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    In a virtual meeting gathering 56 countries: highlighting the strategic partnership between ICESCO and National Commissions

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    Participants in the virtual meeting for ICESCO National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture, held yesterday by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), under the theme “COVID-19 and post-Crisis Period: What Priorities, What Actions for Education, Science and Culture?”, reaffirmed the importance of the transition from addressing the COVID-19 crisis to anticipating and preparing for a post-crisis world.

    The meeting, which was opened by the Director-General, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, saw the participation of Princess Doaa Bint Mohammad Ezzat, Supreme Head of the Arab Women Foundation and Peace Ambassador for Children and Young People at the United Nations; and the renowned scientist, Prof. Rachid Yazami, inventor of the Lithium-Ion battery, as guests of honor. The meeting also brought together the respective representatives of 56 countries inside and outside the Islamic world, and a host of experts and specialists in the sectors of education, science, and culture.

    Participants in this meeting reviewed the measures taken by several countries to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fields of education, science, culture; and discussed the foresight of the post-COVID-19 world and the steps to be taken thereafter.

    At the outset, ICESCO Director-General stressed that the question of “What after the Coronavirus?” is at the core of ICESCO’s interests and priorities, stating that this meeting is an opportunity to exchange expertise and share experiences and good practices as it meets the expectations of ICESCO Member States in making the transition from the mindset of addressing the crisis to that of anticipating the future.

    Then followed Princess Doaa Bint Mohammad Ezzat, who talked about the impact of COVID-19 on children and education, maintaining that distance learning is not compatible for all, especially those who do not have access to communication technology and the Internet, which undermines the right of all children to quality education.

    For his part, Prof. Rachid Yazami stated that the Islamic world constitutes about 25% of the world population, and thus must contribute with the same rate in the efforts of scientific research in the fields of the environment, water, and health, etc. He added that the Islamic world needs more than one Nobel Prize laureate, noting that there are thousands of Muslim researchers currently taking part in scientific research works on addressing COVID-19, especially those relating to finding a vaccine against this virus.

    Addressing the panel next was Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Director of Museums and Antiquities at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), who reaffirmed that museums must have a certain level of resilience to face crises. Moreover, Ms. Sanaa Abouzaid, Country Manager of the International Finance Cooperation at the World Bank Group, argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was a warning to realize the vulnerability of the economic and health systems in the world;. At the same time, Mr. Youness Bensouda Mourri, Researcher and Instructor of Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University—California, stated that after the COVID-19 crisis is over, we will have better online programs for autonomous learning.

    The meeting was moderated by Ms. Zineb Iraqi, Head of the General Secretariat of the National Commissions and Conferences at ICESCO, and Mr. Ali Akdim, Official in charge of National Commissions at the Secretariat. The two ICESCO officials organized the presentations and introduced the Secretaries-General of the National Commissions of ICESCO Member States. The Secretaries-General talked about their respective countries’ efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the fields of education, science, and culture.

    Following the statements of the National Commissions, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Director of Legal Affairs at ICESCO, presented the Concept Note of the Draft Charter of the National Commissions that the Organization is currently preparing, explaining its broad lines and drafting methodology. Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of ICESCO Center for Strategic Foresight, also talked about the anticipatory studies that the Center is conducting, including the Study of the Future of the Islamic world and another study on Africa.

    Regarding the importance of setting up ICESCO Center for Heritage, Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of the Department of Culture and Communication at the Organization, stated that the Center’s missions include the inscription of heritage sites in the Islamic world following objective and strict standards.

    At the close of the meeting, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik thanked the participants for their presentations and views which enriched the discussion, underlining that ICESCO looks forward to taking concrete steps to implement the agreed-upon visions, particularly about reaffirming the partnership strategy between the Organization and the National Commissions, upgrading the mechanisms, and anticipating the future.

