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Participants in the “Societies We Want” meeting support ICESCO adoption of “Education for Peace.”

Posted on 29 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

The participants taking part in the first meeting in the webinar series, “Societies We Want,” held by Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed their support for ICESCO’s adoption of “Education for Peace”.

The participants stated that this initiative is likely to help address the significant challenges of peace and security, stressing the need to work together to build healthy, peaceful societies that can safely coexist.
The meeting, held virtually by the Department of Human and Social Sciences at ICESCO to discuss perspectives on peace, citizenship, and resilience in conflict and post-conflict contexts, saw the participation of Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General , and several international organizations’ representatives and experts in inter-civilizational dialogue and human and social sciences. Mr. Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide, also participated in the meeting as a special guest, who called for close cooperation with ICESCO regarding issues of education for peace and conflict prevention through anchoring religious values, safe coexistence and acceptance of the Other.

Moreover, Mr. Dieng stated that education plays a pivotal role in building peace as it is one of the most powerful tools we must use to eradicate the causes of hatred. He added that through education, we could anchor noble values founded on respect for humans and indiscrimination, underscoring that education guarantees a level of awareness and understanding in people which prove necessary in recognizing the danger of those who spread hatred, racism, and segregation through the internet or other mediums.

In the same vein, Mr. Dieng stated that the United Nations would hold a ministerial conference on the role of education in eradicating hatred, whose organization will be overseen by the Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide, in cooperation with UNESCO Director-General. He added that the conference would bring together ministers of education, experts and all stakeholders, including the youth, to come up with practices and recommendations, and outline the commitments of Member States to implement these recommendations at the national level, seizing the opportunity to call on ICESCO to take part in this conference.

The first meeting of the “Societies We Want” webinar series saw active participation and fruitful discussion; and stressed the need to adopt a comprehensive approach to building peace and attaining safe coexistence. To achieve this goal, ICESCO called for creating a framework of cooperation between the participating organizations and institutions, including UNESCO, the Conference of the Ministers of Education of French-speaking Countries (CONFEMEN), the Conference of French-speaking Ministers of Youth and Sports (CONFEJES), the G5 Sahel, the West and Central Africa Office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the African Development Bank (ADB), Water Summit 2021 Coordination Office, “Roses of Peace” Singapore, and Timbuktu Institute—Niger.

For his part, the CONFEJES Secretary-General stated that they would place focus on issues of peace and citizenship in teacher training curricula, as part of the trilateral cooperation with ICESCO and the CONFEMEN. This would also include physical education teachers to promote the values of sports as a tool for building peace and anchoring citizenship.

In cooperation with ICESCO… distribution of educational devices and equipment to Moroccan students and schools

Posted on 29 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

The Moroccan National Commission for Education, Science and Culture stated that it had distributed the technological devices and educational equipment offered by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and its partner donors.

This is part of supporting the efforts of Member States to counter the repercussions of Covid-19 and ensure the continuity of the educational process after the closure of the educational institutions.
In its letter to the Secretariat of the National Commissions and Ministerial Conferences of ICESCO, the Moroccan National Commission highlighted that ICESCO and its partners offered an amount of US$58,000 to support distance education in the Kingdom of Morocco, of which US$30,000 was allocated to the Regional Academy of Education and Training of Marrakech-Safi and the US$28,000 to the Regional Academy of Education and Training of Beni Mellah-Khenifra.

Also, the Commission underlined that, in Beni Mellah-Khenifra, 350 tablets were distributed to students who attended to schools along with their parents, in coordination with the local authorities while taking all the precautionary safety measures. The beneficiaries are as follows:
1.Communal School of Zaouiat Ahansal;
2.School Group of Zaouiat Ahansal;
3.School Group of Tighighit Znati;
4.School Group of Tighanmin;
5.High School of Zaouiat Ahansal.

Moreover, the Moroccan National Commission stated that the distribution started at 10:00 a.m. and continued for almost 12 hours to cover all the said schools with the participation of the Caïd of Zaouiat Ahansal, Principal of the High School of Zaouiat Ahansal, and the representative of the population at the Rural Town Council, in the presence of some parents.
The Commission added that the distribution of equipment to the students and schools concerned would continue tomorrow, Saturday 30 May 2020.

ICESCO Director-General: joint action in crisis management and peace preservation should be every citizen’s priority

Posted on 28 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

** COVID-19 pandemic reveals weakening cooperation in ecosystem preservation

The Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, reaffirmed that joint action to prevent conflicts, address crises and preserve peace must be a priority of all societies under the “global citizenship” concept. He pointed out that the pandemic, the latest in a long series of crises which have plagued the planet in the era of globalization, has uncovered the degree of humanity’s vulnerability and weaknesses, including low commitment and inadequate cooperation to preserve the ecosystem for the service of our peoples and rising generations.

This came in ICESCO Director-General’s address at the opening session of the series of virtual meetings on “Societies We Want” held by the Sector of Human and Social Sciences at ICESCO. The first meeting was dedicated to the discussion of viewpoints on peace and citizenship and resilience during and after COVID-19 as part of the Organization’s “Societies We Want” initiative to spread knowledge and build healthy, peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and resilient societies, a need that surfaced at the time of Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

ICESCO Director-General stressed that when facing considerable challenges to peace and security, we should work as one world and one humanity. To this end, ICESCO advocates for education for peace while paying special attention to youth, women, and religious leaderships through developing their social and psychological capacities to counter violence and extremism and promote peaceful conflict resolution. It also seeks to establish a sense of global citizenship among people to think of other nations instead of thinking solely of ones’ own countries and show a feeling of belonging to our planet and the shared destiny regardless of faith, race, and values.

