Category: Front Page

The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, met the Minister of Economy of the Gabonese Republic, Ms. Nicole Jeanine Lady Roboti, to explore ways to develop cooperation between ICESCO and Gabon in supporting and financing projects for young and women entrepreneurs to achieve economic and social development.

During the meeting, held on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy in Libreville, Dr. AlMalik commended the development of Gabon and the efforts of the Ministry of Economy in implementing successful development policies. ICESCO DG also reaffirmed that the Organization gives priority to the African Member States through implementing the necessary projects and programmes and recruiting experts and managers from the African Member States.

Dr. AlMalik pointed out that ICESCO is working diligently, within its new vision, to be a civilizational beacon and a house of expertise to promote artificial intelligence and advanced technologies in its Member States, adding that Africa will remain a top priority for ICESCO.

The Minister of Economy of Gabon expressed her happiness to cooperate with ICESCO and design development policies to improve the lives of Gabonese citizens through supporting projects aimed at building capacities and training women and youth on leadership, artificial intelligence and modern technology.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Mr. Michel Menga M’Essone, Minister of Culture and Arts in Gabon, explored prospects for cooperation between ICESCO and Gabon in the field of culture and heritage.

The meeting held on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at the National Museum in Libreville, capital of Gabon, is part of the official visit of ICESCO DG to Gabon to explore ways to promote cooperation between the Organization and Gabon in the next period.

At the outset, Dr. AlMalik highlighted the major activities and programs that ICESCO carries out in the cultural field and addressed the Organization’s efforts to safeguard heritage in cooperation with the countries of the Islamic world. He added that the Islamic World Heritage Committee exerts serious efforts to inscribe historic sites and heritage elements on the Islamic World Heritage List, inviting Gabon to submit its nomination files for the countries’ tangible and intangible heritage.

For his part, the Gabonese Minister hailed the roles the Organization plays in the cultural sector and reaffirmed the Ministry’s keenness to build solid cooperation with ICESCO, describing the DG’s visit as the first step towards strengthening these relations.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed on a Ministry delegation’s visit to ICESCO’s headquarters to meet with the officials and experts of the Sector of Culture and Communication to explore the arrangements for implementing several initiatives and programs in Gabon. These include training Gabonese officials and professionals on preparing nomination files for heritage inscription, organizing workshops and symposia in Gabon under the supervision of ICESCO’s experts, virtually displaying the collections of the National Museum of Gabon on “ICESCO Digital Home”, and co-organizing specialized conferences and forums.

Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Director of the Sector of Social and Human Sciences, and Dr. Ahmad Said Bah, Advisor to ICESCO DG for Partnerships and International Cooperation, attended the meeting.

Following the meeting, ICESCO DG toured the National Museum of Gabon and took note of its collections, artifacts and heritage halls, especially the natural heritage of the world-renowned medicinal plants.

The headquarters of Baku State University, in Azerbaijan, hosted the training workshop that the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) holds, in cooperation with Baku State University and Azerbaijan’s National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, to introduce young people to Instrumentation and reverse engineering tools.

The workshop consists of multiple theoretical and applied trainings introducing the participants to hardware components and the use of their various sensor systems, microcontrollers, and data processing methods. During the opening ceremony, held on Monday, October 4, 2021, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), participated with a video speech. He emphasized the importance of this theoretical and practical training workshop in building the skills of young people, stressing the need for investment in human capital through training sessions aimed at training people on the use, repair and maintenance of modern scientific tools.

The DG also noted that the modernization of research centers is vital to respond to the economic needs of the Islamic world.

“ICESCO, in light of its new vision, will spare no effort in supporting the development of the scientific research sector in its Member States given that the countries with advanced research laboratories and highly qualified human capital are resilient to crises and disasters as witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic” underlined Dr. AlMalik.

For his part, Mr. Elchin Babayev, President of Baku State University, commended the successful strategic partnership between ICESCO and Azerbaijan, stressing his keenness to enhance prospects for cooperation in areas of scientific research, innovation and technology, and the dissemination of knowledge.

