Category: News update

The training session on strategic foresight in service of decision-making  kicked off today, February 22, 2021, at ICESCO headquarters. The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and Konrad Adenauer Foundation are holding the two-day session.

The session benefits 60 students from the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences at Mohamed V University and the Institute for Management Higher Studies (HEM), in addition to young interns at ICESCO. The event falls under the program to support, build the capacities of young people, and provide them with leadership training in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication.

During the opening session, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to ICESCO Director-General, underscored that the Organization works towards building a new generation of young men and women in the field of foresight in service of decision-making, noting that foresight should become a risk prediction tool and a vessel for finding solutions to future problems and challenges.

Dr. Ali Seghrouchni, HEM Director, stated that strategic foresight has played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic and has proven crucial in our globalized ear. Speaking next, Dr. Mohamed Saber Hussainat, Professor at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences, expressed his thanks to all organizers, stating that the current session is only the beginning of a series.

Ms. Nuhaila Boukili, Representative of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said, at the session’s opening, that our lives are changing and we must all learn about foresight, expressing her hope for the continuity of these sessions.

During his presentation, Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center for Strategic Foresight at ICESCO, and the session’s moderator, highlighted the Center’s goals including fostering the culture of foresight and encouraging studies in the field, promoting strategic diplomacy, and setting monitoring mechanisms. He reaffirmed that recent studies have shown that nations’ progress and civilizational prosperity cannot be achieved unless we look forward towards the future, stressing the significance of this type of training for professionals in the Islamic world, especially in light of the challenges facing countries. 

The training session is part of a program that the Center for Strategic Foresight at ICESCO launched, which aims at holding similar training sessions for the benefit of universities, enterprises, and active parties in Member States’ civil societies to train professionals and students in their respective fields of work. The training sessions are in line with ICESCO’s new vision, which is based on anchoring the culture of anticipation and building the capacities of individuals as well as institutions in the field of foresight, given its importance as a tool for facing change, as reaffirmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in the high-level panel, which the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) held via videoconference, under the theme “Recruited Children: Victims, not Soldiers”. KSRelief held the panel in celebration of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, with the participation of Dr. Abdulah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiaa, KSRelief General Supervisor, and Mr. Fillipo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in addition to a number of UN organizations’ representatives and a host of experts. 

Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, and Dr. Ahmad Said Bah, Advisor to ICESCO Director-General (DG) for Partnerships and International Cooperation represented the Organization. Mr. Shili discussed the mechanisms to protect children against the dangers of recruitment, particularly promoting human rights education, integrating the principles of human rights in school curricula, and reintegrating child recruits in society. He listed other mechanisms such as abiding by the Principles of Cape Town and Paris on the protection of child soldiers in armed conflicts, especially with regard to planning for supporting child release and reintegration. 

The ICESCO official commended the KSRelief project to rehabilitate child recruits and children impacted by the armed conflict in Yemen, which has benefitted 530 Yemeni children. He also presented a number of programs and projects that can be implemented in partnership between ICESCO and the Center, especially in light of the growing numbers of child recruits around the world, whose number is estimated at 300,000 child soldiers, 80% of them are from the Islamic world and all are between the ages of 7 and 18.

At the close of the panel, the participants issued a number of recommendations reaffirming the significance of the international celebration of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers to shed light on the phenomenon and support the global community to joint efforts in rehabilitating child soldiers under the umbrella of the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

The participants also recommended pooling and orienting joint action to ensure the abidance by the International Human Law and the other relevant international legislations such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, particularly the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts.

The Headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) saw on Thursday, February 18, 2021, the signing of a partnership agreement between ICESCO and the University of Lahore (UOL) in Pakistan. The agreement provides for cooperation in project implementation promoting the quality of higher education, granting scholarships to students from the ICESCO Member States, and supporting scientific research in the Islamic world.

Ambassador Khalid Fath Al-Rahman, Supervisor of the Department of Partnerships and International Cooperation, signed the agreement on behalf of ICESCO and Mr. Awais Raoof, UOL’s Chairman of Board of Governors, signed the agreement on behalf of the University in the presence of several heads of ICESCO sectors and university representatives.

