Category: Front Page

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the European Association for Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic Speakers in Brussels, held yesterday, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, via videoconference, a coordination meeting to explore the organization of an international conference at the headquarters of the European Parliament, next December, in celebration of World Arabic Language Day.

Dr. Majdi Haji Ibrahim, Head of ICESCO Center for Arabic Language for Non-Arabic Speakers; Dr. Youssef Ismaili, Expert at the Center and Ms. Rajae Al Hakkouni, Program Assistant at the Center, represented ICESCO during the meeting. Ms. Samira ben Abdelouahab, President of the Association, and Dr. Fatima Houssni, President of the Association’s Scientific Committee, represented The European Association for Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic Speakers.

During the meeting, the two parties discussed the importance of involving international organizations and major global institutions in celebrating World Arabic Language Day and touched upon the details of the Conference, due to be held in cooperation between ICESCO and the Association. The two parties also discussed the Conference title, themes, and date, along with the list of proposed participants. They agreed on holding a parallel training workshop for Arabic language teachers.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed on a set of recommendations to develop a roadmap for joint-action arrangements and assign tasks to prepare for the Conference.

In recognition of the major efforts the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) exerts in the field of inscribing and preserving heritage, providing restoration and maintenance training to heritage professionals, and raising cultural awareness, the Association Espace les Oudayas gifted on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, the key to the Grand gates of the Kasbah of the Udayas to Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), during his visit.

The DG headed the ICESCO delegation that paid a visit to the Kasbah to take stock of the restoration and development works carried out in this heritage site, one of the major historical landmarks in Rabat, Morocco.

A host of the Association officials, along with the representatives of several heritage protection institutions in Morocco received the ICESCO delegation. These included Mr. Abdelrahman Al-Badraoui, President of the Association Espace les Oudayas; Mr. Fikri Benabdellah, President of the Association Rabat Salé Mémoire; and Mr. Abdelati Lehlou, President of the Moroccan Committee of the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

The delegation toured the Kasbah and listened to an overview about the site’s heritage and historical significance for Morocco, the development it has witnessed throughout history, and the attention it currently receives in light the Kingdom’s interest in protecting and restoring heritage.

Upon receiving the Key to the Kasbah, the DG reaffirmed that the Organization accords special attention to tangible and intangible heritage of the Islamic civilization. He noted that ICESCO’s new vision adopted an action strategy on promoting this heritage, which reflects the cultural and civilizational richness of the Islamic world as well as other world countries. Dr. AlMalik added that ICESCO created the Center of Heritage in the Islamic world and inscribed more than 300 heritage sites and cultural element on the Islamic World Heritage Lists. 

The DG stated that ICESCO is working closely with its Member States to incorporate heritage preservation in school curricula at different school levels, in a bid to establish this culture among the new generations, reaffirming the Organization’s readiness to cooperate with the competent parties in the Islamic world and other world countries featuring traces of the Islamic civilization to inscribe and preserve these sites.

ICESCO delegation during the visit to the Kasbah included Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy DG; Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of the Culture and Communication Sector; Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Supervisor of the Sector of Partnerships and Cooperation; and Dr. Ahmed Said Bah; Advisor to ICESCO DG for Partnerships and Cooperation.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), recommended providing adequate and customized technical support for decision makers and officials in charge of devising and implementing education plans across the globe in order to properly achieve SDG4. He stated that ICESCO firmly supports joint strategic documents in a bid to improve international cooperation in the field of education.

Dr. AlMalik made the statement in his address at the Ministerial Roundtable of the Global Education Meeting 2021, that UNESCO held, on Thursday, July 13, 2021, via videoconference. The Meeting was held under the theme, “From recovery to accelerating SDG 4 progress,” and saw the participation of several key international figures including ministers, education experts and specialists, and activists in humanitarian and educational work.

Dr. AlMalik noted that anticipating the future of education indicates that the schools we know will undoubtedly transform into digital and virtual schools. He added that this compels us to develop innovative curricula and alternative school programs and education paths to pave the way towards the digital schools of the future.

