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    Category: News update

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    High-level audience and praise for ISESCO Forum

    Posted on by amine

    AlMalik: Investment in culture’s soft power a winning bet at all levels

    Jirari: Islamic world open to influential sides in our modern world

    Amid a high-level official, academic and media audience, the “ISESCO Cultural Forum” kicked off yesterday at ISESCO headquarters, with a lecture on the topic “Future Cultural Challenges in the Islamic World” by Dr. Abbès Jirari, Advisor to the King of Morocco, Member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and other Arab scientific and linguistic academies.

    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, opened the forum with a welcoming address wherein he highlighted that the lecture’s topic touches on two issues: the future and culture as a soft power that can, through its impact and influence, be effective instead of being affected.

    In this regard, he stated that elites in today’s world have the influence and impact which he described as being the constituent parts of culture, thought, sports and modern arts. “We should be able to invest this soft power in such a way as to serve high interests of the Islamic world, achieve sustainable development, happiness, and prosperity, and ensure security, serenity, stability, harmony, and peace”, Dr. AlMalik maintained.

    He added that ISESCO aims, through its new vision that is open to this ever-changing new, to ensure the visibility of the Islamic world in terms of creativity, innovation, globalization and centralization and to the wide human worlds, pointing out that investment in culture’s soft power is a winning bet at all levels.

    In addition, ISESCO Director General mentioned that among the persisting issues of the Islamic world there are the questions of identity and coexistence; dissemination of a culture of life, hope and creativity, the fight against the culture of hate, racism and exclusion; and interest in heritage and language issues. He also cited the assertion of the right of culture and access thereto by all citizens; the right of appropriation of modern technology to create new content; and the establishment of a corresponding digital culture that reflects our history, identity, civilization, and historic character, opens to achievements and gains of modern era, and anticipates the future with all determination, self-confidence, resolve and poise.

    In the same vein, he said that the lecture of Dr. Abbès Jirari would touch on these issues and provide answers to our questions, given Dr. Jirari’s rich experience, profound knowledge, and long practice in university work, culture, and other disciplines of knowledge.

    “The human mind is unique in its creation and the human soul is from one Divine breath. This compels us to share our unity of determination and values to ensure mutual understanding and preserve the dignity of humanity at large”, Dr. AlMalik concluded.

    For his part, Dr. Jirari started his lecture by talking about the future cultural challenges in the Islamic world. He stated that the Islamic world boasts of a glorious past marked by excellence in science and arts, maintaining that the West draw on the Islamic civilization and culture to carry the torch of civilization in modern history and arguing that Muslims are required to keep up with today’s changes and carry again the torch of civilization.

    “This is a complex equation whose solution lies in the conciliation of authenticity, the source of our pride, with modernity which we try to catch up with. We pride ourselves on our past and history-steeped heritage without bothering to analyze it and rid it of its stains. We need an accurate diagnosis of our heritage and past to separate the wheat from its chaff. We should handle Western modernity -the product of a different environment- from various angles instead of looking at it from the value perspective which constitutes only one side of the equation”, Dr. Jirari noted.

    He continued: “We are a nation that values dialogue with the Other. Undoubtedly, education is key to the dissemination of this culture and awareness thereto. Another factor why Muslims value dialogue is the science on which the West founded its progress. Though the Islamic world abounds with universities, the nature of their impact on the society and contribution to solving social issues may be put into question”.

    Despite the dominance of Western modernity, Dr. Jirari pointed out, the Islamic world opened up to other dimensions which have become influential today, adding that despite abundance with qualified competencies, the Islamic world does not benefit from such talents as they emigrate to contribute to the prosperity of the Other. He described this situation as a new challenge and asked about ways to get these wasted competencies back to their societies.

    In conclusion, Dr. Jirari said that only through culture, consciousness and self-honesty that we can solve our dilemmas and achieve our objectives.

    Shortly after the lecture had ended, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to ISESCO Director General, the lecture’s moderator, opened the floor for discussion. The participants asked many questions relevant to the topic of the lecture which were all met with positive responses from the lecturer.

    The forum was closed with a reception held by ISESCO Director General in honor of Dr. Abbès Jirari, amid the audience’s praises for the success of the Forum.

    Initiative by ISESCO Director General to hold Morocco Book Prize 2020 at ISESCO headquarters

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    During his participation in the award ceremony of Morocco Book Prize 2019, held by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, after presenting the Prize to one of the winners, announced his initiative to hold the award ceremony of the next year’s edition of the Prize at the Organization’s headquarters in Rabat. The initiative was largely appreciated by the participating audience made up of intellectuals and members of the diplomatic corps in Morocco.