In his address at the signing ceremony, Dr. Rahil Qamar, Director of the Sector of Science and Technology at ICESCO, gave an overview of ICESCO’s new vision regarding the sector of science and technology, and the programmes that the Organization launched to build the capacities of scientists in the Islamic world. He also talked about ICESCO’s school grants and the announcement of ICESCO’s Prize for Innovation in Science and Technology.

Mr. Raaoof underlined the importance of joining efforts to promote research and innovation in the Islamic world. He expressed the University’s readiness to cooperate with ICESCO in areas of mutual interest, particularly in providing scholarships for students from the ICESCO Member States and holding training sessions for women leaderships in scientific fields as well as in other areas.

The agreement provides for supporting student exchange between universities, encouraging scientific research and technological innovation, and promoting joint research projects between universities and research centers in the Islamic world. It also provides for granting 20 scholarships to students at different higher education levels to study at the UOL; holding joint workshops, and supporting joint programs in the ICESCO Member States.

The Joint Committee of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Moroccan News Agency (MAP) held a coordination meeting, yesterday, February 18, 2021, to develop a cooperation roadmap in accordance with the Partnership Agreement that Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), and Mr. Khalil Idrissi Hashimi, MAP DG, signed on February 08, 2021.

During the meeting, held at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, the Committee considered the proposals of cooperation programmes and decided to start developing the implementation plans for several others, particularly on training and capacity-building of journalists and media professionals from Morocco and ICESCO member States, as well as the programme of the first training session.

The Committee also explored cooperation between ICESCO and MAP in the production of some radio and television programmes relevant to the Organization’s areas of action and its celebration of 2021 as the Year of Women. The programmes aim at promoting cultural awareness in the Islamic world. They will be broadcast next Ramadan on MAP-affiliated RIMRADIO and M24 TV Channel as well as on ICESCO’s social media platforms.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to hold periodic meetings to decide on the details of the cooperation plans and programmes, follow-up to their implementation and assess their outcomes.

The meeting brought together Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to ICESCO DG; Ambassador Khalid Fatahalrahman, Supervisor of Partnership and International Cooperation Sector at ICESCO; Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Advisor to ICESCO DG for Partnerships and International Cooperation; Mr. Mohamed Hadi Shili, Director of Legal Affairs Department at ICESCO; and Mr. Samy El-Kamhawy, Supervisor of Institutional Information and Communication at ICESCO.

The delegation representing MAP was made up of Mr. Rachid Eltajani, Director of Communication and Cooperation; Mr. Mohamed Anis, Secretary-General of the Atlantic Federation of African News Agencies; and Mr. Hicham Elkhal, Director of Media Outlets.

The ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad hosted a three-day training session on “Excel-based Statistical Data Analysis in Arab education in Chad.” The Center kicked off on February 17 the videoconference in cooperation with the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

Mr. Adel Bouraoui, Advisor to Director-General (DG) for ICESCO’s External Centers and University Chairs of Arabic Language represented ICESCO at the opening ceremony. In attendance were also Dr. Nebil Dabur, SESRIC Director General, and Dr Ali Mohammad Qamar, Director of ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad.

Mr. Bouraoui reviewed ICESCO’s efforts to help its Member States to have access to computer software and ensure efficient use of ICTs in the service of national education planning and build the skills required for current and future work, production, and creativity processes. He also stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and coordination between joint Islamic action institutions, including ICESCO and SESRIC, to help competent educational parties in the Islamic world develop the digital skills of their pedagogical staff.

Thirty educational staff from among the Center’s teachers, pedagogical advisors, and principals of Arab schools in Chad, attended the session that aims to enable participants to better use analytical tools for statistical data in the field of Arab education in Chad. The step would help them master assessment and planning processes and take good decisions in their educational or administrative fields of action.

The session features various topics and materials falling into three themes: “Basic concepts and principles in the field of statistics and data processing”; “Services offered by Excel in the field of statistical analysis”; and “Inferential statistics, hypotheses and statistical tests”.

 Ms. Waad Bani Odeh, Statistician and Manager of the Balance of Payments Statistics Project at the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), supervised the session while Dr. Ali Mohamed Qamar, Director of the ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad, supervised its organizational aspects in coordination with ICESCO Center for Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers.