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Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), congratulated Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ALECSO), on his re-election to this prestigious position for a second term.

In a telephone call with Dr. Ould Amar following his re-election by ALECSO’s General Conference, Dr. AlMalik hailed this step, noting the distinguished efforts exerted by ALECSO’s DG during his first term and his role in promoting cooperation and partnership between ALECSO and ICESCO.

Dr. AlMalik, on his own and on behalf of all ICESCO staff, wished Dr. Ould Amar every success in further developing ALECSO and leading the Organization in conscientiously fulfilling its mission.

It is worth noting that ALECSO’s General Conference, which held its eighth extraordinary session in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, re-elected Dr. Ould Amar on Saturday, 18 February 2023, as ALECSO Director-General for a second four-year term as of May 18, 2023.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed an agreement for cooperation and partnership to implement several programmes, projects and activities to protect and build the capacities of migrants, guarantee their rights in education, science and culture, and contribute to addressing the challenges that hinder the governance of migration.

The parties signed the agreement on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, in the presence of Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy Director General, and Ms. Oguchi Daniels, IOM Deputy Director General of Operations, along with ICESCO Heads of Sectors, Directors of Departments and Experts and a delegation from IOM.

In his address during the signing, Dr. AlMalik expressed his happiness with this agreement and cooperation between ICESCO and IOM, which protects the human rights of vulnerable groups who have been forced to leave their countries, stressing that this goes hand in hand with ICESCO’s vision and strategic orientations, and hoping that this agreement will be a starting point for further development of partnership and cooperation between the two Organizations.

For her part, Ms. Oguchi Daniels reaffirmed that ICESCO and IOM share the same humanitarian goal, which is to promote the rights of migrants, noting that the signing of the agreement enhances the role of the two Organizations in improving the conditions of legal and illegal migrants, and providing the necessary protection for them.

The terms of the cooperation agreement included strengthening the partnership between ICESCO and IOM in areas related to migrants, such as health, education, culture, science, innovation, environment and climate change, integrating migrants, building their capacities and qualifying them, enhancing their opportunities in the labor market and promoting awareness of international charters for safe and legal migration to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

The agreement also stipulates that representatives of the two Organizations will convene and attend meetings and conferences related to areas of common interest, exchange of information, experiences and documents related to their initiatives and programmes, support and implement joint activities and programmes, and grant observer status to IOM to attend ICESCO Executive Council meetings.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Dr. Nasr El-Din Ahmed Mohamed Khaled, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism in Sudan, in the presence of Ambassador Mawddah Omar Haj Al-Toum, Ambassador of the Republic of Sudan to the Kingdom of Morocco, to discuss cooperation developments between ICESCO and Sudan in the Organization’s fields of competence.

During the meeting, which took place on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed the Organization’s eagerness to communicate and coordinate with its Member States through National Commissions to launch and implement programmes and initiatives that meet the needs of these countries in education, science and culture with maximum benefits.

He pointed out that ICESCO implemented many programmes and projects in Sudan during 2022, in cooperation with several Sudanese authorities, especially in writing local African languages in Arabic script, supporting women’s entrepreneurship, and addressing the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also explained that ICESCO is fully prepared to cooperate with Sudanese authorities in the implementation of new programmes and projects.

The meeting touched upon proposals to enhance cooperation between ICSESCO and Sudan during the next period.

For his part, the Sudanese Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism commended ICESCO’s role in supporting its Member States in the Organization’s fields of action, stressing Sudan’s keenness to continue constructive cooperation with ICESCO, and highlighting his country’s current need for more focus on capacity building and training in education, media and heritage safeguarding.

Following the meeting, Dr. Khaled and the Sudanese Ambassador to Morocco visited the International Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, which is currently hosted by ICESCO Headquarters, and listened to detailed presentations on the contents of the Exhibition’s various pavilions and the modern display technologies, which virtually take the visitor back to the time of the Prophet (PBUH).

The headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) saw the launch of the Ambassador’s Roundtable, a program featuring a series of symposia that host senior figures in the diplomatic corps to talk about their expertise and experiences and hold discussions with ICESCO’s Young Professionals to enrich their knowledge about the field of international relations and diplomacy and allow them to communicate with inspiring diplomatic figures.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, gave the opening remark to the Program, on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, where he welcomed the Program’s first guest, Amb. Astana Abdulaziz, Ambassador of Malaysia to Morocco. Dr. AlMalik also stressed that multilateral diplomacy has become the key lever of development, human rights, and world peace and security, and a necessity in light of the global geopolitical changes, climate and health challenges resulting from epidemics, and other transcontinental issues.

Moreover, the Director-General stated that ICESCO seeks to promote civilizational communication among world countries, anchor human values and nurture the sense of belonging and free will, adding that the Organization accords special attention in its Two-Year Action Plan for 2022-2023 to building the capacities and honing the skills of young people and women to address environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Following the opening remark, Mr. Omar Hamed, Head of the Section of Strategic Partnerships at the Sector of Partnerships and International Cooperation, gave an overview of the successful journey of Amb. Astana Abdulaziz, Dean of the Asian Diplomatic Corps in the Kingdom of Morocco.

At the beginning of her lecture, the Malaysian Ambassador to Rabat stated that multilateral diplomacy is an international system that seeks to employ knowledge to resolve conflict, which is an opportunity to deal with individuals, bodies and organizations from various backgrounds. She added that the goal behind creating the United Nations was the preservation of peace and human dignity and the prevention of conflicts, wars and challenges we are facing such as violence, extremism and diseases.

She also commended the Young Professionals Program, which provides the Islamic world youth with the opportunity to explore their views on international issues and challenges, recommending that they keep abreast with international issues and relations to get a better idea about the role of diplomats in achieving sustainable development and promoting human rights.

Moreover, Ms. Abdulaziz stated that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the dire need to promote the system of multilateral diplomacy, given its key role in overcoming and recovering from the crisis through international solidarity and cooperation, noting that Malaysia seeks to capitalize on this form of diplomacy to achieve comprehensive progress and success.

Following the Ambassador’s lecture, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and International Standards at ICESCO, moderated a session on the importance of multilateral diplomacy in addressing current world challenges. The Ambassador answered the Young Professionals’ questions and exchanged ideas and views with them on this subject.

A delegation from Dar El-Hadith El-Hasaniah in the Kingdom of Morocco, headed by Dr. Ahmed El Khamlichi, Director of the Foundation, visited the International Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, which is hosted by the headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in Rabat.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, received Dr. El-Khamalishi and his accompanying delegation, where he reviewed the key initiatives, programmes and projects that the Organization is currently implementing, stressing ICESCO’s eagerness to build fruitful cooperation and implement joint activities with Dar El-Hadith El-Hassania during the coming period, in light of the Foundation’s great role in introducing moderate Islam, which is in line with ICESCO’s vision and strategic orientations aimed at highlighting the civilizational aspect of the true religion worldwide.

ICESCO DG stated that the initiative to host the first edition of the Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic civilization outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the fruit of a strategic partnership between the Organization, the Muslim World League (MWL) and Morocco’s Mohammadia League of Scholars.

For his part, the Director of Dar El-Hadith El-Hasania Foundation commended ICESCO’s efforts in recent years in serving its Member States and Muslim communities around the world, praising the Organization’s action in confronting extremist ideology and introducing the civilizational aspect of Islam.

Following the meeting, the delegation of the Dar El-Hadith El-Hassaniah Foundation, accompanied by Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy Director-General, visited the Exhibition and listened to detailed presentations on the contents of the Exhibition’s various pavilions and the modern display technologies, which virtually take the visitor back to the time of the Prophet (PBUH).

At the end of the tour, Dr. El Khamlichi commended ICESCO’s hosting of the Exhibition, pointing out that it addresses its visitors, especially the youth by using the latest virtual and augmented reality technologies to present the Prophet’s Seerah in a simplified, scientific and encyclopedic way.