Category: News update

The technological revolution has brought unprecedented development to communication between societies. Information now moves swiftly and instantly. The working systems have changed across various fields as a result of these transformations. The flow of information resulted in a threat against rights and freedoms and gave rise to cybercrimes by using personal and professional information and data transmitted through technological media, such as mobile and smart phones and tablets.

Besides, in the last two decades, electronic publishing has significantly increased. The demand for promoting online confidence to share content and data has increased, particularly during the lockdown triggered by the spread of coronavirus, which forced people to stay home. Thus, there has been significant access to various online platforms, which consequently compelled countries and electronic companies to develop protection mechanisms for the data and information circulated.

Since digital media has become part of people’s daily lives, public authorities have developed protection mechanisms for information systems with a vision of safeguarding their citizens’ rights and economies from any infiltration or manipulation likely to cause big economic, financial, and security losses, and threaten the stability and safety of their institutions and citizens.

Against this backdrop, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) reaffirms that the general principle that should be observed necessitates the protection of human rights, the rights of humanity as a whole, and countries’ public systems.
However, some international reports have not considered all the consequences of the modern technological revolution to balance the requirements of the protection of countries’ public systems and fundamental rights and freedoms, so that privileges do not turn into public mistrust.

In this regard, most of ICESCO Member States have achieved notable achievements in entrenching human rights and freedoms and modernizing the legislation relevant to the protection of personal information and data processing.

Accordingly, ICESCO calls for abiding by facts and avoiding the ideological exploitation of the human rights system to exercise pressure on some countries to serve the interests of other parties. The Organization also reaffirms that the many Member States established national constitutional institutions to ensure the protection of rights and freedoms using legal mechanisms and scientific and digital expertise to verify any violation of the personal and professional data and private information of institutions and citizens.

Furthermore, recalling its expertise and commitment to supporting the Member States in such a way as to promote trust in the institutions and organizations of joint Islamic action, ICESCO commends the leading experiences in the protection of privacy of many Member States, including the Kingdom of Morocco, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Indonesia, to name a few.

The Organization also stresses that the Member States are entitled to protect their citizens’ interests in accordance with the national legislation and total respect for their constitutional institutions and sovereignty, without any intervention in their domestic affairs. This was demonstrated by the referenced documents, particularly “ICESCO Declaration on Cultural Rights”, “Cultural Roles of Civil Society in the Promotion of Dialogue and Peace”, and “Practical Guide to Cybercrimes-related Threats to Children”.

ICESCO seizes this opportunity to publish a new study entitled “Artificial Intelligence Developments and Requirements of the Protection of Basic Rights and Freedoms,” which can be accessed via the link below:
http://www.icesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B6%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%EF%BB%B7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A9.pdf

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held on Tuesday, July 21 under the theme “Role of Religious Leaderships in the Face of Crises,” with the participation of H.E. President Idriss Deby Itno of the Republic of Chad and several renowned religious and intellectual figures, as well as the representatives of a large number of bodies and institutions.

During the International Virtual Forum, participants reaffirmed that any global model of comprehensive and sustainable development should draw on ethical and spiritual values based on two foundations, namely the need for global ethics and the preservation of human dignity.

The Forum, held by ICESCO in cooperation with the Muslim World League (MWL) and the International Muslim Communities Council (TWMCC), called for a commitment to five basic principles in its closing statement, namely the right to practice the faith of one’s choice and respect for religions, the right to life and dissemination of peace, human solidarity and co-building a just world economy, the culture of tolerance in words and deeds, and the principle of gender equality in rights and obligations.

To attain these noble objectives and reap their benefits, the participants stressed the need for intensifying efforts of religious leadership to bring viewpoints and positions closer together to address these crises and sustain joint action. It can be conducted through an executable plan, workable programmes, and creative solutions to give effect to the outcomes of this Declaration.

The aim is to provide the solutions desired by the countries and the world to enable religious leaderships to take on their mission as civilizational witnesses and promote the role of faith-based and ethical values in addressing global crises.

