Category: News update

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Dr. Amal Jalal, President of Al-Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco, explored ways to promote cooperation between the Organization and the University.

The meeting was part of the visit of ICESCO DG, along with a delegation of the heads of the sector at the Organization, to the University. Dr. Amal Jalal, president of the University, and Dr. Idriss Al Fassi, the University’s Vice-President, received the delegation.

At the outset of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik expressed his happiness at visiting Al-Qarawiyyin University, which he considers as the mother of all universities, and meeting its leading scientific and intellectual figures.

The meeting also reviewed the University’s restoration project, conducted under the high patronage of H.M. King Mohammed VI, as well as the monarch’s constant support to give new impetus to the University’s prominent role.

Dr. Jalal stressed that the University selects the most talented students, who have memorized the Holy Quran by heart and have a good command of Arabic, English, and French. “Prospective students should also sit for a test organized by a specialized admission committee,” added Dr. Jalal.

The two parties agreed upon further cooperation between the Organization and the University in the areas of common interest.

At the close of the meeting, the President of Al-Qarawiyyin University offered ICESCO DG a shield bearing the University’s logo, as well as a set of its most recent publications.

ICESCO DG and his delegation made a tour of the University’s library “Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin,” during which they explored the library’s treasures of over 4000 manuscripts, as well as the University’s manuscripts restoration laboratory, which uses state-of-the-art restoration technologies. The delegation then made a visit to Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in the Old Medina of Fez.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez (UEMF) in Morocco, signed an agreement on the creation of ICESCO Chair for Arts, Science, and Civilizations. The Chair will be based at the University and aims to develop scientific research works to benefit and promote the fields of arts and thoughts, and build fruitful cooperation relations among artists, researchers and students, especially the youth.

The Chair also aims to promote knowledge-based economy and human development through scientific research and cultural networking between the different educational institutions and universities in the ICESCO Member States.

The parties signed the Agreement on Thursday, June 17, 2021, during a ceremony held at the University headquarters in Fez. Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), and Dr. Mostapha Bousmina, UEMF President, signed the Agreement, in the presence of several heads of ICESCO sectors and several University officials, including Dr. Abdelrahman Tankoul, Official in charge of the Chair.

In his address at the signing ceremony, ICESCO DG expressed his delight in signing the key document with the University, noting that the visit ICESCO delegation made to the University’s various facilities and labs provided insights into this institution’s capacities, a source of pride to both its educators and students.

Dr. Bousmina also expressed his delight in signing such an agreement and thanked ICESCO for its support for scientific research, reaffirming his keenness to develop relations between the University and the Organization.

Dr. Abdelhaq Azzouzi, a member of UEMF Board of Directors, commended the signing of the Agreement, expressing his confidence that the Chair will carry out outstanding work.

According to the Agreement clauses, the Chair aims to set up a body for training and research in the Chair’s main areas of specialty and seeks to involve researchers, authors and intellectuals in its missions to publicize arts, science, and civilizations, promote societies and preserve their cultures, heritage, and identities.

The headquarters of the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez (UEMF), in Morocco, saw the inauguration of the headquarters of ICESCO Chair on “Women in Science: Artificial Intelligence and the Future,” whose establishment agreement was signed on May 17, 2021, with the aim of promoting scientific research on artificial intelligence, encouraging the participation of girls and women in this field, and consolidating the foresight culture.

In his address at the inauguration, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), expressed his happiness at the start of the Chair’s activities at Euro-Mediterranean University, which is one of the outstanding universities in the Islamic world despite its young age.

Dr. AlMalik added that the establishment of the Chair, which falls within the framework of ICESCO Year of Women 2021, will contribute to encouraging and supporting women and girls in the field of science, stressing that enhancing women’s opportunities to study and use artificial intelligence applications will contribute to achieving gender equality.

Dr. Bousmina Mostapha, UEMF President, indicated that women represent 51 percent of the University’s staff. “UEMF has also distinguished female students. ICESCO Academic Chair will contribute to achieving gender equality by building the capacities of young women and enhancing their presence and contribution in the field of artificial intelligence and other new areas,” he underscored.

Abdelhak Azzouzi, a member of UEMF’s Board of Directors, said that the Chair will be a great success as it aims at developing international partnerships, providing training on research and innovation, and attracting young researchers from the ICESCO Member States to develop algorithms and artificial intelligence technologies for the benefit of society.

Dr. Maha Kamira, who is the charge of the Chair, reviewed the key measures and steps that have been taken since the signing of the establishment agreement, stressing that the University, in coordination with ICESCO Center for Strategic Foresight, laid down the objectives of the Chair. Among its goals is to provide opportunities and support girls and women in the field of artificial intelligence. The measure includes organizing workshops, summer school, expanding the scientific knowledge base, and developing scholarship programs and student exchange programs over the next five years.

Following the inauguration, UEMF President took ICESCO DG and his delegation on a tour of the various laboratories and facilities of the University, during which many professors and students of different nationalities reviewed their scientific research and experiments.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Mr. Ibrahim Al Hammad, DG of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) in Morocco and West Africa, who visited ICESCO headquarters, in Rabat, on Wednesday (June 16, 2021).