    ICESCO Director-General calls for moving from COVID-19 crisis management to future anticipation

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    The Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, reaffirmed that the Organization has managed to turn the ordeal of the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to assert its pioneering role among international organizations while carrying out its quality action and strategic standards. To this effect, Dr. AlMalik said that ICESCO had upgraded its action mechanisms in such a way as to keep pace with the rising challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and set up projects designed to support the Member States in addressing the repercussions of the pandemic.
    This came as part of his address at the Virtual Meeting of National Commissions for ICESCO, kicked off today under the theme “Post-COVID-19 world: what action priorities and procedures for education, science and culture?”.

    The meeting brought together the guests of honor, Princess Doaa bint Mohammad Ezzat, Supreme President of the Arab Women Foundation, UN Peace Ambassador; and the renowned scientist Professor Rachid Yazami, inventor of the lithium-ion battery, in addition to the secretaries of National Commissions for education, science and culture from 56 countries inside and outside the Islamic world, and a select of experts in education, science and culture.

    In his address, ICESCO Director-General stressed that the question “what is next after COVID-19?” is at the core of ICESCO’s concerns and priorities and that the meeting is opportunity to share expertise, experiences and successful practices and meets the expectations of Member States to move from crisis management to future anticipation. He also expressed his confidence that National Commissions, as a strategic partner, will contribute to supporting our orientations to draw the dimensions and trends defining projects and programmes sensitive to needs after COVID-19 crisis.

    In this vein, he pointed out that ICESCO is currently preparing a charter to regulate its relationship with National Commissions, adding thanks to the 30 contracts signed with a large number of Member States benefiting from the Organization’s support activities in many sectors.

    Dr. AlMalik listed the pioneering, practical initiatives launched by ICESCO since the beginning of the crisis, namely the “ICESCO International Prize” to reward the discovery of a vaccine or treatment against COVID-19 and “ICESCO Digital Home,” a knowledge-based educational, cultural and scientific platform, along with the programmes of Arabic language for non-Arabic speakers and the African languages in the Arabic script. He also mentioned the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition,” which was widely welcomed by many countries and donors and which is open to membership, and the “Societies We Want” Initiative.

    Moreover, ICESCO Director-General stated that ICESCO held virtual conferences on topics spanning its fields of competence, as well as foresight and AI, and is now preparing for more events in the future, adding that the two recent virtual conferences of education and culture ministers bear witness of the success of our new approach while noting that the Organization is currently preparing a set of foresight studies in contribution to strategic studies approach.

    “The efforts and initiatives made by ICESCO will not attain their desired outcomes without your support and dedicated action toward the achievement of our objectives and our vision to crown our efforts with success for the benefit of our peoples who always expect new achievements,” Dr. AlMalik concluded.

    “The Ultimate Journey” Exhibition at “ICESCO Digital Home”

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    In response to the request of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), to “Layan Cultural Foundation”, His Highness Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammad Al-Saud, Chairperson of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, kindly agreed to virtually exhibit the rare paintings of “the Ultimate Journey” Exhibition, on “ICESCO Digital Home”.

    The exhibition displays paintings drawn by artists from various countries wherein they freely express their feelings towards the three mosques to which Muslims undertake journeys (the Sacred Mosque; the Prophet’s Mosque and the Aqsa Mosque). While visiting the exhibition via android-based mobile phones or computers, the call to prayer can be heard in different languages of whole the world. These paintings depict the diverse and rich images each artist has formed about these sacred places depending on the angle from which they viewed them.

    The paintings are available on ICESCO website via the following link:
    https://www.icesco.org/%d8%aa%d8%ab%d9%82%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a8%d8%b9%d8%af/
    This qualitative addition, which is part of the initiative of “Distance Culture”, seeks to enrich the content of “ICESCO Digital Home” by providing access to these unique and outstanding works of art to a large public in the Islamic world and beyond.

    For the record, “Layan Cultural Foundation” was established on 20 March 2007, in Riyadh, under the patronage of His Highness Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammad Al-Saud, Former Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It includes a host of figures interested in the field of culture and who share love and appreciation to art and heritage in general, and Arab and Islamic art in particular.