The Forum made ten recommendations, which were read out by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, at the closing session as follows:

1. Compiling, documenting, and capitalizing on the initiatives and best practices of the specialized organizations and the civil and religious institutions and bodies to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the ICESCO’s quality initiatives; and calling upon donors and sponsors to provide support to these initiatives to achieve their noble humanitarian objectives;
2. Mandating ICESCO to submit this Declaration to the Member States and regional and international organizations and institutions concerned with the global joint action;
3. Mandating ICESCO to conduct a comprehensive study on the guidelines of renewing the ethical religious thought to address crises based on the contents and orientations of this Declaration;
4. Mandating ICESCO to prepare an executive plan and an action programme on the role of universal human ethics in achieving comprehensive and sustainable development, and call upon collaborators and sponsors to fund them;
5. Reaffirming the responsibility of human development institutions to develop sectoral codes of ethics in the fields of scientific research and Artificial Intelligence (AI), sports, economy, and media and communication. Institutions must also provide training in these fields and incorporate them into the school curricula;
6. Developing a collaborative framework to institutionalize the prevailing religious and human ethical values shared by legislative and executive authorities and civil society organizations;
7. Developing a balanced vision of human solidarity in issues of immigration among the countries concerned, and considering it as an element of enrichment and development for world countries;
8. Achieving a citizenship model that comprises all the national affairs, local specificities, and global human issues, particularly among youth to enable them to take on the roles of cultural mediation;
9. Training the staff of religious institutions and institutes to enable them to carry on their role in addressing the issues of public affairs;
10. Incorporating the tangible and intangible religious and spiritual human heritage into school curricula.

The Forum’s agenda featured an opening session and three working sessions comprising productive and spirited discussions. The first one tackled the best initiatives and practices of religious institutions throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The second session covered regenerative and future aspects of religious thought and working mechanisms to make use of crisis gains and address their adverse repercussions. The third session explored prospects of joint action between the different religious leaderships and institutions across the world.

The Forum’s full video is available via the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar/videos/281910989751397/?v=281910989751397

The International Virtual Forum “Role of Religious Leaderships in the Face of Crises,” held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with the Muslim World League (MWL) and the International Muslim Communities Council, under the theme “Towards global moral solidarity of religious leaderships,” kicked off today, July 21 with high-level participation.

The opening session was presided by President Idriss Deby Itno of the Republic of Chad, who stressed in his address the importance of religious leaderships during crisis and times of conflict to restore peace and security, adding that the Muslim Ummah and humanity are in dire need of enlightened scholars, and all the monotheistic books call for the values of coexistence and sharing.

Besides, President Idriss Deby Itno congratulated ICESCO for holding this Forum and choosing such a key topic. He highlighted that this indicates the Organization’s advanced vision in countering crises as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread horror among millions of people and threatened the social fabric and economic future of humanity while stressing the need for sharing opinions to overcome this crisis.

In his address, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, reaffirmed the growing role of religious leadership towards achieving the aspirations of humanity as a whole, including global moral solidarity to achieve the lofty objectives and establish international peace and security.
Dr. AlMalik also stated that “since the outbreak of the pandemic, ICESCO has launched many initiatives, which were largely welcomed as part of the efforts to counter the repercussions of COVID-19 in the educational, humanitarian, psychological, and spiritual fields. This Forum will allow the various leaderships to highlight their role in addressing crises and agree upon the guidelines of the common ethics to deal with these crises”.

Afterward, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Karim Al-Issa, MWL Secretary-General, gave an address wherein he reaffirmed the great role of religious leadership, particularly during crises when the religious and spiritual values get stronger, and people resort to their religious leaderships, which stress the importance of holding such Forum.

In his address, Dr. Muhammad Mokhtar Goma, Egyptian Minister of Awqaf, said that the nations not built on ethics and values face many risks. “Throughout human history, all the nations that deviated from their values disappeared. The ethical standard is always constant, and ethics are integral and reject double standards,” he added.

