Category: News update

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) met yesterday, August 11, at the Organization’s headquarters in Rabat, Mohammed Saif Al-Shehhi, Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Morocco. The discussions revolved around ways to promote cooperation between the two parties.

Dr. AlMalik praised the special relations between ICESCO and the UAE, noting that Abu Dhabi hosted the 40^th session of ICESCO Executive Council last January. He further noted that the meeting ushered the Organization into a new phase as it announced ICESCO’s new vision and future strategy.

The Council’s 40^th session also adopted decisions of historic proportions that opened wider horizons for a joint Islamic action, including the amendments to the Organization’s Charter and internal regulations.

The DG also highlighted the standing cooperation between ICESCO and Emirati Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance. The two institutions co-organized the ongoing Hamdan–ICESCO Prize for Voluntary Development of Education Facilities in the Islamic World Countries. The Foundation and the Organization also funded several educational programs.

Dr. AlMalik commended the sustained keenness of Emirati officials to take part in ICESCO’s conferences and forums. Most recently, the UAE attended the “Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of ICESCO Member States.” The event brought together 50 states and 22 international organizations. The conference was held under the theme “Sustainability of Cultural Action in Face of Crises,” with the UAE as Chair.

The Emirati official commended ICESCO’s efforts during the pandemic to support the most vulnerable Member States in mitigating the impact of the pandemic in its areas of competence.

The two parties agreed to sustain constructive cooperation between ICESCO and the UAE.

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and Mr. George Goh, Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to Morocco, held a videoconference yesterday, August 11, to discuss cooperation prospects between the Organization and the country in the fields of education, science, and culture.

The DG underlined the open-door policy in ICESCO’s vision and strategy, which seeks to serve ICESCO’s Member States and Muslim communities across the globe. He noted that ICESCO adopted a new regulations charter for Observer States to ensure active participation in various initiatives. He seized the opportunity to invite Singapore and other countries to join ICESCO as Observer States.

The DG highlighted ICESCO’s substantial and concrete initiatives, activities, and programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that the initiatives supported the most vulnerable Member States in mitigating the impact of the pandemic on education, science, and culture.

Foremost among these initiatives, he stated, is the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition”, which received wide recognition and engagement from many countries, international organizations and institutions, and donors. The Coalition gears its projects towards assisting local communities in a number of countries, especially in Africa. He invited Singapore to join the coalition.

For his part, Mr. Goh expressed his delight for holding this meeting, reaffirming his country’s keenness to cooperate with ICESCO in its areas of competence. He added that his country is open to sharing its educational experience, which has scored major successes.

The two parties agreed to look into joint school grant opportunities for Member States students to study in the universities of Singapore. The cooperation discussion also covered scientific research and artificial intelligence, which lies at the heart of ICESCO’s interests.

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) met yesterday, August 10, at the Organization’s headquarters in Rabat, Mr. Hussam Eddin Al-Tayeb, Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Sudan to Morocco. The discussions revolved around ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and the Republic of the Sudan.

The two parties reviewed the contributions of ICESCO’s initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paramount among these is the “Societies We Want” initiative, which provides humanitarian aid, sanitizers, and protective equipment against the virus to Sudan and nine other African countries. The Organization and its partners cooperated to the provide the aid to the beneficiaries.

The two officials also discussed the Sudanese remarkable participation in ICESCO’s videoconferences and webinars during the COVID-19 crisis. Among them include the Virtual Extraordinary Conference of Education Ministers in ICESCO Member States and the Virtual Extraordinary Conference of Culture Ministers. The Sudanese National Commission for Education, Science, and Culture will also hold, in cooperation with ICESCO, the education workshop.

Dr. AlMalik and Mr. AlTayeb discussed a joint action to provide school grants to Sudanese students. Their conversation also covered the keenness of Sudanese students to participate in ICESCO’s awards for the categories of painting, short stories, and short films. The two parties also discussed Sudan’s arrears to ICESCO’s budget.

Ms. Azza Bashir Ali, Consul at the Embassy of the Sudan in Rabat, and Mr. Moatassem Abdel Ghaffar Talha, Counselor at the Embassy, attended the meeting.

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) met on Monday, August 10 with Mr. Khalid bin Salman bin Jabr Al-Musallam, Ambassador of Bahrain to Morocco, to explore ways to promote cooperation between the Organization and the Kingdom in the fields of education, science, and culture.