    Salient among the objectives of Layan is highlighting the overall concept of the Arab civilization through diverse activities to build outstanding talents by building their capacities in the fields of drawing, Arabic calligraphy and photography; artifacts procurement; art and heritage exhibitions sponsoring and organization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and worldwide; as well as publishing of research works and brochures to showcase its activities.

    In an ICESCO virtual meeting: National Commissions discuss post-COVID-19 world action priorities

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    The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) will hold a key virtual meeting for the National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture in ICESCO Member States. The meeting will be held Monday 22 June 2020, at 9 a.m. GMT (10 a.m. Rabat time), under the theme “Post-COVID-19 world: what action priorities and procedures for education, science and culture?”.

    The meeting, which will be opened by the Director General, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, is honored by the participation of Princess Doaa Bint Mohammad Ezzat, Supreme Chairwoman of the Women Arab Organization and Peace Ambassador at the United Nations; and the great scientist, Rachid Yazami, inventor of the Lithium ion, as guests of honor. The meeting will also bring together the respective representatives of the Islamic world countries and a host of experts and specialists in the sectors of education, science, and culture.

    The meeting will shed light on the initiatives taken by the National Commissions at the national level in the fields of education, science, and culture; and share the expected concepts for the post-COVID phase and overcoming its impact. The meeting also aims to set up a platform for the National Commissions for exchange and anticipatory thought regarding possible amendments, activities, and procedures to be implemented in the fields of education, science, and culture after overcoming the pandemic.

    The meeting will be live broadcasted on ICESCO’s official Facebook, via the following link:
    https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar/

    Virtual Meeting at ICESCO: We need a better understanding of AI potentials and cooperation to address AI dependence

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    The future challenges and prospects of benefitting from the remarkable possibilities of AI applications in developing the educational process was the subject of the webinar “Artificial Intelligence and Education: Best Practices and Policy Recommendations.” The webinar was held yesterday by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with King Abdulaziz University and the AI Civic Forum; and brought together a host of prominent experts in education, AI and strategic foresight.

    The webinar was opened by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, who welcomed the participants, underlining the significance of the themes to be discussed.

    The first statement was by Dr. Driss Ouaouicha, Minister Delegate in charge of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kingdom of Morocco, who stated that AI has proved its presence in any fields and showed a great impact on the economy. He added that currently, there are more than 40,000 articles on AI, a number expected to continuously rise, underscoring that AI can improve the quality of education as it facilitates its procedures; enables students to acquire the skills of autonomous learning; identifies challenges as well as ways to address them; and exposes fraud and copyright infringements attempts.

    In his statement, Mr. Andreas Schleicher, Director of the Directorate of Education and Skills at the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD), stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had been an opportunity for AI technology to prove its importance. He further explained that it had been widely used, especially in the field of distance education, as it can render educational systems more effective, arguing that the world is ready today to adopt automation, given the widespread use of smartphones, which have become indispensable.

    For his part, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, stated in his address that at the peak of the COVID-19 spread, more than 90% of students across the globe were impacted, as this pandemic exposed the myriad of problems faced by the educational systems, most notably the weak educational policies, the dominance of face-to-face education, and the unpreparedness of most countries to provide distance education, given the lack of curricula digitization, reaffirming that integrating AI applications in education is an opportunity for overcoming major educational challenges.

    Afterward, Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Centre for Strategic Foresight at ICESCO, stated that the webinar aims to change outlook; find a common ground on the relation between AI and education; and put forward recommendations on the policies that can be drafted and shared to regulate the sustainable educational and digital shift in ICESCO Member States.

    In addition, Ms. Sacha Alanoca, Senior AI Policy Researcher at The Future Society, reaffirmed the significance of the webinar’s themes as well as the discussion taking place about them. At the same time, Ms. Pauline Noiseau, Coordinator at Algora Lab, noted the fields of expertise of participants augurs well with the webinar’s themes.

    Moreover, Ms. Michaela Horvathova, International Education Policy Expert, discussed the topic of AI in education and education for AI.
    The presentations carried on with Mr. Ehab Abozinadah, Professor of Smart Cyber Security, Vice Dean of Deanship of e-learning for Development at King Abdulaziz University, who discussed the aspects of the growing role of AI, stressing the need to promote scientific research to develop screening and misinformation mechanisms.

