, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), noted that the Organization places children at the heart of its interests and invests in their creative abilities to nurture their imagination to build prosperous societies, stressing the need to listen to the voices and opinions of children and youth to understand their aspirations for they possess the potential to bring about positive change.

“This celebration is an opportunity to highlight the fundamental rights of children to engage in building and developing societies and emphasize the need to make them part of comprehensive development plans to ensure that the voices of children and youth are heard in the post-pandemic recovery,” explained ICESCO DG.

Dr. AlMalik added that ICESCO seeks through this event to convey a positive message of equality and engagement for all children through art as a key instrument for anticipating their future.

For her part, Dr. Aawatif Hayar, Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family, delivered an address in which she reviewed Morocco’s efforts to protect children and boost their creativity through a set of policies and initiatives, and the commendable progress achieved in protecting children rights, improving living conditions, equalizing opportunities and instilling social justice in various areas.

In an address delivered on his behalf by Mr. Mustapha Messaoudi, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication (Youth Department), Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid highlighted that building the present and looking forward to the desired future rests upon developing children and youth capacity, noting that it is incumbent upon all parties concerned to provide them with the appropriate environment to innovate and prosper, enhance their capabilities, and harness their creative potential in different areas.

Mr. Marwane Fachane, Executive Director of the HIBA Foundation in the Kingdom of Morocco, reviewed the Foundation’s vision and its collaborative programmes geared toward developing and refining youth creative skills by experts and professionals in graphic and plastic arts.

Dr. Speciose Hakizimana, UNICEF representative in the Kingdom of Morocco, affirmed the Organization’s commitment to providing care for children and building their capacities, emphasizing that this event is part of a range of activities that are aimed at celebrating and engaging children.

The celebration featured multiple theatrical and musical performances, notably that of young artist Hamza Labied which impressed the audience.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), called for a better understanding of young people’s psychological and social environment and the adoption of new approaches to meet their needs and aspirations, emphasizing their pivotal role in achieving development as they represent the largest proportion of the global population, which compounds society’s responsibility to advance their rights, develop their capacities to enable their effective engagement in real-life experiences and believe in their ambitions to shape the future.

This statement came in his address during the opening ceremony of the national meeting for youth center (Dar Chabab) directors, which was organized by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication in the Kingdom of Morocco under the theme “Youth Centers: A Space for Development and Inclusion”, on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at the Moulay Rachid Complex for Youth and Childhood in Bouznika. The meeting saw the presence of Mr. Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mr. Younes Sekkouri, Moroccan Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, Mrs. Mbarka Bouaida, President of the Association of Regions of Morocco (ARM), Mr. Mohamed Dardouri, Wali, National Coordinator of the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), Mrs. Patricia Llombart, Ambassador of the European Union to Morocco, and Mr. François Reybet-Degat, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rabat, Morocco.

In his address, Dr. AlMalik highlighted that ICESCO attaches particular importance to youth who are increasingly employed in the Organization, noting that 23% of ICESCO’s employees are young people under the age of thirty (30), an exceptional percentage bearing a tremendous potential that the Organization leverages to implement its plans and programmes based on its young employees’ energies and practical proposals that keep pace with present-day requirements.

Dr Salim M. Al-Malik, Director(General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met Mr. Sergio Mujica, Secretary-General of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), to explore cooperation in the field of quality standards and their widespread use in the Islamic world.

During this meeting, held on November 12, 2022, as part of the participation of the two officials in COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Dr. AlMalik stressed that ICESCO is proud to have obtained ISO certification, in 2021, in accordance with the international standards (ISO 9001: 2015) related to quality management systems, adding that the Organization is looking forward to obtaining the certification of Information Security Management System (ISO 27001).

In addition to the possibility of signing an agreement between ICESCO and ISO, the meeting focused on the importance of promoting the adoption of quality standards by institutions in the ICESCO Member States, in coordination with their respective National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture, as ICESCO is keen to provide outstanding and innovative services to its Member States in these three fields.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to work together to develop the educational systems in the Islamic world by promoting quality education to ensure inclusive and quality education for all.