In his address, Mr. Vasif Eyvazzade, Secretary-General of Azerbaijan’s National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, commended the outstanding partnership between ICESCO and Azerbaijan in the Organization’s fields of competence, stressing the importance of the jointly implemented programs in trainings and capacity building for young people.

In his speech at the opening session of the four-day workshop, Dr. Fouad El Ayni, Expert at ICESCO’s Science and Technology Sector, reaffirmed the importance of the training workshop in building capacities and optimizing the performance of research centers, stressing the Organization’s unfailing willingness to help countries of the Islamic World better leverage modern technologies to achieve sustainable development goals.

In recognition of teachers’ crucial position and roles and in a bid to highlight their noble mission, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) celebrates World Teachers’ Day, a suitable occasion for highlighting their achievements and putting forth forward-looking visions to promote their roles, not only to develop the educational process and ensure its quality but also to improve societies and build great human civilizations.

The fourth development goal is undoubtedly a key goal that seeks to ensure equitable and inclusive quality education for all. However, such an objective cannot be attained without the pivotal role of qualified teachers who can shape creative and innovative minds. The vital role of teachers glaringly materialized during the COVID-19 pandemic as they fought to mitigate the impact of the health crisis on the educational process. Against this backdrop, competent parties must empower teachers, provide them with adequate professional qualification and training, accord due attention to their well-being, and offer incentives as well as material, moral and psychological support.

Anticipating the future of education in the post-COVID-19 context foretells that schools will inevitably change, and they will be replaced by digital schools of the future. This change compels us to invest in teacher training to build their skills and capacities to keep pace with technological and educational advancements. The teacher of the future needs skills to deal with crises, proactive future thinking, critical and creative thinking, teamwork, learning, evaluation, follow-up, remote communication using modern technologies and AI applications.

On World Teachers’ Day, ICESCO reiterates its call for guaranteeing the right to education and achieving quality, equitable and inclusive education for all, by focusing on marginalized groups, especially girls and women, who are at the heart of ICESCO’s concerns and the motive for proclaiming 2021 as the Year of Women. It is high time for all governments and competent parties to shoulder their responsibilities and assumes their roles towards teachers, through providing training opportunities, ensuring their safety and good health, and improving their working, living and social conditions. All these measures would most likely encourage teachers to give more, work harder and contribute more effectively to the promotion of educational systems.

Hence, ICESCO calls for more investment in modern technologies, employing artificial intelligence applications in the educational process, and attaching great importance to training teachers to use them. In conjunction with this celebration, the Organization launched the ICESCO Prize for Open Digital Educational Resources in Service of the Continuity of the Educational Process, which aims to secure the continuity of educational services by capitalizing on ICTs, encourage educational innovation and competitiveness, and highlight the competencies and creative abilities of various educators.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), started his official visit to Gabon in meeting with Ms. Prisca Nlinde Koho, Minister of Social Affairs and Women’s Rights of Gabon, during which the two parties explored the prospects for cooperation in the areas of social development, women leadership and combating girls’ school dropouts.

During the meeting, held on Monday, October 4, 2021, Dr. AlMalik reviewed the most prominent programs and initiatives that ICESCO launched and implemented to support the efforts of Member States in countering the negative repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on the educational, scientific and cultural fields, as well as aid to several countries, in partnership with donors, based on the needs and requirements of each country through further communication with the Member States.

The meeting also touched upon the key programs and activities of the Social and Human Sciences Sector at the Organization, most notably ICESCO Leadership Training in Peace and Security, which aims to rehabilitate and build the capacities of young people and women as the basis for establishing peace and building the societies we want to become the true ambassadors of peace in their societies by providing them with the tools of knowledge through inspiring leaders, experts, and trainers.

For her part, Ms. Prisca Nlinde Koho reviewed the national strategy for the advancement of the social sector in Gabon and the various social development plans, stressing her keenness to build fruitful cooperation with ICESCO in implementing these plans and strategies in Gabon.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to cooperate in women’s rehabilitation programs, women leadership trainings, addressing girls’ school dropouts, and holding an international conference on the Gabonese model in the field of social development, in cooperation between ICESCO, Gabonese government and Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation, as well as launching an award to confront violence against women and inviting Gabonese officials and experts to take part at ICESCO’s conferences and symposia.