    Regarding the dangers relating to the AI use, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Director of Legal Affairs at ICESCO, highlighted the need to build legal systems and reach new international agreements that keep up with the technological mutations that have erased geographic borders and created a different relation between the human and the machine.
    Another ICESCO official to address the panel was Dr. Barry Koumbou, Director of the Sector of Education at ICESCO. Dr. Koumbou talked about the potential of AI in improving the quality of education and literacy programmes, underlining the need to exchange best practices in the field of education between countries with extensive expertise in this field and other countries, and the importance of South-South cooperation.

    Concerning AI misconceptions among many people, Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Director of Social and Human Sciences Sector at ICESCO, stated that there is a dire need to revisit the AI myth that makes many people view AI as witchcraft and a threat to the human race, at a time when AI can benefit mankind in its quest to discover and develop itself.

    John A. Sweeney, award-winning futurist, designer, and author, talked about the future of AI and the need for everyone’s participation in addressing the disadvantages of its application, including misinformation.

    The live broadcast of the webinar on ICESCO’s Facebook page saw a large number of views. The full video of the webinar can be accessed at the following link:
    https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar/videos/321090965570471/?v=321090965570471

    ICESCO Director-General: Integrating AI applications in education, an opportunity for overcoming major educational challenges

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    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), underscored that Integrating AI applications in education is an opportunity for overcoming major educational challenges, stressing that artificial intelligence should not raise concerns as much as present a way to facilitate the teaching process and improve the means of information transmission using easy and modern tools.

    This was a point made by the Director-General in his address at the Webinar on “Artificial Intelligence and Education: Best Practices and Policy recommendations,” held in cooperation with King Abdulaziz University and the AI Civic Forum. He added that at the peak of the COVID-19 spread, more than 90% of students across the globe were impacted, as this pandemic exposed the myriad of problems faced by the educational systems, most notably the weak educational policies, the dominance of face-to-face education, and the unpreparedness of most countries to provide distance education, given the lack  of curricula digitization.

    In the same vein, the Director-General posed several questions that compel us to anticipate the future of education and shed light on the future role of AI and the opportunities it will provide in this field. “How will the world look like in light of a projected demographic growth? In light of steady population growth from eight billion peoples in 2019 to around 10 billion people in 2050? How will the world be like in light of expectations that about 223 million people between the ages of 5 and 19 will remain below the extreme poverty line by 2030? How will the reality of the right to education be like given the close relationship between the issues of school dropout and wastage, poverty, and social vulnerability? What is the role of AI in light of the rise in the revenues of the AI global market, which are expected to reach 11.1 billion dollars?” the Director-General wondered.

    Moreover, Dr. AlMalik stated that linking AI to education poses many challenges, most notably balance between AI for education and education for AI, mainstreaming the use of this technology, and drafting a framework for its ethical use to protect the privacy and ensure human control over it. He maintained that in light of these challenges and major trends, the future of AI  in education might take one of the following forms:

    1- Relative change: keeping the current teaching methods and employing training for AI, so that learners can acquire the necessary skills to enter the job markets of the future;

    2- Smart dominance hypothesis, which is the undesirable future where the machine dominates the human;

    3- Balance and good governance hypothesis, which is the best formula where there is balance between education for AI and AI for education, and good governance to integrate AI in the educational system is adopted.  

    The Director-General concluded that being aware of these matters, and in light with its new vision that keeps up with future changes, ICESCO:

    1- Started conducting a study on the role of AI in education in the Member States;

    2- Conducted a study on AI rules;

    3- Created an AI center at ICESCO;

    4- Assisted Member States in anchoring AI applications.

    Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of ICESCO concludes its proceedings

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    At the close of the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of the Member States of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO); held today with the participation of 50 countries and 22 international organizations, under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, the Ministers of Culture and the heads and representatives of the participating regional and international organizations undertook to promote the position of culture in tomorrow’s societies to face future challenges, support and develop digital culture, raise awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, and encourage the culture of solidarity and cultural synergy.