In the presence of Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Mahmoud Al-Matini, President of Ain Shams University in Egypt, and Dr. Ghada Wali, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), a simulation with several young people was held at ICESCO’s pavilion at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, to raise awareness of the importance of involving them in the efforts aimed at preserving and protecting heritage from the impact of climate change.

During the activity, which was held on Saturday, 12 November 2022, Dr. Al-Malik highlighted ICESCO, as a beacon of civilizational and scientific outreach, which aims to provide 3D imaging of heritage sites on its heritage lists in the Islamic world, using virtual reality technology, to enable youth in the Islamic world to explore Member States’ culture and history, enhancing pride in their cultural heritage.

For his part, Dr. Al-Matini stressed the need to develop young people’s skills through strengthening cooperation based on concrete initiatives and programs between a number of organizations, universities and international institutions, including ICESCO, to involve them in the efforts of preserving heritage, protecting the environment, and technological, technical and cultural innovation.

Dr. Ghada Wali, on her part, talked about the importance of equal opportunities between young men and women in the fields of education, science and culture, to help them achieve their ambitions and strengthen their creative abilities.

During the simulation activity, many young people participated in the discussion, shared their ideas and asked many questions about the dangers of climate change on heritage, which were answered by Dr. AlMalik, Dr. Al-Matini, Dr. Ghada Wali, ICESCO experts and professors from Ain Shams University.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, on Friday 11 November 2022, in Sharm El-Sheikh, launched an initiative to establish a fund for safeguarding heritage sites and museums in Egypt and the Islamic world from the effects of climate change.

The launch of this initiative saw the participation of high-level figures, including HRH Princess Dana Firas, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, President of the Petra National Trust (PNT) in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Dr. Ayman Ashour, Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Chairman of the Egyptian National Commission for Education Science and Culture, as well as Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and Dr. Mohamed Bayoumi, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Head of the Climate Change Team, in addition to a large number of COP 27 leaders from around the world.In his address, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of ICESCO, pointed out that climate change and its impacts have become one of the major challenges facing humanity, adding that the world is witnessing new phenomena related to climate change that threaten plans and policies and contradicts anticipations and aspirations.

Dr. AlMalik underscored that climate change has become a tangible threat to human heritage, stating that it has caused damage to about 33% of the world’s natural heritage and about 31 cultural heritage sites in 29 countries, a number which is expected to increase due to the acceleration of these changes.

The Director-General explained that ICESCO’s initiative, launched in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, reaffirms the Organization’s commitment and efforts with Member States in establishing effective partnerships to better anticipate the future, based on common visions and the spirit of sharing.For his part, Dr. Ayman Ashour stressed that this initiative represents a real translation of the recommendations into a tangible reality and that the related programmes will contribute to the protection of heritage sites against climate change damage. He added that this initiative reaffirms the commitment of Egypt in the fight against climate change in accordance with international standards given their great importance for humanity. He also commended ICESCO’s efforts in protecting the heritage of its Member States through the inscription of historical sites and heritage items on its Islamic World Heritage List.

Dr. Mostafa Waziri emphasized the role played by ancient Egypt in facing environmental challenges, most notably flood barriers and torrents. He called for a better understanding of the heritage and history of civilizations in order to learn from the experiences of ancient civilizations in adapting to unexpected climate change.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Bayoumi stressed the need to protect heritage areas from the effects of climate and sea level rise, despite the high cost of their protection, the goal is to preserve the world’s heritage from disappearance.

It should be noted that the establishment of this Fund aims to study the impact of climate change on heritage sites and museums to provide the necessary funding for the development of plans for their protection, encourage ICESCO Member States to adopt green transition initiatives and use clean energy in heritage sites and museums, to preserve the heritage environment and face the challenges that heritage and actors in this field are facing because of climate change.