On his part, Sheikh Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, Grand Mufti of Azerbaijan and Caucasus, thanked ICESCO and all the Forum’s participants and reaffirmed that the values of obedience to parents, observance of the right of orphans, tolerance, respecting neighbors’ rights among individuals and countries embody the essence of religions and common sense while hoping that religious leaderships would strive to achieve these values.

President of Al-Azhar University, the Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed El-Tayib, Shiekh Al-Azhar, stressed in his address, given on his behalf by Dr. Mohamed al-Mahrasawi, that moral solidarity is critical during crises and religions seek to entrench an ethical environment for everyone, adding that Islam allows no room for intellectual or doctrinal manipulation and ethics are cherished by all religions.

Dr. Ali Rachid Al-Nuaimi, Chairman of the International Muslim Communities Council, stressed that all religions include noble values, and the religious leadership should respect the real responsibility and the decisions of the political leaders.
Afterward, Dr. AlMalik closed this opening session and started the working sessions.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) signed a partnership agreement with Nabd, the largest news app in the Arab world. The agreement provides for the establishment of a platform for ICESCO to broadcast news about the Organization and its activities to ensure direct outreach to the broadest possible audience.

The platform (accessible at this link https://nabd.com/icesco will keep Arabic-speaking readers updated on the initiatives, programmes, and projects implemented by the Organization, topics of discussion and the outcomes of the conferences organized or co-organized by ICESCO. They will also have access to the news and information about ICESCO’s prizes in the various fields.

On the occasion of signing the agreement, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, stressed that the agreement with Nabd forms part of ICESCO’s strategic vision which advocates inclusiveness and constructive communication to serve the Member States and Muslim communities all over the world. It can be achieved through workable initiatives, programmes, and projects to develop the skills of children and build the capacities of women, the youth and children to improve their living conditions to contribute to sustainable development and achieve peaceful coexistence. He also stated that the platform would enable ICESCO to keep the broad audience informed of the latest developments and updates on its action.

The agreement was signed for ICESCO by Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Director of the Sector of Partnerships and Cooperation, and for Nabd by Mr. Mazen Singer, Chief Strategy Officer.

Upon signing the agreement, Mr. Singer expressed his satisfaction with the conclusion of the agreement with ICESCO, while noting that it comes as part of carrying out “Nabd” Strategy which seeks to lay the groundwork for cooperation with outstanding international organizations, provide diversified content to users, and contribute to achieving the Organization’s noble objectives in its areas of competence: education, science, and culture.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the International University of Rabat (UIR) signed a framework agreement for partnership in higher education and scientific research. The agreement seeks to advance higher education in the Islamic world countries, support innovation in cutting-edgetechnology, the transfer of technology to needy countries, and the promotion of cooperation between universities and research centers in various countries.

The agreement was signed for ICESCO by its Director General, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, and for the UIR, its President, Dr. Noureddine Mouaddib. The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of the University in the presence Mr. Mohamed Khalfaoui, Secretary General of the Sector of Higher Education and Scientific Research at the Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kingdom of Morocco; Mr. Jamal Eddine El Aloua, Acting Secretary General of the Moroccan National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, and a number of officials from both sides.

In his address at the signing ceremony, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has proved that it is imperative to advocate and support innovation, creativity and AI applications and bolster scientific researchefforts. In this regard, he highlighted that ICESCO views innovation as a realistic solution to Islamic world countries to get back on the road toa science and innovation-based civilization which hadcontributed its rich innovations to humanity for a long time.

He also reiterated ICESCO’s commitment to be the first to cooperate and coordinate with other parties and hoped that the partnership agreement between ICESCO and the UIR will be a starting point for similar partnerships and agreements with other universities, in support of innovation and scientific research in the Islamic world.

