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The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Chadian National Commission for Education, Science, and Culture launched the project “Countering COVID-19 Effects through Supporting Innovation and Entrepreneurship among Women and Youth” in Chad, in partnership with Alwaleed Philanthropies to help 10 African countries fight the adverse repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), and Mr. Aboubakar Siddick Choroma, Minister of National Education and Civic Promotion, President of the Chadian National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science, graced today, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the launching event.

In his address at the ceremony, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that ICESCO will continue supporting its Member States’ efforts to counter COVID-19, as part of its vision to identify the needs and priorities of each Member State.

The DG also expressed his gratitude to ICESCO’s permanent partner, Alwaleed Philanthropies, whose Board of Trustees is chaired by H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud, for the Foundation’s generous support to ICESCO’s humanitarian and social initiatives to help 10 African countries, including Chad.

Mr. Choroma lauded excellent initiatives, programs, and activities that ICESCO launched and implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to bolster the efforts of Member States in countering the negative impact of the pandemic. He also appreciated the Alwaleed Philanthropies’ assistance to Chad through the partnership with ICESCO.

At the end of the ceremony, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the implementation phases of the project. The aim is to develop a sense of innovation and entrepreneurship among women and youth in Chad and support the private sector, entrepreneurs, and small enterprises.

For four decades, the Foundation has supported and spent more than SAR 15 billion and carried out thousands of projects in over 189 countries. Ten Saudi female members manage the projects, reaching more than one billion beneficiaries around the world, regardless of gender, race, or religion. Alwaleed Philanthropies collaborates with a range of philanthropic, governmental, and educational organizations to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief, and create cultural understanding through education.Together, we can build bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant, and accepting world.

          The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Ministry of State in charge of Human Rights and Relations with Parliament (Ministerial Delegate in charge of Human Rights) in Morocco signed a framework partnership agreement to ensure coordination and cooperation and achieve the strategic objectives of the National Action Plan in the field of democracy and human rights.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), and Mr. Mustafa Ramid, Moroccan Minister of State in charge of Human Rights and Relations with Parliament, signed the agreement during the ceremony that the Ministry organized yesterday, December 10, 2020, on the 72nd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under the theme “Towards promoting our efforts to protect human rights.”

The agreement is in line with Morocco’s obligations in the field of basic human rights, included in the Constitution of 2011.

The agreement also conforms with ICESCO’s mission, which consists of mobilizing a stronger commitment of the official bodies and civil society institutions in countries of the Islamic World towards comprehensive and integrated cultural development.

The measures for the development include safeguarding and conserving the tangible and intangible heritage, the development of investment in cultural industries, and the consolidation of the Islamic identity open to other cultures. More measures include the promotion of cultural dialogue, the dissemination of the values ​​of peace and the principles of citizenship, human rights and positive coexistence, and the correction of misconceptions about Islam and Muslims, as mentioned in Article 4 of the Charter ICESCO.

The agreement provides that the two parties pledge to cooperate to achieve the specific goals outlined in the procedures as part of the National Action Plan in the field of democracy and human rights. Both fields fall under ICESCO’s areas of competence, including democracy and governance – economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights – protection of the rights of specific groups – legal and institutional framework.

The agreement also provides for forming a follow-up committee that will oversee all stages of its implementation. The focus is on developing a result-based action plan and preparing a schedule for the implementation of the activities while identifying all the necessary arrangements.

The agreement also focuses on proposals to achieve several goals in partnering with other potential stakeholders, sharing the documents of all launched initiatives for approval, and submitting periodic reports to officials of the two parties on the progress in the implementation of the agreement.

The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, reaffirmed that the Organization’s interest in human rights in the Islamic world stems from its desire to redress misconceptions about the situation of rights and freedoms in the region. The focus is particularly on socioeconomic and cultural rights, he continued, while the interest reflects ICESCO’s firm resolve to overhaul national legislation to become compatible with international standards.

The statement was part of the DG’s address at the ceremony that the Ministry of State for Human Rights and Relations with Parliament in Morocco held yesterday, in celebration of the 72^nd Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under the theme “Together for Promoting Our Efforts to Protect Human Rights.”

Dr. AlMalik stated that the day constitutes an occasion to recall our common duties to achieve human dignity and promote the principles of equality, equity and the values of solidarity and tolerance. He added that humanity should remember all the lofty values shared between humans without any discrimination or exclusion. He then underlined the importance of human rights in their global and holistic dimensions regardless of the conflicts, wars, and tensions in a large part of the world.

“What binds humanity exceeds what divides it, thus the need for action to offer appropriate conditions for a dignified living for the entire world’s population,” the DG continued.