    In the final statement read out by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, the participants reiterated their support to ICESCO’s vision which is based on conserving, protecting, supporting and rehabilitating the cultural and civilizational heritage of the Islamic world to preserve the Islamic world’s cultural identity and anchor human rights, most notably the cultural rights which ICESCO seeks to sustain, particularly during crises and disasters.

    Moreover, the statement stressed the importance of the Digital Cultural Strategic Project, prepared by ICESCO as a proactive initiative for the management of cultural affairs and as a sustainable anticipatory programme for future cultural action.

    The participants also called for developing cultural projects and programmes to bring culture closer to citizens in the urban and rural areas, promote the reality of cultural action and figures by anchoring a new vision which is more creative, developed ad consistent with the major trends which strongly impose themselves on the international scene such as the promotion of cultural diversity, the protection of the tangible and intangible heritage, and the use of AI applications.

    The statement also underlined the importance of developing cultural tourism and promoting the complementary relationship between the sectors of culture and sports in building human beings by developing an integrated system of programmes for the benefit of various social groups.

    Besides, the participants lauded the initiative of “ICESCO Digital Home” as a knowledge platform in the fields of education, science, innovation and human sciences, including the programme of “Distance Culture,” which they committed to support and enrich its digital contents as well as the contents of the Portal of the Islamic World Heritage and the digital libraries.

    Furthermore, they reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate with ICESCO Heritage Center and the Islamic World Heritage Committee in highlighting the richness of the cultural and civilizational heritage of Member States and inscribing the largest number possible of heritage sites. The statement also commended the efforts of ICESCO and its Director-General in developing and implementing innovative projects based on the digital culture in the management and sustainability of cultural activities, particularly during crises and disasters.

    In conclusion, the participants thanked ICESCO and its Director-General for calling to this Conference amid these difficult global circumstances triggered by the spread of Covid-19. They also thanked the State of the United Arab Emirates for chairing the Conference.

    The Conference’s sessions witnessed considerable interaction from the ministers and the heads of the participating international organizations. During the interactive session, the participants explored the future of cultural actions and the need to develop it through modern technologies and promote the digital culture. The Conference concluded with an address by Dr. AlMalik wherein he thanked the ministers and the heads of the international organizations for their participation in the Conference and support to ICESCO’s initiatives.

    Islamic World Ministers of Culture unanimously commend ICESCO’s efforts

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    **Ministers review the initiatives of their countries to face the repercussions of Covid-19 on cultural action

    The Ministers of Culture taking part in the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of ICESCO, held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, reviewed the initiatives and experiences of their countries to ensure the continuity of cultural action. The ministers and the heads of the participating regional and international organizations lauded the cultural initiatives of ICESCO, most notably “ICESCO Digital Home” and “Distance Culture,” as well as the incentive awards of creativity.

    During the first session, H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, highlighted the importance of strengthening awareness of culture as well as its concerted efforts in reducing its effects caused by the pandemic, while commending the initiatives of the Kingdom to promote the part it plays in society through innovative models and its awareness that culture continuously evolves and able to adapt to the changing reality in all its transformations.

    In her address, Dr. Ines Abdel-Dayem, Minister of Culture of the Arab Republic of Egypt, referred to the initiative of “Stay Home… Culture is in your hands” to provide cultural content on the Ministry’s channel on YouTube, which achieved great success and received significant attention with 27 million views until now.

    On his part, Mr. Ozodbek Nazarbekov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, stated that the Ministry provided virtual lessons and presentations as well as 3-D visits to heritage sites, explaining that his Ministry adapted to the circumstances caused by the pandemic to ensure the continuity of the cultural action.

    Afterward, Ms. Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the United Arab Emirates, reviewed the cultural vision of the United Arab Emirates during the coming period, including the ways to provide support to independent innovators and develop a standardized guide to digital policies to protect the intellectual property on digital platforms.