For his part, Mr. Khalfaoui lauded the cooperation between ICESCO and the University in anti-COVID-19 efforts and thanked ICESCO for its support in favor of advancing education, culture and scientific research. Similarly, Mr. El Aloua pointed out that this partnership will contribute to the transfer of technology between the Islamic world countries. The President of the UIR, Dr. Noureddine Mouaddib, underscored that the world is in face of great challenges and that cooperation is the only way to overcome them. He then expressed his satisfaction with the signing of this partnership with ICESCO which has supported the efforts of the University since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Following the signing of the agreement, ICESCO Director General and UIR President inaugurated the project on the production of protective masks against the novel Coronavirus and ventilation devices, which is being implemented as part of ICESCO’s Scholarships for Technology Development. The project aims to ensure large-scale production of materials and equipment necessary for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Islamic world, namely in Africa, and the transfer of relevant technology.

For the record, this project is the latest of similar projects funded by ICESCO in many countries, including Uganda, Mali, Senegal, Kazakhstan, the Gambia, and Guinea. ICESCO will support similar projects in other countries in the future.

AlMalik: the world loses 25 human languages each year and 90% of languages are endangered

The Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, called on specialized institutions in the issues of Arabic language to make every effort to empower Arabic language on the world linguistic map.

“Empowering Arabic at the Islamic and international levels is a collective responsibility. Everyone, from their respective position, should advance this language amid a situation which will witness decisive changes in the post-COVID-19 era”, he added.
In his address at the opening of ICESCO’s virtual international forum which kicked off today under the theme “Arabic Language for Non-Arabic Speakers beyond COVID-19: Renewing Strategies and Developing Tools and Methods”, Dr. AlMalik warned that each year, the world loses 25 human languages and that 90% of the world’s languages are endangered. In this respect, he mentioned many contributing factors such as children’s inclination to use the widely spoken languages, most advantageous and most expressive of innovations; failure of many languages to keep up with developments in digital and computing technology; language isolationism; and lack of attractiveness to new learners.
“ICESCO, which has long called for a speedy digital qualification of education systems as part of its slogan against the COVID-19 pandemic (Let’s turn trial into blessing), has moved from the pure handling of the adverse repercussions of the pandemic into an investment of huge potentials to achieve transition to the school of the future”, Dr. AlMalik added. In this regard, he referred to the wide range of innovative projects and alternatives of “ICESCO Digital Home” and the Organization’s most abundant use of the widely spoken world languages to raise health awareness and ensure an instant exchange of information.

Then, ICESCO Director-General listed some of ICESCO’s orientations in the field of Arabic language empowerment as follows:

1. Ensuring openness of Arabic to everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, with diverse contents to promote dialogue and understanding between peoples and meet the needs of learners;
2. Continuously developing the curricula of teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers and diversifying resources, tools, and services;
3. Expediting the involvement of specialists in the digital production and publishing of learning materials;
4. Supporting and computerizing languages written in the Arabic script in Africa and Asia;
5. Adopting a forward-looking approach that takes into account the future roles of AI in language learning and the cultural and socioeconomic transformations with an impact on the world linguistic map.

Moreover, Dr. AlMalik cited the major initiatives and programmes of ICESCO Center for Arabic to non-Arabic Speakers, a specialized ICESCO center designed to be a leader in building relevant national capacities. These include “Learn and Master Arabic at Home,” “Bayan’ Award for Creative Expression in Arabic,” “Languages of Africa: Bridges of Culture and History,” “Zidni ‘Ilman” initiative for teachers and counselors, “Programme of ICESCO Regional and National Centers in the Field of Teaching Arabic to non-Arabic Speakers,” and “Computerization of African Languages written in the Arabic Script.” Moreover, ICESCO will collaborate with the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) and ALECSO to develop the “Joint Reference Framework for Arabic Teaching and Learning”.

At the close of the Forum, ICESCO Director-General thanked the participating senior officials of regional and international specialized bodies and centers, experts, and researchers, while calling on them to fully discharge their respective responsibilities toward the empowerment of Arabic language.