    At the invitation of Mr. El Hassan Abyaba, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Government Spokesperson, Dr. AlMalik attended the ceremony along with Mr. André Azoulay, Advisor to His Majesty the King of Morocco. During his friendly discussion with ISESCO Director General, Mr. Azoulay reaffirmed his great respect for the Organization and its efforts and expressed his willingness to cooperate with its General Directorate.

    It is worth mentioning that the Prize covers the following categories: poetry, story-telling and narrative, literary creation in Amazigh language, youth and children’s literature, social sciences, translation, literary, artistic and linguistic studies, and studies in the field of Amazigh culture.

    The award ceremony took place today evening at the National Library in Rabat.

    ISESCO Director General calls on National Commissions to be more interactive with the Organization

    Posted on by amine

    The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, stated that the present juncture in the history of the Islamic world gives rise to greater responsibilities to tackle challenges and require constant attention to adapt to and keep abreast of changes, as part of a new innovative and comprehensive vision, and through scientific approaches and an anticipatory culture.

    In his address at the opening of the 20th Meeting of the Secretaries General of Arab states’ National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture, held today in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia, ISESCO Director General underlined that “the tough challenges faced by the Islamic world should not shatter our hopes and discourage us from working. A glimmer of hope is always in the horizon as long as there are good initiatives, firm resolve and good anticipation of the future, as Ibn al-Muqaffa says: whoever travels aimlessly, his mount will let him down”.

    In addition, Dr. AlMalik stated that advancing the civilizational project in the Arab-Islamic world hinges on updating educational systems; promoting science, technology, innovation and creativity; and renewing policies specific to culture, communication and information. He added that that this civilizational project embodies the collective objective of joint Arab-Islamic action in the fields closely connected to the elaboration of development policies and knowledge systems.

    In the same vein, ISESCO Director General pointed out that ISESCO’s new development vision, whose broad-lines are contained in the Medium-Term Strategic Plan (2020-2029), adopts the slogan “Building Systems… Making Minds” and that it will be implemented as part of a forward-looking approach that aims to accomplish ISESCO’s mission and desired objectives. He highlighted that the vision consists of making of ISESCO a beacon of global outreach in the fields of civilizational edification, knowledge progress, with the mission of elaborating development policies and building knowledge and innovation systems, and providing expertise, technical counsel and institutional support.

    Moreover, Dr. AlMalik urged Member States to be more effective, be makers of decisions instead of passive observers and achieve their autonomy as dependency, he maintained, kills ambitions and aspirations and breaks wills. He also reaffirmed that from now on, ISESCO will never propose programmes and workshops but rather will wait for the propositions of National Commissions, while taking into consideration their outcomes and impact assessment. He explained that each Commission lives the reality of its country and is well aware of its needs and requirements, while promising that ISESCO would be at the level of expectations of National Commissions only when it receives their support and the one of their countries.

    ISESCO: Complementarity between tourism and culture sectors is crucial to fighting poverty

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    Dr. AlMalik extends invitation to hold the 2020 Joint Meeting of Arab Ministers of Tourism and Culture at ISESCO headquarters.

    Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), presented ISESCO’s approach to complementarity between the sectors of tourism and culture, which he said reflects the Organization’s awareness of the positive impact of this complementarity on the economy, the social fabric, the fight against poverty, creation of job opportunities for young people, development of local communities’ economies, and promotion of sustainable development efforts, especially with regard to investing in cultural heritage and employing countries’ rich and diverse historic and cultural capacities.

    “This approach is part of ISESCO’s new vision to addressing the issues falling within its areas of competence, namely education, science, and culture”, the Director General stated in an address he gave at the opening session of the Second Joint Meeting of Arab Ministers of Tourism and Culture, which kicked off today, in Tunis. He added that ISESCO’s new approach to safeguarding cultural heritage in Member States and rehabilitating its components to become a destination for cultural tourism through upgrading the work, tasks and roles of the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC), particularly regarding inscribing more historic sites and elements of intangible, natural and industrial heritage. Dr. AlMalik also talked about other measures, which included setting up the Islamic World Heritage List and networking it with the Word Heritage List, and creating the Heritage Projects Support Fund for the Arab and Islamic world, and the Heritage Observatory to monitor the situation of cultural heritage and explore ways to invest therein to develop cultural and environmental tourism.

    Moreover, the Director General stressed the need to follow through with the implementation of the new vision through ISESCO’s action plans and cultural tourism programmes for the benefit of Member States. “This can be achieved through building partnerships among Member States in the field of cultural tourism, adopting tourism as a vehicle of publicizing Arab-Islamic heritage and a backbone for safeguarding, investing in, developing and highlighting the developmental potentials of such heritage”, the Director General underscored.

    In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik underlined that ISESCO’s new line of action did not neglect building the capacities of workers in the fields of culture and tourism, stating that efforts were geared towards promoting cooperation programmes on this matter with specialized regional and international organizations in order to build outstanding capacities and raise their awareness of the cultural facilities, historic sites, archeological landmarks, environmental pathways as sustainable destinations for cultural tourism.

