The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic
World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M.
AlMalik, met with H.E. Muhammadu Issoufou, President of Niger. The meeting
occurred on the sidelines of the two-day 47th session of the Council
of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that
kicked off face-to-face yesterday in Niamey under the theme: “United Against
Terrorism for Peace and Development.”
During the meeting, ICESCO
DG congratulated the President of Niger on the successful hosting of the
session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers and expressed his thanks to
Niger for the warm reception and good organization.
President Issoufou praised
the distinguished work ICESCO undertook in support of its Member States. The
president appreciated the Organization’s programs and projects in Niger, in
cooperation with the competent authorities, especially with regards to
supporting efforts to counter COVID-19.
President Issoufou had
received Dr. AlMalik at the presidential palace in Niamey during the DG’s
official visit to Niger last January. During the visit, the two sides agreed to
develop cooperation between ICESCO and Niger in the Organization’s fields of
action.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), explored on Friday in Niamey, the areas of cooperation between ICESCO and Niger with Dr. Daouda Mamadou Marthé, Nigerien Minister of Primary Education, Literacy, Promotion of National Languages and Civic Education, President of the Nigerien National Commission.
During the meeting, the two parties examined the implementation phases of ICESCO’s cooperation projects and programs in Niger, in the fields of education, science, and culture. The Minister lauded ICESCO’s assistance to Niger during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also commended the Organization’s outstanding work in the educational, humanitarian, and social fields while stressing Niger’s keenness to sustain constructive cooperation and partnership with ICESCO.
The current visit of Dr. AlMalik to Niger is part of his participation in the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), being held on 27-28 November 2020, in Niamey, under the theme: “United against Terrorism for Peace and Development.”
The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the National Commission for Education, Science, and Culture of Niger launched the “Project on countering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting innovation and the development of entrepreneurship among women and youth” in Niger. The project is part of the support that Alwaleed Philanthropies provided to implement a joint initiative with ICESCO to help 10 African countries confront the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ceremony, which took place yesterday, November 27, 2020, in Niamey, was organized under the patronage of His Excellency the President of Niger, Mohamedou Issoufou. The event saw the participation of Mrs. Brigi Assalo, wife of the Prime Minister of Niger, on behalf of Dr. Lalla Issoufou Maleika, the First Lady of Niger; Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of ICESCO; and Minister of Primary Education, Literacy, Promotion of National Languages and Civic Education, President of the Nigerien National Commission, Dr. Daouda Mamadou Marthé, and several Niger government ministers, representatives of the United Nations, civil society organizations, and NGOs.
During her address at the ceremony, which the wife of the Prime Minister of Niger delivered on her behalf, Dr. Maleika praised ICESCO’s new vision, which prioritizes Africa. She also praised the initiatives the Organization launched and implemented to support the efforts of Member States in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiatives included the “comprehensive humanitarian alliance” that multiple countries, institutions, international bodies, and donors joined and supported. The goal was to strengthen humanitarian and social aid and implement tangible projects and programs in several countries that the pandemic affected.
Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed, during his address, that ICESCO will continue to work with African countries to advance education, science, and culture. The effort is part of ICESCO’s reengineered vision to become a reference point for civilizational outreach, leading the Organization’s Member States towards a better era based on Artificial Intelligence and technologies.
The DG expressed his gratitude to ICESCO’s permanent partner, Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal AlSaud, for the Foundation’s generous support to the ICESCO’s humanitarian and social initiatives to help 10 African countries, including Niger.
At the end of the ceremony, Dr. AlMalik and Dr. Marthé signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the implementation phases of the project. The goal is to develop a sense of innovation and entrepreneurship among women and youth in Niger and support the private sector, entrepreneurs, and small enterprises.
For four decades, Alwaleed Philanthropies has supported and spent more than 4 billion dollars on social welfare and initiated more than 1000 projects in over +189 countries, managed by 10 Saudi female members, reaching more than 1 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. It seeks to build bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant, and accepting world.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), will participate in the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), due to be held on 27-28 November 2020, in Niamey, Niger, under the theme “United against Terrorism for Peace and Development.”
The participation of Dr. AlMalik in the session is upon the invitation of Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, OIC Secretary-General. The meeting’s agenda features a set of topics and issues relevant to the Islamic world.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik will meet the heads of several delegations of the Member States and international organizations to explore cooperation and publicize the major initiatives, activities, programs and projects of ICESCO during the lockdown period to counter the pandemic.
Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of
the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO)
called on international organizations, government bodies, and associations
working in the field of culture and arts to increase their coordination efforts.
The goal is to develop a mutually agreed global artistic system on the role of
art in building human civilization and spreading the values of peace.
The DG
underscored that art is capable of unifying peoples and nations, refining the
spirit of creativity, consolidating cultural diversity and respect for others,
and promoting coexistence.