The two parties have formed a joint working group to follow up on the implementation and evaluation of programs and projects that will be implemented in cooperation between ICESCO and the competent authorities in the Republic of Gabon.

The meeting brought together Ms. Ramata Almami Mbaye, Director of the Social and Human Sciences Sector at ICESCO; and Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Advisor to the ICESCO DG for Partnerships and International Cooperation.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met Dr. Ahmed Abbadi, Secretary-General of Mohammadia Leagueof Scholars, to explore ways to strengthen the partnership between ICESCO and the League by holding the 2^nd Edition of the International Conference on the Prophet’s Seerah in 2022, and publishing the second volume of the Encyclopedia on Deconstructing the Discourse of Extremism.

During the meeting, held on Thursday, September 30, 2021, at the headquarters of the League, in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik commended the successful strategic partnership between ICESCO and the League, which resulted in several achievements in 2021, particularly the International Conference on the Civilizational Values ​​in the Prophet’s Seerah, under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him, and the publication of the first volume of the Encyclopedia on Deconstructing the Discourse of Extremism.

Dr. Abbadi stressed that the strategic partnership between the League and ICESCO is guided by the royal directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, included in his royal message addressed to ICESCO’s Islamic Conference of Ministers in Charge of Childhood, held under the theme “Towards a Safe Childhood”, in 2018. His Majesty underlined that “the Kingdom of Morocco reaffirms its firm commitment to joint Islamic action, particularly in crucial issues such as the common future of our Ummah. Against this background, Morocco is willing to make share its accumulated experience with all its fraternal countries.”

The meeting also brought together Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy DG; Ambassador Khaled Fathalrahman, Director of the Civilizational Dialogue Center; and Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Adviser to ICESCO DG for Partnerships and International Cooperation; as well as Dr. Abdessamad Ghazi, Director of the Center for Monitoring and Foresight Studies; Dr. Mohammed Al-Mantar, Head of the Center for Quranic Studies; in addition to several officials from the League.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Ms. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS), former President of the Republic of Malta, discussed the prospects for cooperation between the Organization and the Foundation in the fields of education, peace, consolidation of the values ​​of coexistence, capacity building training for youth, women and children, heritage preservation and intercultural dialogue.

During the meeting, held on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, via videoconference, with the participation of ICESCO’s heads of sector and experts, Dr. AlMalik reviewed ICESCO’s vision, initiatives and programs, which aim at building the leadership capacities of young people and women, most notably ICESCO’s Program for Leadership Training in Peace and Security for 30 young people and women from more than 20 countries, who have officially become ICESCO ambassadors for peace.

ICESCO DG indicated that the Organization adopts an open-door policy with the Member and non-Member States, as well as international organizations, bodies, and civil society institutions concerned. It also concludes partnership and cooperation agreements for the benefit of the Member States and the Muslim communities around the world.

For her part, Ms. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca reviewed the working mechanisms and the prominent programs and projects of MFWS, particularly supporting the efforts to improve the wellbeing of children, who constitute the basis for achieving peace in societies, spreading the values ​​of tolerance and respect, and reducing conflicts around the world. Ms. Coleiro Preca also stressed the importance of ensuring the right to education for all, enhancing children’s skills to build harmonious societies, and integrating the social welfare index into the national development policies of countries.

Besides, she commended ICESCO’s efforts to consolidate dialogue and peace, stressing MFWS’s willingness to cooperate with ICESCO given their common areas of interest in terms of projects and target groups, adding that the meeting constitutes a new start to build a constructive and fruitful partnership.

Afterward, some of ICESCO’s heads of sector reviewed the programs and projects implemented in the fields of education, science and culture, and presented proposals for cooperation programs between the Organization and the Foundation. The two parties agreed to develop a partnership within the framework of this strategic vision for social welfare issues and their role in development.