The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) received the second cohort of trainees from Mohammed bin Salman ‘MiSK’ Foundation, which includes 10 young men and women, who will spend a ten-week professional training period at ICESCO’s departments, sectors and centers, within the framework of cooperation and partnership between the Organization and the Foundation, in coordination with the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.
The intensive training, prepared by the various departments, sectors and centers of ICESCO, aims to develop the trainees’ capacities, introduce them to the work environment of international organizations and institutions, and provide the participants with new experiences and knowledge likely to refine their skills and professional capacities, help them acquire leadership skills in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, under the supervision of the Organization’s experts, and discover the Organization’s activities, programs and initiatives.
During the reception, which took place on Tuesday (January 3, 2024), at ICESCO headquarters, in Rabat, some of the Organization’s officials reviewed the history and areas of competence of ICESCO as well as its major initiatives, programs and projects aimed at developing the fields of education, science and culture in its Member States, within the framework of its vision and strategic orientations, which prioritize youth as the locomotive for development.
It is worth noting that the first cohort of MiSK trainees joined ICESCO, in March 2023, and received a ten-week intensive training in the Organization’s sectors, departments, and centers, during which they presented their ideas and visions, and proposed a set of projects and programs to develop the fields of education, science, and culture.
The “Empowerment through Education” activity has been launched in the governorate of Lahij, Republic of Yemen, and will be implemented in five (05) Yemeni governorates to train and qualify families taking care of orphans, as part of the school reintegration project for out-of-school girls in Yemen, in accordance with the agreement signed between the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief (KSrelief), the Yemeni Ministry of Education and the Benevolence Coalition for Humanitarian Relief (BCHR) Foundation.
The aim of the Empowerment through Education is to help families caring for orphan girls by providing them with vital life and vocational skills that enable them to become self-sufficient, thus contributing to the reintegration of girls in the educational process. The program benefits 280 trainees through 14 training sessions in various fields such as sewing, embroidery, perfumery, technology, photography and food industries, in the governorates of Lahij, Abyan, Marib, Hadramaout and Socotra.
At the launch of the activity, on Wednesday December 27, 2023, Mr. Saleh Al Dhaibani, Director of the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief’s Office in Aden, stressed that the project to reintegrate out-of-school girls is a crucial project to help girls return to school through various activities, including the rehabilitation of schools and alternative classrooms, teacher training and family support. In her statement, Ms. Imane Al Zubairi, Director of the Yemeni project for the reintegration of out-of-school girls, said that the project aims to provide educational opportunities for out-of-school girls while empowering them economically and socially, stressing that it has yielded significant positive results in the targeted governorates.
The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, held a workshop on “Development of Professionally Trained Genomics Workforce: Digital Surgery Including Robotic Surgery,” to discuss ways to capitalize on modern technologies to develop the health sector, find innovative treatments for diseases, and train health professional in the field of genomics in Bangladesh.
The workshop, held on Thursday, 28 December 2023, at BSMMU headquarters, in the capital Dhaka, saw the presence of a host of researchers and surgeons from several hospitals, medical care facilities and specialized universities to exchange experiences, explore the latest trends in the field of genomics, discuss ways of harnessing technology in surgeries and enhance scientific research to find advanced treatment for diseases.
Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of ICESCO’s Science and Technology Sector, gave an address via videoconference, in which he highlighted the importance of robotic surgeries, stressing the need to employ artificial intelligence tools and machine learning to develop the health sector and assist surgeons in their routine operating room procedures.
Moreover, Dr. Raheel stressed the dire need to develop this field in the Organization’s Member States by raising awareness of the benefits of robotic surgeries to enhance the capacities of surgeons.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), convened with 120 master’s students in International Law and Diplomatic Advocacy at the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences in Ain Chock, Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco. The meeting took place at ICESCO Headquarters and was attended by the dean of the faculty, the master’s program coordinator, faculty members, along with several sector heads, department and center directors at ICESCO.