The
statement came as part of the DG’s address during the “International Virtual Symposium
on the Contribution of Islamic Art to Building Human civilization and Spreading
Peace Values.” ICESCO held yesterday the event in celebration, for the first
time, of the International Day of Islamic Art.
The
Symposium brought together the representatives of specialized international and
regional organizations, ministers, and curators of museums of Islamic art in
the world.
On the
occasion, Dr. Al-Malik thanked Bahrain for submitting a proposal to allocate a
day for celebrating Islamic art. The General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the
proposal, and the countries of the Islamic world adopted the initiative, following
a recommendation from the 2019 UNESCO Executive Council. The goal was to acknowledge
the importance of Islamic art and its contribution to building human
civilization throughout history.
ICESCO DG
stated that the Organization prepared, during the week from 18 to 25 November
2020, an integrated program to celebrate the International Day of Islamic Art.
The week’s agenda featured several artistic and creative activities and cultural
and literary salons. The agenda also included virtual exhibitions of modern and
contemporary art using the Islamic civilization and culture as inspiration; and
competitions on Arabic calligraphy to publicize the great contribution of
Islamic art to building human civilization.
Dr. AlMalik
emphasized that Islamic art remained steadfast through time, present and renewable
in all parts of the world, representing the image of a man and his creativity
and that we must give insight into what the Islamic civilization has provided
to humanity throughout history. He explained that the various types of Islamic
art that have shaped Islamic architecture and formed a distinct personality and
identity that has left its imprints in all civilizations.
The DG
pointed out that ICESCO scheduled, as part of its priorities for the next
decade, several programs aimed at supporting art across the world, under its
civilization program “ICESCO’s Roads to the Future.” The umbrella program is key to implementing the
Organization’s strategic plan for building partnerships and strengthening
cooperation.
The
cooperation, Dr. AlMalik concluded, is reflected in the establishment of the International
Center for Arts, ICESCO’s Cultural and Academic Chairs, to promote the Organization’s
virtual culture in fiction, poetry, and literature.
The Regional
Educational Center in Chad will organize on November 25 through December 3, 2020,
the “Virtual Training Session on the Authoring of Arabic Language Textbooks,”
at its headquarters in N’djamena. The training will benefit the staff working
in the field of the Arabic language.
Chad, Tunisia,
and the Islamic Development Group (IsDB) co-implemented the “Expertise Sharing”
that the training is part of. The session is one of a series of training
programs and educational services that ICESCO offers through its regional
center in N’djamena. The goal is to assist Chad in building and promoting the
country’s capacities in the preparation of Arabic language curricula and
textbooks.
The session
aims to introduce participants to the scientific, methodological, educational,
cultural, and psychological principles of developing the curricula of teaching
Arabic to non-Arabic speakers. The training also covers the specifications of
textbooks intended for non-Arabic speakers and the attributes of educational
texts and their selection criteria.
The
participants will also learn the methods of designing teaching materials, developing
and scheduling training programs, typesetting and composing textbooks, and
acquainting trainees, through hands-on activities, with the procedures and
methodologies of textbook authoring.
The session
will benefit 20 educational staff of the Arabic language from universities,
higher educational institutes or secondary education institutions, and several
teachers and national experts working at ICESCO Regional Educational Center in
Chad.
Dr. Ali
Mohammad Qamar, Director of ICESCO Regional Educational Center in Chad, will
ensure the effective organization of the session while Dr. Noura Yousfi, a
Tunisian educational expert, will supervise the training of the participants.
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG)
of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO),
received yesterday at ICESCO’s headquarters in Rabat, Mr. Mohamed Mahmoud Ben
Labat, Ambassador of Mali to Morocco. The
two parties explored the ways to develop and promote the cooperation prospects between
ICESCO and Mali.
The goal is to contribute to national
capacity-building in Mali in the sector of education, science, culture,
communication, and human and social sciences. The Ambassador presented his
credentials to the DG as a Permanent Delegate of Mali to ICESCO.
The meeting saw the participation of the
heads of sectors and the advisors of ICESCO DG. Dr. AlMalik reviewed ICESCO’s
new vision, which has been translated into major programs and initiatives for
the benefit of several Member States, including Mali, to counter the negative
repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fields of education, science, and
culture.
Dr. AlMalik reiterated ICESCO’s constant willingness
to support the competent parties in Mali to develop Arabic language courses and
the Islamic school program. ICESCO also supports Mali’s efforts to ensure the conservation
of manuscripts and the protection of heritage in Timbuktu, in particular, and
Mali, in general.
The Organization assists Mali in implementing
programs of social support and education on peace. The activities are likely to
entrench the values of coexistence, social cohesion, and the rejection of
violence and extremism in the country, expressed the DG.