“In line with the sustainable development plan, and considering that education is a human right, ICESCO has sustained its efforts to support its Member States since the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing school closure,” Dr. AlMalik stated. He further explained that ICESCO’s efforts were geared towards ensuring the continuity of the education process and guaranteeing the right to education for all.

Dr. Al-Malik noted, ICESCO provided its Member States with the necessary technological equipment and devices to help them transition to the new learning model. He added that the Organization prepared a document on the guidelines for re-opening schools in Member States, launched many initiatives as part of “ICESCO Digital Home” to help address the issue of “educational loss,” and provided support to 25 Member States to set up education and training e-platforms.

The DG also revealed that ICESCO is currently working on some key studies relevant to AI and smart data in education.

The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, met Today, July 13, 2021, at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, with Mr. Leslie J. Baja, Ambassador of the Philippines to Morocco. The two parties explored cooperation prospects between the Organization and the Philippines in the fields of education, technology, culture, anchoring values of coexistence and civilizational dialogue.

During the meeting, Dr. AlMalik reviewed the main axes of the Organization’s vision and action strategy, which adopt an open-door policy and promote partnerships to benefit the Member States and Muslim communities around the world. The DG highlighted the potential for cooperation between the two parties to serve the Muslim communities of the Philippines.

ICESCO DG explained that since the beginning of COVID-19, the Organization has played a key role in supporting a number of its Member States in countering the negative impact of the pandemic through launching and implementing several initiatives, programs and projects in cooperation with Member States’ competent authorities.

For his part, the Ambassador of the Philippines to Morocco commended ICESCO’s significant efforts and welcomed the development of cooperation with the Organization in its areas of competence. Mr. Baja stated that Muslim Filipinos represent a significant proportion of 11% of the total population and that his country strives to overcome certain issues facing them. He also noted that there are several institutes and research centers at Filipino universities specialized in the field of Islamic Studies.

The meeting touched upon several fields of cooperation between ICESCO and the Philippines, such as contributing to deconstructing extremist discourse, participating in peace and counter-terrorism conferences, sharing Filipino expertise with the countries of the Islamic world in teaching Medical sciences, and collaborating on artificial intelligence.

Dr. Abdelilah Benarfa, ICESCO Deputy DG; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center of Strategic Foresight at the Organization; Dr. Ahmah Said Ould Bah, Advisor to ICESCO DG for Partnerships and International Cooperation and Ms. Monera Fatima Siriban, Philippines Vice-Consul in Rabat, attended the meeting.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), will participate on August 2021 in the 36th session of the Space Forum, held annually by the American Space Foundation since 1984 in the State of Colorado, USA. This event is considered the first American Forum for the discussion of space policies and programs and the discovery of the latest developments in this field.
The Director-General will be a keynote speaker at the Forum, which will bring together a large number of leaders, decision-makers, and all sectors of the space community from several spacefaring nations, as well as space agencies, commercial space companies, cyber-security companies, federal government agencies and organizations, and the state governments of the U.S. Also participating will be R&D centers, educational institutions, space entrepreneurs, private spaceflight service providers, companies involved in the adaptation, manufacture or sale of space technologies for commercial use, in addition to specialized media.
The Forum’s agenda includes the discussion of many important topics, most notably a “forward-looking agenda,” as well as a wide range of parallel activities, including an exhibition on the latest innovations in space and major advances in space technology, from nanotechnology to spacecraft, with the participation of over 200 exhibitors.
For the record, ICESCO and the American Space Foundation are bound together by ties of close cooperation for the promotion of space sciences and programs in the Islamic world, as part of ICESCO’s new vision and strategy to raise awareness of the importance of space sciences and technologies and the huge potential offered by their technological applications to achieve sustainable development. The two parties co-organized the 1st International Forum on “Space Science: Importance, Challenges and New Opportunities in the Space Industry and the Islamic World” on 10 June 2021 under the theme: “Innovators of Tomorrow,” which was attended by an elite space program managers and experts, scientists and astronauts from around the world.