The meeting also brought together Dr. Mohamed Al-Samrani, Director of Saudia Airlines in Morocco; Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy DG; and some of the heads of sector, department and center at the Organization; as well as Ms. Kawthar Hammouchi, Director of Cooperation and Social Responsibility in SABIC Morocco and West Africa.

Dr. AlMalik reviewed the main themes of ICESCO’s vision and action strategy as well as the key initiatives, programs and activities that the Organization implemented in many Member States, particularly in Africa to support the efforts geared towards addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of health, education, and water.

The meeting also touched upon the major current programs and projects of ICESCO, being implemented in cooperation with the competent parties in the Member States, and the new ideas and initiatives that ICESCO adopts to meet its Member States’ needs in its areas of action.

Mr. Al Hammad commended the efforts of ICESCO to support its Member States, stressing his willingness to build cooperation between SABIC Morocco and West Africa, which collaborates with 35 African countries, and ICESCO. He explained that the office supports projects in the fields of environment, water, education, and health in these countries, as part of the company’s social responsibility.

The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, stated that the Islamic civilization encompasses all forms of knowledge, including jurisprudence, literature, and natural sciences, and calls for using reason to contemplate and reflect upon the universe that Allah created.

“We need to follow such lofty teachings which urge us to be bold in addressing every contemporary issue based on the solid foundations of our faith,” Dr. AlMalik affirmed.

The statement came at the DG’s address during the opening ceremony of Imam Maturidi International Scientific Research Center in Uzbekistan Symposium on “The Maturidiyya Teachings and the Present.”

The event, which took place on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, via videoconferencing, witnessed the participation of Mr. Shah Azim Minovarov Shahaslamovich, Advisor to the President of the Uzbekistan and Director of the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan; Ambassador Dr. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, DG of the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA); the Grand mufti Osmankhun Alimov, Chairman of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan and President of the International Scientific Board of Imam Maturidi Center; Dr. Davron Makhsudov Rustamovich, Director of  Imam Maturidi International Scientific Research Center and Dr. Muzaffar Komilov Muradovich, President of the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan.

In his address, ICESCO DG pointed out that Imam Abu Mansour al-Maturidi’s thought is innovative, helps in combating heresies and superstition, and combines both reasoning and the religious texts, highlighting that humans had been endowed the gift of knowledge. Dr. AlMalik also underscored that ICESCO and Imam Maturidi International Scientific Research Center’s joint efforts aim at promoting knowledge and scientific trends that the Islamic World is in urgent need.

ICESCO DG stated that the two parties share the same areas of competence and praised the memorandum of understanding they signed. He also reviewed ICESCO’s major activities and initiatives carried out to promote coexistence and peace, including the Symposium on Space Sciences which aimed at exploring the role of technology in promoting coexistence, the International Conference on Civilizational Values in the Prophet’s Seerah, and the Conference on “Role of Religious Leaderships in Face of Crises.”

At the close of his address, Dr. AlMalik called for capitalizing on the unlimited potentials that modern technologies offer, thus contributing to the development of the Islamic world.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the International Camel Organization (ICO) held, on Monday, June 14, 2021, a virtual working session to explore areas of cooperation between the two parties.

The two parties examined ways to set up a strategic plan of cooperation on several programs and activities pertaining to promoting camels’ civilizational and cultural heritage, conducting scientific studies on this subject, supporting the traditional and handicraft industry, and promoting the desert cultural heritage.

H.H. Prince Sultan bin Saud bin Mohammed, ICO Vice President, and Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG) chaired the meeting. The session also witnessed the participation of H.R.H. Prince Abdulrahman bin Khalid bin Musaad, Representative of Saudi Arabia to the ICO, Dr. Mubarak Al-Suwailem, ICO Secretary-General, and Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy ICESCO DG, in addition to advisors and heads of sectors and departments at the Organization.

At the beginning of the meeting, H.H. Prince Sultan bin Saud conveyed to the participants the greetings and gratitude of H.E. Sheikh Fahd bin Hathleen, Founder and Chairman of the ICO Board of Directors.

During the meeting, which was held as part of the implementation of the Partnership Agreement signed between the two organizations in April 2021, the two parties reviewed the broad lines of the proposed programs and cooperation activities as well as implementation plans to achieve the expected outcomes of the programs. The list includes programs on civilizational and cultural heritage relating to camels and desert culture, the inscription of this heritage on the List of Intangible Heritage of the Islamic World, and participation in King Abdulaziz Festival of Camels and camel races, in addition to the organization of conferences, symposia, festivals and fairs dedicated to camels.

The working session also focused on the studies and scientific research that parties will jointly conduct to protect camel breeds, improve their DNA through genetic research and increase the production of camel milk and meat, to promote camel economy and investment in the field.

The two parties also agreed to issue several publications, such as the encyclopedia of camels, and publicize camel heritage by employing various mediums such as documentaries, digital content and children’s stories. The goal is to bring the new generations of the Islamic world closer to this heritage, which is a source of pride.

At the end of this meeting, which was marked by rich discussions and practical ideas and proposals, both parties reaffirmed that this cooperation will be fruitful, given the two Organizations’ complementary visions and shared objectives, especially in the field of heritage protection and identity promotion. The participants also agreed to hold bilateral technical meetings, to launch the implementation of the agreed-upon programs and activities.