Mr. Ben Labat commended the outstanding
work of ICESCO, which generously supported Mali. He also expressed his country’s
desire to benefit from ICESCO’s expertise in Arabic language courses and the conservation
of manuscripts and the protection of heritage.
The Ambassador stressed Mali’s keenness to
sustain and promote constructive cooperation with ICESCO through the
specialized national institutions, including Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher
Learning and Islamic Research, which is the biggest center for the conservation
of manuscripts in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Islamic
World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched its
support program for 30 museums affected by the closure due to the COVID-19
pandemic to assist museums in the Islamic world.
ICESCO
published on its website a registration form for the administrations of the
museums to fill-out and submit if they wish to be part of the program. Administrations
must send the applications by post to the following address: Avenue des F.A.R.,
Hay Ryad, B.P. 2275, C.P. 10104, Rabat, Morocco, or by e-mail to the following
two addresses: contact@icesco.org /culture@icesco.org. The applicants must send the files through the
National Commissions of ICESCO Member States.
Dr. Salim M.
AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), announced that the Organization will
allocate one million dollars to restore the collections of 30 museums in the
Islamic world, which had been affected by the various crises. The announcement
took place during the celebration of the Week of Museums (September 26 –
October 2) and the Day of Heritage in Islamic World on September 25.
The DG also
called on countries, governmental institutions, and relevant parties to
continue their role, during and after the COVID-19 crisis, in taking the
necessary measures to reopen museum institutions and raise public awareness on
the importance of museum conservation.
The
application form for ICESCO’s museum support program
can be downloaded via the following link:
The Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, stressed the need to build peaceful and harmonious societies, following the upsurge of violence and hatred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DG also called for establishing common mechanisms of action, based on values promoting religion, culture, human rights, and sustainable development, and coordinating among the different bodies and organizations of the international community to bring the voice of children, youth, and women and guarantee their rights.
The statement was part of the DG’s address at the “Religion, Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals” webinar. “Religions for Peace” Foundation held yesterday, the videoconference, in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Free University of Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), with the participation of representatives of specialized international organizations.
Dr. AlMalik added that acts of fanaticism and hatred contribute to the disintegration of societies and undermine the sacredness of religions. He also stressed that cultural and religious discourse is constantly used to justify the oppression perpetrated against women, girls, the elderly, people with special needs, and minorities.
Dr. AlMalik also indicated that supporting the empowerment of women and girls is a priority for ICESCO, which has proclaimed 2021 as the Year of Women. He also underscored the need to fight gender-based discrimination to enable women to play their full role in society. He then explained that humanity cannot reach its potential by leaving half of society marginalized.
On the occasion of the World Children’s Day on November 20, the DG said that it is necessary to guarantee the rights of all children, by providing them with quality education and health services and protecting them against all forms of violence and abuse, as they are the cornerstone for a brighter future.
Dr. AlMalik added that the Organization, at the time the webinar was being held, is celebrating “ICESCO Day for Africa” as part of its considerable interest in the African Member States. “The world continues to discover the wealth that the continent enjoys, despite the increasing rates of poverty, recorded particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he continued.
The DG called on all components of the society as well as officials to work together to combat violence and fanaticism, by sensitizing and educating those who perpetrate crimes in the name of religion and establishing a discourse based on human values.
The Islamic
World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched the
“Virtual Prize for Calligraphy, Patterns and Miniatures” in celebration of the
International Day of Islamic Art. Bahrain made the proposition and UNESCO
adopted it at the 39th General Conference. The Day is observed every 18th of November.
The application
is open to all calligraphers and visual artists to discover their talents in
calligraphy and pattern design using virtual tools and techniques. The aim is
to promote talents and creativity in the field and ensure the sustainability of
the intangible cultural heritage that all ICESCO Member States share.
The
initiative is part of the “Distance Culture” Program of the “Global Humanitarian
Coalition.” ICESCO launched during the lockdown period resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Participation
is open to all artists from the Member States and all age groups. The text
submitted as part of the Prize must include the first paragraph of the Charter
of the Organization.
Participation
is open in the categories of calligraphy or miniatures or both, provided that
the works be relevant to the topic of choice, and the work submitted consists
of a high-resolution image. No special techniques, traditional or modern, are
required in the making.
Participants
must email their works from November 23, 2020 to February 23, 2021 at the address: calligraphie@icesco.org. A jury will select the 12 candidates
eligible to join ICESCO’s mobile international museum and exhibition. The 12 original
works (not virtual copies) should be sent by post to the Organization’s mailing
address. The jury will select the three winning works.
The first
winner will receive USD 5000, the second USD 3000, and the third USD 1500.
The National
Commissions and relevant parties in the Member States will announce the Prize
in their respective countries. The participation form and guidelines are
available on ICESCO’s website.