ICESCO DG highlighted that the major challenge to humanity lies in the ways of enforcing human rights in the context of crises, namely for the vulnerable. He noted that ICESCO, out of its awareness of the enormous challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered worldwide, took a string of measures to preserve the essential rights of the citizens of its Member States. The focus was namely on the educational, cultural, scientific, and communication fields and other rights falling under the sphere of its competence.

Dr. AlMalik also lauded Morocco’s efforts, under the leadership of H.M. King Mohammed VI, in human rights’ promotion. Morocco enacted a range of laws and decrees that are in line with the global standards and UN principles ensuring rights and freedoms for all. He then stressed ICESCO’s willingness to work in tandem with the Ministry under the partnership agreement that the parties signed during yesterday’s ceremony.

At the close of his address, ICESCO DG announced that the Organization will hold an international conference on human rights in the Islamic world that will bring together parliaments and civil society organizations. The aim, Dr. AlMalik added, is to review the pioneering experiences of their respective Member States, share expertise, and rectify misconceptions about their gains and defend important strategic interests.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) is taking part in the High-Level Futures Literacy Summit organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) via videoconference from December 8 until December 12. The objective is to provide practical solutions to overcome global challenges by foreseeing the future. The Summit brings together several ministers from different countries, the representatives of international organizations, and more than five thousand people from all around the world.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), participated in the Summit’s high-level plenary session on Tuesday. In his address, Dr. AlMalik recounted two important milestones in his career that revealed to him the significance of the future. The first occurred when he began his career as a pediatrician and the second happened when he was elected as DG of ICESCO. He also revealed his vision of the future in his early life.

“I used to see the future as a space for harmony and common humanity. I was and am still looking forward to a bright future for humanity,” Dr. AlMalik underscored.

ICESCO Center for Strategic Foresight also participates in UNESCO’s Summit with a virtual pavilion, under the supervision of Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center, to have direct contact with the participants throughout the Summit. The purpose is to introduce the Center’s goals, which consist of developing a space for discussion and exchange of ideas, promoting a culture of foresight to build a better future, and preparing strategic studies to develop the fields of education, science, technology, and culture. The Center reviews its programs and projects on the pipeline, most notably ICESCO’s Future Laboratory, which will be equipped with cutting-edge AI technologies and will attract experts from all around the world to conduct future studies to hopefully find concrete solutions to current issues.  The Laboratory will also develop a unified AI dictionary, in partnership with multiple prestigious universities inside and outside of the Islamic world.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), called for seizing the opportunity that the COVID-19 pandemic offered to carefully reflect and join efforts on multiple emerging issues that require new consensus. The DG enumerated emerging issues such as stem cell research, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence. He said that the crisis has opened new horizons that humanity has never explored, and we should be able to grasp them and build a new consensus on them.

The statement was part of the academic paper Dr. AlMalik presented during his participation in the 7^th “Forum for the Promotion of Peace in Muslim Communities.” The videoconference kicked off on Monday and the event will last for a three-day period under the theme: “Human Values After Corona: Reviving Virtues in a Time of Crisis,” under the auspices of H.R.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates. Ministers, representatives of governments and international organizations, religious leaders, high-level personalities, and hundreds of thinkers, academics, and researchers also participated in the event.

The DG made his academic presentation into two parts. The first section diagnosed the humanitarian and health crises the world is currently experiencing. He warned that those who trade in tragedies have turned the sufferings of many societies into a profitable business so that global corporations can make fortunes at the expense of the poor and needy. He also cited the example of the vaccine war between laboratories and producing companies, which has caused a loss of confidence and raised suspicions among many people around the globe about the effectiveness of these vaccines.

Dr. AlMalik devoted the second part of his presentation to the importance of federating efforts to solve new problems related to future technology crises. The DG pointed out in the section that the world is on the verge of a revolution that will shape the political, social, cultural systems, and even ecosystems. Unless there are monitoring and regulation of future innovations that impact human nature, we will inevitably be left behind in the course of history, he continued.

Dr. AlMalik stressed that we must re-examine the complex reality in close collaboration with scientists, researchers, and designers of modern technologies throughout the world, to rationalize scientific research and artificial intelligence. He added that both concepts should serve humanity and their supreme interests while remaining under their close control.

ICESCO DG stressed that the globalization of legislation poses a major challenge, as the impacts of contemporary technology are no longer limited to a specific geographical area.  He added that if we do not keep ourselves abreast of these changes in humanitarian efforts going beyond all laws, we will be limiting our reactions and discussions on past issues and disputes.

At the end of his presentation, Dr. AlMalik called for in-depth knowledge, collective diligence, and working closely with scientists and researchers in these new fields to understand the effects and transformations that will enable taking proactive decisions.