During his opening remarks at the meeting on Wednesday 27 December 2023, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Director of the Legal Affairs and International Standards Department at ICESCO, welcomed the research students and underscored the importance of professions and disciplines associated with international law as catalysts for the functioning of international organizations. Mr. Shili highlighted that this meeting marks a new milestone in ICESCO’s commitment to fostering collaboration with universities.
Afterward, Dr. AlMalik reviewed the main aspects of the key developments that ICESCO has undergone over the past four years, in terms of organizational and administrative structure, strategic and forward-looking vision, and openness to Member and non-Member States. Additionally, he pointed out the notable advancement in ICESCO’s activities, attributing it to the recruitment of experienced experts and young talents from 35 countries to work or undergo training at the Organization.
Dr. Almalik explained that ICESCO’s new vision embraces collaboration with universities and higher education institutions, recognizing them as incubators for creativity and innovation. Furthermore, he affirmed the Organization’s unwavering dedication to advancing fields of education, science, culture, heritage preservation, and promoting peace and security. In this context, ICESCO has launched and implemented various ongoing programs and initiatives and established scientific chairs in esteemed international universities that have yielded valuable research and studies.
For his part, Dr. Abdellatif Komat, Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences in Ain Chock, expressed appreciation for ICESCO’s noteworthy efforts in furthering the fields of science, education, and culture. He commended the Organization’s initiative to offer students opportunities to understand its work and highlighted its focus on the training and development of youth skills.
Subsequently, the students were allowed to pose their questions to Dr. AlMalik, who provided responses and confirmed that the Organization has established numerous partnerships with various international entities to contribute to sustainable development. He reiterated the ongoing focus on foresight, positioning youth and women as pivotal elements in future plans and emphasizing the importance of digitization and leveraging artificial intelligence for technological progress and digital transformation.
Dr. Komat and the faculty members presented shields from Hassan II University and the Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences in Ain Chock to Dr. AlMalik as an appreciation for steering ICESCO and supporting its Member States in their respective fields of expertise.
By the end of the meeting, the students and faculty members visited the International Exhibition and Museum on the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, currently hosted at the ICESCO Headquarters, as part of the partnership between the Organization and the Muslim World League and the Mohammadia League of Scholars.
The 8th International Novel Forum honored Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in recognition of his contributions in the field of literature and novels, during the opening ceremony of the Forum, held in Agadir, Morocco, under the theme: “The Novel and Sufi Discourse.”
The Forum, concluded today, Monday 25 December 2023, was organized by the House of the Novel in Morocco and the League of Writers of the South, in partnership with the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, and Ibn Zohr University in Agadir. Furthermore, the Event paid tribute to the Palestinian novelist Rabai Al-Madhoun, and knew the presentation of several critical studies and testimonials in honor of the recipients by participants from Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, and Yemen, during roundtable discussions and open meetings between authors and students.
Moreover, Dr. Benarafa conducted a workshop on creative writing for high school students in Agadir, sharing his creative journey and answering students’ inquiries regarding issues related to writing and creativity.
His Excellency Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, received Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), on Thursday (December 21, 2023), at the Presidential Palace, in Nouakchott, one day before the close of Nouakchott Celebration as the Culture Capital in the Islamic world.
At the beginning of the meeting, the ICESCO Director-General expressed his great thanks and gratitude to His Excellency the President of Mauritania for granting his high patronage to this year-long celebration, which featured a wide range of cultural and artistic activities, and the organization of international conferences and workshops, adding glow to the city of Nouakchott, which demonstrated its ancient, unique and diverse cultural heritage.
He also commended the efforts of all parties that contributed to the success of the celebration, which is implemented within the framework of ICESCO’s program to celebrate the cities of the Islamic world, particularly the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Mauritanian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture.
For his part, His Excellency the President of Mauritania hailed the roles of ICESCO and its remarkable achievements in recent years, especially in safeguarding and promoting the Islamic world heritage, praising the inscription of the Mauritanian Mahdara on the Islamic World Heritage List, and calling on ICESCO to pay special attention to the promotion of the Mahdara as a unique human heritage.
Dr. AlMalik welcomed this call, indicating that Mauritania is one of the countries that has inscribed most historical sites and cultural elements on ICESCO’s Islamic World Heritage List. Besides, he reiterated the Organization’s willingness to further develop the outstanding partnership with the Mauritanian parties in the fields of education, science and culture.
The meeting saw the presence of Mr. Mokhtar Ould Ajay, Minister in charge of the Cabinet of the Presidency, Mr. Ahmed Sid Ahmed Dié, Minister of Culture, Youth, Sports and Relations with Parliament, and Mr. Mohamed Sidi Abdallah, Secretary-General of the National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, as well as Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of ICESCO Culture and Communication Sector, and Dr. Nami Salehi, Supervisor of ICESCO Center of Heritage in the Islamic World.
The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and its affiliated Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) held the International Conference on the Role of Women Leaderships in Empowering Women in the Digital Field, under the patronage and in the presence of Dr. Maryam Fadel Al-Dah, the First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The event aims at exploring ways to enhance women’s capacities in the digital transformation and economy, and sharing the relevant best practices.
The opening of the conference, which kicked off on Thursday (December 21, 2023), in Nouakchott, witnessed a high-level participation, including first ladies, ministers, women leaders and experts in the fields of technology, innovation and digital transformation, most notably Ms. Marieme Faye Sall, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal.
The conference began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by a documentary about the Mauritanian experience and efforts to enhance digital transformation through the establishment of a number of bodies and platforms to protect data and encourage innovation.
In her address, the First Lady of Mauritania stressed that the advancement of societies and the achievement of development are linked to the empowerment of women and the achievement of equality in all fields, stating that additional efforts must be made in the field of education, training, scientific research and innovation to ensure women access to digital and entrepreneurial fields to which the conference’s sessions and discussions will contribute significantly.
In his address, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, FUIW Secretary-General, underscored that empowerment is an act that anticipates the future, identifies needs, determines priorities, predicts risks and incorporates new developments, adding that the digital transformation has become the key to modern areas, which all women leaders must be equipped with.
“Women worldwide have achieved a significant leap in digital entrepreneurship, which would open new prospects for startups. However, there are many challenges facing women on the path to their digital empowerment, particularly the lack of innovation, the limited ability to develop new ideas and projects, lack of knowledge about the society’s needs, and the poor financial and administrative awareness” underscored Dr. AlMalik.
For her part, Ms. Fatima bint Abdelmalek, President of the Nouakchott Regional Council, reaffirmed that the conference is in line with the orientations of the Mauritanian government, which endeavors to integrate women into the economic sector and provide them with job opportunities in the digital field.
In his address, Mr. Mohamed Abdallah Louli, Minister of Mauritanian Digital Transformation, Innovation and Modernization of Administration, highlighted the major objectives and axes of the digital transformation strategy in the Republic to provide an appropriate environment for women in the digital field. For her part, Ms. Safiya bint Intah, Minister of Mauritanian Social Affairs, Children and Family, indicated that nearly four thousand projects of women have been funded and more than five thousand girls have been trained in the digital field, in addition to a number of other development programs.
Following the opening session, the Mauritanian First Lady and the Director-General of ICESCO along with the conference guests visited the exhibition, in which the entities and companies operating in the field of digital transformation in Mauritania provided explanations about their efforts to enhance the role of women in digital transformation and provide them with job opportunities.
Afterwards, the conference started its working sessions. The first session discussed ‘Digitization and gender: towards bridging the gender gap in the field of technology’. The second session addressed the topic of ‘Digitization: challenges and opportunities’ while the third session tackled ‘Women for information technology: the path toward success stories of women leaders in digital field’.
The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in collaboration with the Libyan National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science, held a seminar in Tripoli, focusing on teaching values in primary education for the benefit of education professionals. The Event discussed the latest approaches to value teaching, methods of education in values, and mechanisms for integrating them into curricula.
The Seminar, which kicked off on Monday 19 December 2023, spanning three days, is held under the patronage of Dr. Musa Almaghrif, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Libyan National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science. It seeks to equip specialized education professionals with the tools to integrate values into primary education curricula, imparting advanced experiences and skills to instill values of moderation and tolerance, and reinforce the role of educational institutions in promoting citizenship, coexistence, and peace.