    At the close of his address, ISESCO Director General extended his invitation to hold the 2020 Joint Meeting of Arab Ministers of Tourism and Culture at ISESCO headquarters. He also called on the ministers taking part in the meeting to support ISESCO’s effort and establish cooperation and partnership channels with the Organization to help it achieve its set goals.

    ISESCO calls on Muslim countries to render heritage pillar of sustainable development

    Posted on by amine

    Dr. Amina Al-Hajri, Deputy Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), underlined that the Organization gives great importance to involving local communities in the efforts exerted to safeguard, rehabilitate and invest in rural heritage, through implementing programmes and activities that aim to valorize heritage and promote its role in anchoring cultural identity and achieving socio-economic development.

    In the Organization’s address she gave at the opening session of the 19th Annual General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), being held in Marrakesh, under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the Deputy Director General also announced, that ISESCO intends to inscribe no less than 100 historic site  before the end of 2019 and 500 sites in 2020.

    In this regard, Dr. Al-Hajri maintained that this comes as part of implementing ISESCO’s new strategy, which is based on a more holistic and realistic vision to safeguarding cultural and civilizational heritage in the Islamic world. She added that this strategy has been actively applied since a few months, whose positive outcomes are becoming more evident, which encourages forging ahead to provide more protection to heritage components, at the foremost of which is the cultural and civilizational heritage of Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

    Likewise, the Deputy Director General stated that ISESCO had provided the necessary working tools for such task, most notably the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC), whose scope of tasks has been expanded, working mechanisms developed and roles promoted, especially with regard to inscribing more historic sites and elements of intangible, natural and industrial heritage in the Islamic world. She also maintained that the Organization  set up the Islamic World Heritage List to inscribe these sites in accordance with applicable standards and criteria; and created IWHC’s Assisting Scientific Commissions and the Heritage Observatory to monitor the situation of heritage in the Islamic world and point out the dangers it is facing. She also added that the Heritage Projects Support Fund was inaugurated so that the Organization can provide necessary support through the competent parties in charge of heritage in Member States.

    In the same vein, the ISESCO official called on ministries of culture in the Islamic world and specialized regional and international organizations to support the efforts of applying ISESCO’s new vision to render heritage, with its different elements, a pillar of sustainable development, reaffirming ISESCO’s eagerness and readiness to host a future session of ICOMOS Annual General Assembly at its headquarters in Rabat.

    It is worth noting that ICOMOS Annual General Assembly is one of the largest international meetings of specialists in valorizing and safeguarding heritage and experts in restoration. The current session is dedicated to “Rural Heritage, Landscapes and beyond” and the importance of safeguarding and incorporating them in the development of local communities.

    Meeting of International Organizations: ALECSO, ISESCO and ABEGS concludes its proceedings in Tunis

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    The Fifth Meeting of International Organizations: ALECSO, ISESCO and ABEGS concluded its proceedings today in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia. The meeting kicked off yesterday under the theme “From Cooperation to Partnership”, with the participation of Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO); Dr. Ali bin Abdul Khaliq Al-Karni, Director General of the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS); and Dr. Mohamed Walad Amor, Director General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO).

    At the close of today’s session, the parties adopted the final report of the meeting, which included changing the name of this event to “Cooperation Meeting of ALECSO, ISESCO and ABEGS” starting from the next meeting. The final report also stated that, given its being a periodic meeting, the sixth session will be held in Riyadh, in October 2020, while welcoming the offer of ABEGS to host this meeting at its headquarters in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    The closing session reviewed ways to foster partnership among the three organizations in  concrete field actions for the benefit of Member States, in conformity with the new forward-looking vision of the three organizations’ respective directors general. In this connection two papers were presented, namely “From Cooperation to Partnership”, by the expert Dr. Abdul-Salam Al-Jufi, and “Ways and Mechanisms to Foster Partnership among International Organizations and National Commissions”, by Mr. Mohamed Ghemari, Director of the Secretariat of the Executive Council, General Conference and Specialized Ministerial Conferences at ISESCO.

    The two papers underscored that the three organizations are facing various common challenges including illiteracy, rapid technical advancement, new trends in education, and need to give more attention to programmes of publicizing Arab Islamic identity and its position within human identity; and stated that adequate tackling of such challenges requires joining the three organizations’ efforts as part of effective partnership.

    In addition, the two papers proposed drafting a joint strategic vision to achieve coordination, complementarity and benefiting from cooperation with international organizations; and agreeing on implementing joint programmes and projects and determining mechanisms for following up, assessing and publicizing them. The two papers also called for promoting the existing cooperation between the three organizations and National Commissions, especially at the level of planning and implementing programmes for the benefit of Member States; and developing such partnership in terms of programmes as well as at the technical and financial levels.