As part of holding the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), and with high-level attendance at the Egypt Pavilion in the Blue Region, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, ICESCO, UNESCO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday, November 11, 2022, to support the green transformation project and the use of clean energy, represented in converting heritage sites and museums in Egypt to the use of solar energy as a sustainable alternative that does not affect the environment and contributes to achieving sustainable development goals.

The signing ceremony witnessed a high-caliber presence of princes, ministers and officials of the MoU participating parties and the Member States, mainly HRH Princess Dana Firas, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, President of the Petra National Trust in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and from the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chairman of the Egyptian National Commission, Dr. Ahmed Issa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Dr. Ahmed Samir, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt.

Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Head of the Culture and Communication Sector, signed the MoU on behalf of ICESCO. During the signing ceremony, Dr. Salim M AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, delivered an address in which he explained that the cultural and natural heritage is among the most precious treasures of human history and the responsibility to preserve it is a collective task that requires a lot of planning, action and perseverance to achieve success.

Dr. AlMalik pointed out that climate changes increase the deterioration of several natural heritage sites, as the number of sites affected by climate changes increased from 35 to 62 sites in just three years, and the number of sites degraded due to the severity of climate changes increased to 16 sites since 2017, noting that this alarming situation requires all stakeholders to redouble efforts and build bridges of communication for greater cooperation to protect and preserve heritage sites of all kinds from deterioration.

The MoU comes in implementation of ICESCO’s vision and strategic orientations in adopting and supporting green transformation initiatives, in order to preserve the environment and address the damages caused by climate changes that affect all aspects of life on the planet, especially heritage that ICESCO accords special attention to and places its protection, safeguarding and sustainability at the forefront of its strategic objectives.

By participating in this agreement, ICESCO aims to use clean energy in heritage sites and museums to provide sustainable protection for heritage sites from the effects of using unclean energy sources that negatively affect heritage sites, museums and their collections.

ICESCO also aims to encourage and motivate its Member States to adopt and implement green transformation initiatives with all their components based on the use of clean solar energy. ICESCO contributes to converting several heritage sites and museums to use solar energy with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

It started with the Museum of Islamic Art and another site that does not belong to the Islamic historical era, as a confirmation that ICESCO’s interest in heritage does not distinguish between one era and another or its connection to a particular religion as human heritage represents the identity of peoples and is a cultural and civilizational diversity.

In this connection, ICESCO calls on Member States to participate in signing an international agreement, to be adopted by ICESCO, to convert all heritage sites and museums in the Islamic world to use clean energy through relying on green transformation initiatives.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Mr. Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of the Millennium Project, where they discussed cooperation prospects for developing think tanks in the Islamic world.

During the meeting, held on Thursday (November 10, 2022) before the kick-off of the ICESCO Think Tank Forum “Towards a New Vision for Time,” at the Organization’s headquarters, in Rabat, Dr. Al-Malik reaffirmed that ICESCO strives through its foresight vision to establish the first network of intellectual centers aimed at building a safe world for future generations, pointing out that the Organization will launch its think tank “Fatima al-Fihriya,” in honor of this great figure, who had a major impact on the cultural and scientific history of humanity by building the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Kingdom of Morocco.

Moreover, he reviewed the efforts of ICESCO and its Center of Strategic Foresight for consolidating the culture of foresight and addressing future challenges.
For his part, Mr. Glenn commended ICESCO’s efforts and plans to advance the fields of thought and foresight in the Islamic world, stressing the need to enhance and elevate the international status of think tanks.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to cooperate for the development of think tanks in the Islamic world through the promotion of networking between experts from different countries and knowledge sharing.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in partnership with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), held an international conference on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, in the presence several representatives and officials of the education ministries in several Member States.

During his opening address, on Tuesday, November 9, 2022, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, stressed the importance of redoubling and unifying efforts to achieve the common aspiration for the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Dr. AlMalik explained that ICESCO and OECD seek to establish distinguished educational systems to create healthy competition among Member States to enhance the quality of educational standards and ensure their efficiency.