During the meeting, held at the Bahraini Embassy in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik highlighted ICESCO’s substantial initiatives, activities, and programs that support Member States’ efforts in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DG stated that these initiatives are part of the open-door policy in ICESCO’s vision and strategy to forge a sustainable relationship with its Member States. One result is to implement specific programs that correspond to their respective needs.

Dr. AlMalik also commented on the notably positive feedback ICESCO’s initiatives had received. One example is the “ICESCO Digital Home” initiative, which compiled a large and diverse collection of digital contents. The “Societies We Want” is also an initiative that provided humanitarian aids to the most vulnerable local communities in some states and supported young and women entrepreneurs in these societies.

The DG also mentioned the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition Initiative,” which many countries, international organizations and institutions, and donors joined and supported. He invited Bahrain to, likewise, join the Coalition.

The Bahraini Ambassador underlined that he followed with great interest ICESCO’s projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also commended these efforts, which have immensely helped multiple Member States in the Organization, especially in Africa.

Ambassador Al-Musallam expressed his keenness to promote constructive cooperation between Bahrain and ICESCO in the fields of education, science, and culture. 

Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) met on August 7 Mr. Raúl Guastavino, Ambassador of Argentina to Morocco, to explore cooperation prospects between the Organization and the country.

During the meeting, held at the Embassy of Argentina in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik underlined the open-door policy in ICESCO’s vision and strategy that seeks to sustain productive partnerships, in service of ICESCO’s Member States and Muslim communities across the globe.

Dr. AlMalik also noted that ICESCO adopted a new regulations charter for Observer States to ensure active participation and sustainable cooperation between both parties. He seized the opportunity to invite Argentina to join ICESCO as an Observer State.

The DG highlighted ICESCO’s substantial initiatives, activities, and programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that the initiatives support the most vulnerable Member States in mitigating the impact of the pandemic.

The list of the initiatives includes the “Societies We Want,” which provided humanitarian aids and prevention supplies; and supported young and women entrepreneurs in several states. They also include “ICESCO Digital Home”, which abounds with a large collection of digital, educational, cultural, and outreach contents in various languages.

The DG also mentioned the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition Initiative,” which many countries, international organizations, and civil society institutions joined and supported. He invited Argentina’s institutions and major corporations to also join the coalition.

The Argentinian Ambassador commended ICESCO’s clear-sighted vision and the remarkable diversity of its activities. The Ambassador inquired about the scope of work and the possibility of kick-starting cooperation between the two parties. Ambassador Guastavino reaffirmed the numerous cooperation opportunities between the Organization and Argentina in charge of education, culture, and science.

Mr. Guastavino also noted that Argentina has a large Islamic center and is home to a Muslim community that enjoys equal rights and freedom within the Argentinian society.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Thursday, August 6 Mr. Azzedine Al-Asbahi, Ambassador of Yemen to Morocco to explore cultural and heritage cooperation between the Organization and the country.

During yesterday’s meeting, Mr. Al-Asbahi submitted to ICESCO’s DG a formal request from the Yemeni Ministry of Culture to inscribe elements of Yemen’s intangible cultural heritage on the Islamic World Heritage List (IWHL). The focus was on the “Song of Sanaa” (al-Ghina al-San’ani) and the “Palm Tree: traditions, skills and practices.” These two elements are on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO added the “Song of Sanaa” and the Palm Tree File, a joined file from 14 Arab countries, to the list in 2008 and 2019, respectively.

The DG welcomed the Yemeni request, promising to examine and submit it to the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC) at the earliest. Dr. AlMalik added that the aesthetic features, beautiful rhythms, and unique lyrics of the “Song of Sanaa” are distinguishing features from other musical genres. ICESCO’s DG also described the palm tree as an authentic Arab heritage.

The Yemeni Ambassador informed Dr. AlMalik of the current disconcerting state of heritage in Yemen due to the heavy rain in the country during the last period. He added that the inclement weather caused landslides in some historic sites and the collapse of four historic buildings in the Old City of Sanaa, which are included in the World Heritage List. Ambassador Al-Asbahi stated that the impact of climate change adds to a long list of dangers threatening the Yemeni heritage. He also explained that 74 out of 114 of the 500-year-old dragon tree, found in Socotra Island, are under the threat of extinction in the next 100 years if the environmental situation in the region persists.

The two parties agreed on the importance of joint action to safeguard the Yemeni heritage, as a substantial addition to human heritage and civilizational legacy for future generations.