    Training on educational methods in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers in Malaysia

    Posted on by amine

    Today at ISESCO Educational Centre in Malaysia, a “training session on educational methods in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers in Malaysia” kicked off in coordination with the Directorate of Education of the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and in cooperation with the Islamic Education Department at the Ministry of Education of Malaysia and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

    This two-day session, held in Fadenj Sojana High School in Jerantut City, Pahang Darul Makmur, aims to provide participants with mechanisms and methods to benefit from modern technologies in the field of teaching Arabic language through training on the use of computer educational programmes in teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers.

    The training, which brings together forty two (42) teachers from primary schools in Pahang Darul Makmur State, is the first of its kind held in this region for the benefit of Arabic language teachers. The training is supervised by the expert and associate professor, Dr. Jan dine Sardi from Universiti Teknologi MARA.

    Tunis hosts ICCM High Preparatory Committee Meeting

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    The Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Republic of Tunisia hosted today the Meeting of the High Preparatory Committee of the 11th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers (ICCM), and the closing ceremony of the celebration of Tunis as Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019, to be both held in Tunis, on 17-19 December 2019.

    The Meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, and Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and together they reviewed the latest organizational arrangements for the Conference and the celebration. Representatives of the ministries and administrations concerned also made presentations on the preparations carried out by their respective departments to ensure a good organization for the two events.

    In this connection, the two parties agreed to mobilize all resources to hold the conference in line with ISESCO’s new vision, which gives more importance to implementing field activities and projects for the benefit of Member States; and adopt a new approach to the relations with National Commissions as part of a modern vision that takes into consideration regional and international mutations.

    Prior to the Committee’s Meeting, the Minister of Cultural Affairs and ISESCO Director General had held a bilateral meeting wherein they explored ways to promote cooperation and partnership between the Ministry and the Organization, and reviewed the ongoing preparations for holding ICCM.

    5th Meeting of International Organizations kicks off in Tunisia: Exploring cooperation between ALECSO, ISESCO and ABEGS

    Posted on by amine

    The Fifth Meeting of International Organizations: ALECSO, ISESCO and ABEGS kicked off today in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia. It is a periodical meeting to promote cooperation and complementarity among these three organizations and explore the ways and mechanisms to boost their partnership with Member States’ National Commissions.

    During the opening session, addresses were given by the representative of Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States; the representative of Dr. Hatem Ben Salem, Minister of Education and President of the Tunisian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture; and the representative of Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Minister of Cultural Affairs.

    In his address during the opening session, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), reaffirmed that the common denominators among ISESCO, ALECSO and ABEGS are crystal-clear in their objectives and missions as provided for in their Charters, action programmes and initiatives in vital the fields that determine our present and future destiny (education, science, culture, information and communication) which are the foundations of action marked by the multiplicity of aspects and the complementarity of fields.

    Dr. AlMalik also stressed that, in light of ISESCO’s new strategic plan, further attention will be given to the implementation of field activities and projects for the benefit of Member States, adoption of a new approach with regard to the relation with the National Commissions as part of a comprehensive innovative vision and a modern methodology that is mindful of all regional and international changes.

    On his part, Dr. Ali bin Abdul Khaliq Al-Karni, Director-General of Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS), gave an address wherein he stated that this Meeting is quite important and very special as we all face challenges with determination to make achievements while looking toward the future, especially as we have the brains, wills, experiences, expertise and hopes necessary for creativity.

    Afterwards, Dr. Mohamed Walad Amor, the Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), gave his address stressing the importance of cooperation between ISESCO, ALECSO and ABEGS and the need to promote, develop and upgrade this cooperation to reach the level of partnership.

    During the opening session, Dr. AlMalik and Dr. Walad Amor signed the Framework Cooperation Agreement between ALECSO and ISESCO. This agreement aims to set a joint framework of action for the period 2020-2021 in the fields of education, culture, heritage, information, communication and special programmes, including the programmes for Al-Quds Al-Sharif and the threats thereto, programmes geared to educational, cultural and scientific conditions in Palestine, programmes designed for the countries with special needs, and the programmes for unstable countries.

    During the same session, the participants watched a video on the 8th Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers, which was held on 2-3 October 2019 in ISESCO headquarters in Rabat and brought together a large number of participants, including ministers and officials of environment from Muslim countries, as well as the heads of regional and international organizations operating in the field of environment protection and sustainable development.

    On the sidelines of the opening session, the Directors General of ISESCO, ALECSO and ABEGS inaugurated the publications exhibition of the three organizations.

    Moreover, Dr. AlMalik met a number of the National Commissions’ secretaries general, and together they explored the fields of cooperation between ISESCO and their respective countries as part of ISESCO’s new vision.