He pointed out the importance of the availability of accurate data for countries, as it represents an essential tool for developing effective policies in the field of education, highlighting the importance of the PISA program in evaluating the education systems of the participating countries and raising awareness among students about the need for basic knowledge and skills that would enable them to fully participate in social and economic life.

For his part, Andreas Schleicher, Director of OECD Education and Skills, reviewed the Organization’s efforts to promote the quality of education through the PISA assessment, which relies on a set of accurate and comprehensive criteria for the elements of the educational process to study and analyze all challenges that hinder the progress of some countries in achieving quality in education.

The high-level session of the conference on enhancing the results of learners in the ICESCO Member States witnessed distinguished addresses on contribution mechanisms that evaluate “PISA” to keep pace with global requirements and develop education policies in the Islamic world. Dr. Hassan Al-Muhairi, the representative of the United Arab Emirates, stressed the importance of exchanging experiences in the field of education at the local and global levels to enhance the curricula. Mr. Ahmed Al Shuaibi, the representative of the Kingdom of Morocco, reviewed Morocco’s experience in raising the level of education quality assessment to keep pace with modern technological developments. Mr. Amour El-Tayeb, the representative of the Republic of Tunisia, explained the relationship between the process of assessing learners and its connection to real-life skills.

Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Suhaimi, the representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reviewed the Kingdom’s experience in strengthening the assessment process by developing an external body that follows up on the performance of educational institutions to help them meet their requirements and qualify teachers’ capabilities. Dr. Wan Risuha Bint Ali, the representative of the State of Malaysia, identified the challenges facing education in her country, mainly the gap between students and the solutions to address it. For his part, Mr. Massar Diop, the representative of the State of Senegal, explained that the educational systems must rely on a proactive vision to meet the challenges of the future and to benefit from the experiences of countries where the means of education have been developed.

The conference included two discussion sessions; the first focused on the development of the PISA system into a global mechanism that meets the needs of the twenty-first century, while the second session touched upon empowering educational institutions and teachers through PISA assessment.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received the two prominent plastic artists, Dr. Rashid Diab and Mr. Khalid Al-Saei, and together they discussed ways to promote Arabic calligraphy and raise awareness of its importance at the international level.

During the meeting, held today, Thursday, November 3, 2022, at ICESCO Headquarters, Dr. AlMalik stated that ICESCO accords great attention to promoting the civilizational aspects of visual arts, especially Arabic calligraphy and Islamic patterns, which are two key components of international art awareness.

The meeting also focused on the possible contribution of prominent plastic artists from the Member States in the project ICESCO is planning to launch aiming to promote Arabic calligraphy through participation that draws inspiration from renewal trends of this art and organizing seminars and contests in the Islamic world.

For their parts, the two artists commended the attention ICESCO gives to Arabic calligraphy and expressed their keenness to cooperate with the Organization to support this field.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General, Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of the Sector of Culture and Communication, and Amb. Khaled Fathalrahman, Head of the Center for Civilizational Dialogue.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Dr. Abdelmalek Hibaoui, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Tübingen and President of the German-Moroccan Council in Germany, on the occasion of the publication of the new book of the Centre for Civilizational Dialogue entitled, “German Orientalism.”

During the meeting, held on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at ICESCO’s Headquarters in Rabat, the two parties discussed the book’s overall academic and philosophical vision, its focus on the German orientalist path and its distinctive elements which set it apart from other European orientalist studies, thus constituting a distinguished academic breakthrough that greatly enriches human thought.

The meeting also discussed the leading roles that Muslim communities can play in Europe, in a spirit of a civilizational will that highlights the values of Islamic tolerance and moderation. It also shed light on the efforts undertaken by ICESCO in this regard within the framework of its new vision, which embraces openness and strategic orientations.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy Director-General, and Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Head of the Civilizational Dialogue Centre.