During the seminar’s inauguration, Dr. Almaghrif and several Libyan officials commended ICESCO’s role in enhancing the educational process and supporting its Member States, including Libya.
The seminar’s agenda includes an assessment of the current status of values in primary education curricula in Libya, strategies for their integration and ways of reinforcing it using information technology, essential educational tools, and parallel activities in teaching values. It is also set to touch upon the roles of educational institutions and civil society in fostering citizenship values, peace, and coexistence.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), visited the 3rd edition of “Joussour” Exhibition, being held in Casablanca, from 13 to 31 December 2023, by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Hassan II Mosque Foundation. This exhibition comes after its first edition in Thailand and the second in Albania.
During the visit, the exhibition organizers provided Dr. AlMalik with a detailed explanation of the rare books and manuscripts displayed at the exhibition. They also presented a hall illustrating the historical journey of Hajj throughout the ages, the role of the King Fahd Glorious Qur’an Printing Complex, Library of the Great Mosque of Mecca, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s efforts in serving Muslims worldwide, as well as a pavilion dedicated to highlighting the historical relations between Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
ICESCO Director-General commended the “Joussour” exhibition, affirming that all three editions of the Exhibition demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s efforts in building bridges with various countries worldwide, in line with the Kingdom’s vision, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Prime Minister, promoting openness and communication with all, in consolidation of the values of coexistence and global peace.
Dr. AlMalik commended the Exhibition for showcasing the depth of historical relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Morocco. He also noted the importance of its presentations on Quranic competitions, care for Quran, in addition to historical, archaeological, and civilizational mosques, as well as rare manuscripts, serving as rich material for researchers. Moreover, the virtual Hajj journey allowed visitors to explore the rituals of Hajj’ and their performance, and a virtual visit to Mecca.
at the close of his visit, the Director-General extended gratitude to the exhibition organizers for the invitation and appreciated the initiatives by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance to present the true image of our compassionate religion, promoting coexistence, love, and peace.
The Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC) announced in the final report of its 11th meeting, held at the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) headquarters, in Rabat, on 18-19 December, 2023, the inscription of 213 historical sites and cultural elements on ICESCO’s Islamic World Heritage List. These heritage sites and elements have been included either on the final or tentative lists of tangible and intangible heritage, bringing the total number of elements inscribed on ICESCO’s List to 634 sites and elements in 45 Member States.
Following the examination of Member States’ files, the IWHC has adopted the inscription of 50 historical sites and cultural elements on the final list in 9 Member States, mainly the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Republic of Tatarstan, Sultanate of Oman, State of Palestine, Republic of Cameroon, State of Libya, Kingdom of Morocco, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, in addition to the inscription of 90 files of world heritage in 37 countries. Furthermore, the IWHC decided to inscribe 73 files from 9 Member States in the Tentative List of Heritage in the Islamic World.
The decisions of the IWHC in its 11th meeting included the adoption of the activity report of the Islamic World Heritage Center, the strategy on the fight against trafficking of cultural property in the Islamic world, the living human treasures program, ICESCO’s guide for protecting, preserving and promoting the Islamic world heritage and the project on preserving the minarets of the Islamic World and preparing a nomination file for their inscription on the heritage lists.
At the end of the meeting, the IWHC issued a set of recommendations, mainly implementing a number of programs to raise the awareness of youth about the importance of cultural heritage in the Islamic world, holding intensive training workshops for workers in the field, calling upon Member States to submit more files on heritage sites and elements for inscription on the Islamic World Heritage List, entrusting ICESCO’s General Directorate with the mission of preparing and updating a strategy to introduce heritage sites, monuments and elements, inscribed on the Final Islamic World Heritage List, forming a working group of IWHC’s members to support Hajj’ Routes to Mecca and historical mosques as well as promoting ICESCO’s initiative on green heritage and its initiative to establish a mechanism to monitor and protect heritage elements against the impact of humans, disasters and climate change.