    Mr. Othman El Ferdaous, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco, highlighted several cultural initiatives launched by the Kingdom to reduce the repercussions of Covid-19 on the cultural sector. It includes the support programme for the producers of cultural contents with a budget of MAD100 million, in addition to partnerships with the national cultural institutions.

    Ms. Raymonde Michèle Goudou Coffie, Minister of Culture and the Francophonie of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire underscored the efforts geared towards facing the impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural activities and the initiatives to support the artists who were influenced by the closure of cultural institutions.

    Moreover, Ms. Malika Bendouda, Minister of Culture of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, pointed out to the initiatives of organizing virtual cultural contests, distance drawing workshops, and displaying documentaries and historical movies on the digital platforms, as well as organizing Virtual Days of Short Films.

    In his address, Mr. Salem bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman, highlighted that the Ministry formed a committee concerned with the economic issues during the crisis and reducing its repercussions on various fields, including culture and tourism.

    Mr. Bidoung Mkpatt Ismaël, Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of Cameroon, also reviewed the efforts of his country in the cultural field, including the launch of the platform “Mirror of Cameroon” to virtually visit tourism and cultural monuments, as well as another platform to coordinate the efforts exerted in the fields of tourism and culture.

    Furthermore, Ms. Yumna Maumoon, Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage of the Republic of Maldives, reaffirmed that her government cooperated with and supported artists to present virtual works, and used technologies to make culture accessible to people at Home.

    Mr. Faisal Mohamed Saleh, Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of the Sudan, also highlighted the importance of promoting the digital culture and encouraging businesses and the private sector to contribute to upgrading digital culture.

    In addition, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister of National Heritage and Heritage Literacy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, revealed that his country allocated a fund of one billion rupees to support artists, establish virtual music platforms and organize theater shows and virtual drama lessons.

    AlMalik to the Extraordinary Conference of Culture Ministers: ICESCO strives to develop the relationship between culture, tourism, and sports

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    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that digital culture is the new face of future cultural action, adding that this makes it imperative to adopt a firm working method to sustain the cultural action, develop cultural tourism and empower the sporting culture by using AI applications in cultural action and making recourse to innovators in these fields.

    This was an excerpt from Dr. AlMalik’s address at the opening session of the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of ICESCO, held today under the presidency of the State of the Unit Arab Emirates, under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, with the participation of 50 countries and 22 international organizations.

    In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik stated that ICESCO’s call to hold this Extraordinary Conference of Culture Ministers emanates from the responsibility assumed by all Member States in supporting the cultural policies and programmes, and from ICESCO’s position as a house of expertise and an open institutional space for dialogue and the dissemination of successful experiences and innovative solutions for cultural action management. “ICESCO is also the competent party in charge of coordinating the joint cultural action, which requires developing a global cultural project likely to ensure the right to culture, keep up with future changes and its ties with vital sectors such as tourism and sports, and open new prospects for promoting the values and mechanisms of intercultural and inter-civilizational dialogue,” he stressed.

    Besides, ICESCO Director-General said that culture is a cornerstone for building the human future and civilization. There is a need to develop a robust cultural capital likely to contribute to the efforts in facing future cultural challenges. Against this backdrop, the Conference chooses the topics to be discussed during its session, including the significant cultural problems during crises; anticipating the future of culture after Covid-19 crisis; exploring the new trends of cultural tourism; publicizing the Digital Strategic Cultural Project, prepared by ICESCO as a basis for future joint cultural action for the Member States; and, the Portal of Islamic World Heritage, established by ICESCO based on the rich Islamic World heritage, of which 80% is endangered. This Portal will help inscribe the heritage sites and intangible heritage elements on the Islamic World Heritage List.

    Moreover, Dr. AlMalik underscored that the concept of cultural tourism, which was adopted by the United Nations 57 years ago, requires promotion to put culture, tourism, and sports back in the forefront of States economies, stressing that the relationship between culture and sports is worthy of development given their rich activities, and highlighting that ICESCO is honored to explore new prospects in this field which will hopefully yield further results very soon.

    Dr. AlMalik also stated that the distance cultural programmes during the lockdown period mitigated the psychosocial distress, and reduced the repercussions caused by the closure of over 95% of cultural institutions while commending the leading initiatives launched by ICESCO during these exceptional circumstances, most notably “ICESCO Digital Home,” which is knowledge, cultural, educational and scientific platform that received great interest through its programme “Distance Culture” and initiatives “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” and “The Societies We Need”.

    In closing, Dr. AlMalik stressed that the current global transitions in various fields make it imperative for the Member States to proactively lead the march of the new cultural movement with confidence and foresight ability to build a bright future and safe societies.

    Attended by 50 countries and 22 international organizations, Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Member States Culture Ministers kicks off

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    Under the theme “Sustainability of Cultural Action in the Face of Crises (Covid-19)”, the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of ICESCO Member States kicked off today with the participation of 50 countries and 22 international organizations to explore the future of culture and its relation with tourism and sports.

    Ms. Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the State of the United Arab Emirates, President of the Conference, initiated the opening session thanking ICESCO, its Director-General and his assisting team for the organization of the Conference in these trying circumstances that gravely affected all cultural activities. She also stressed the importance of future cultural action and the necessity to use AI applications to this effect.

    Then, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), took the floor and called for a response by the OIC and its organs to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this vein, he lauded ICESCO’s outstanding efforts to support its Member States to overcome the impacts of this pandemic.

    In her address read out by the Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone Ramírez, UNESCO Director-General pointed to ICESCO’s efforts in addressing the repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic; lauded its considerable action to support Member States overcome the consequences of the pandemic; and, underscored the crucial role that could be carried out by ICESCO to support digital transition efforts.

    For his part, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, reaffirmed in his address that digital culture, being the new face of future cultural action, needs to be adopted as a stable cultural methodology to ensure sustainable cultural action; develop cultural tourism and empower sports culture through the use of AI applications in cultural activities; and, engaging creative people in this process.

    He also underlined that the transformations unfolding in the world today at all levels compel the Member States to lead the new cultural movement and confidently forge ahead, making use of foresight abilities to build a brighter future and safer societies for future generations. Besides, ICESCO Director-General stated that distance cultural programmes during the lockdown has immensely contributed to alleviating psychological and social pressure, and helped mitigate the impact of the closure of more than 95% of cultural institutions while commending the pioneering initiatives launched by ICESCO during these extraordinary circumstances.

    At the close of the session, participants watched a video clip on the prizes earmarked by ICESCO to encourage artistic and literary creativity among the youth and rising generations.

    At the keynote speakers’ session, Dr. Talal Abu-Gazaleh, Founder and President of Talal Abu-Gazaleh Global, delivered an address where he emphasized the importance of culture and personal skills development while pointing to the increasing demand for online learning as being the future method of education. “The world no longer needs mega infrastructures but requires a conducive environment for the evolution of sciences. If we truly want to reform our education system, we should do so based on a digital revolution to contribute to the building of the world of tomorrow and make our region the beacon for the entire globe”, he concluded.

    In his address, Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), stated that tourism has formed part of human rights and that the current crisis can be an opportunity for the advancement of tourism and culture. He also called for a second exploration of our history and values, while calling on countries to seize this opportunity to focus on tourism and link it to culture as travel helps people open up to each other and tourism leads to the promotion of culture.

    Consequently, Mr. Webber Ndoro, Director General of the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), said that ICCROM had already cooperated with ICESCO in the field of heritage preservation and conservation, hoping that this cooperation would continue to grow in line with the UN SDGs. Moreover, he pointed out that the Center launched a call for supporting Member States in their preservation and conservation of heritage efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the African continent, which is in desperate need of such support in these hard times.

    At the end of the session, the participants watched a short film on “ICESCO Portal for Islamic World Heritage,” established by ICESCO, out of its awareness that about 80% of cultural heritage in the Islamic world is in danger. Through this portal, heritage sites and elements of intangible cultural heritage will be inscribed on the Islamic World Heritage List (IWHL).