Moreover, Dr. AlMalik stated that in the next few weeks, ICESCO would launch a major project to advocate for the integration of the values of peace, peaceful coexistence, and citizenship in Member States’ education systems. As human civilization is on a crossroads, the choice is to remain in this current situation or face its societies toward a better future. “What happens today signals an urgent need to be addressed. We should proceed with a drastic social change amid the crises and emergencies facing our societies to limit the effects of conflicts and epidemics and reaffirm our resolve to protect humanity,” he added.

He expressed his hope that the entire humanity would prioritize ending conflict, violence rejection, and health crisis mitigation while noting that ICESCO will contribute to building a world free of conflicts and making peace a reality for peoples.
At the close of his address, Dr. AlMalik stated that the Organization would launch a programme for encouraging young researchers to participate, through their studies and research, in the development of the society and limit the social and psychological impact of crises and conflicts on our lives. He called on specialists in development, research, and human sciences to cooperate and put aside their differences and work toward the world’s best interests.

New prospects of cooperation between ICESCO and Uzbekistan in the celebration of Bukhara as Capital of Islamic Culture

Posted on 28 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

**ICESCO Director-General: there is a need to pay attention to the sector of culture to preserve the mental health and social relations

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), called upon countries to pay strong attention to the sector of culture, which has been strongly affected during Covid-19 crisis due to the closure of 95% of heritage sites and cultural institutions all around the globe.

This was an excerpt from Dr. AlMalik’s address at the opening session of the International Scientific Conference, held today via videoconferencing by the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, in partnership with ICESCO, under the theme “Role and contributions of Bukhara to the Islamic civilization,” as part of the Celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020.

In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik stated that there is now a need to pay attention to the sector of culture, given its impact on mental health and social balances and relations. “As part of ICESCO’s new vision, considering the new future challenges facing us during and after crises, ICESCO prepared the Strategic Digital and Cultural Project, the outline of which will be announced during the Virtual Extraordinary Conference of Culture Ministers of ICESCO Member States, due to be held on 17 June 2020,” he added.

Furthermore, ICESCO Director-General praised the city of Bukhara, which is one of the major centers of Islamic civilization thanks to the contributions of its people over centuries since the arrival of Islam to this region as early as 46 A.H., while stressing ICESCO’s willingness to cooperate with Uzbekistan, which has, in addition to Bukhara, several major Islamic cities with glorious history such as Tashkent and Samarkand, and collaborates with its competent authorities, amid the current exceptional circumstances, on many items, including:
•Establishment of ICESCO Regional Center of Manuscripts at Imam Al-Bukhari International Research Centre (IBIRC), in coordination and cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan;
•Establishment of Imam Al-Bukhari Chair for University Studies at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, in Fes, Kingdom of Morocco, under ICESCO’s auspices;
•Inscribing 50 heritage sites and natural and industrial heritage elements in Bukhara and Uzbekistan on the Islamic World Heritage List;
•Preparation of standard files of some serial heritage sites and aspects in the countries concerned, including Uzbekistan and the Transoxiana, to be inscribed on the Islamic World Heritage List (Hajj route, caravan route);
•Publishing a book on the scholars of Bukhara in particular and Uzbekistan in general, and their civilizational contributions (in Arabic, Russian and Uzbek);
•Awarding ICESCO Prize for the best cultural project in Bukhara;
In closing, Dr. AlMalik thanked the competent authorities in the Republic of Uzbekistan for meeting the challenge of organizing the activities scheduled as part of Bukhara as the Capital of Islamic Culture despite the current exceptional circumstances. He also called upon concerned institutions in other Capitals of Islamic Culture to launch innovative initiatives to celebrate these capitals and overcome challenges.

The ICESCO Director-General wishes every success to the celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020 as it serves sustainable development, well-being, and progress in Uzbekistan, and all the Islamic countries.

ICESCO Director-General receives German Ambassador in Rabat

Posted on 27 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

The Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, received today Dr. Götz Schmidt-Bremme, Ambassador of Germany to the Kingdom of Morocco at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat. Together they explored ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and the Federal Republic of Germany in the educational, scientific and cultural fields.

During the meeting, which was also attended by Mr. Steffen Krüger, Representative of Kaunrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation Morocco, Dr. AlMalik briefed the German Ambassador of the Organization’s new vision which advocates openness and cooperation with all parties in the service of Member States and Muslim communities around the globe. He also reviewed the initiatives, programmes and activities implemented by ICESCO during COVID-19 pandemic to curb its adverse effects and support Member States to overcome them.

Likewise, ICESCO Director-General pointed out that ICESCO had redrafted its Charter and administrative and financial regulations and established a charter for ICESCO Observer States. In this vein, he invited Germany to join the Organization as an observer and contribute to the “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” with executive projects and field programmes to assist the poorest and most affected countries by the pandemic.

For his part, Dr. Schmidt-Bremme voiced his country’s commitment to cooperate with ICESCO within the realm of its competence and in light of its new vision and action strategy, while commending the initiatives and actions of ICESCO during COVID-19 pandemic. He also considered this meeting as a starting point for constructive cooperation between the two parties.

At the close of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik thanked Mr. Krüger for the support extended by Kaunrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation to ICESCO this year, namely the sponsoring of many of the Organization’s foresight conferences and studies, the membership of the Foundation to the Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition and the involvement of ICESCO as a key partner in its action strategy for the coming years.

The meeting was attended from ICESCO by Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Director of the Sector of External Relations and Cooperation; and Dr. Kaïs Hammami, Director of the Center of Strategic Foresight.

Symposium at ICESCO calls for preparing a strategic plan for the protection of the Palestinian heritage

Posted on 21 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, held a virtual symposium to explore “the promotion of cultural institutions’ action and the preservation of cultural heritage in Palestine during and after Covid-19”, with the participation of several experts and specialists of cultural heritage and the management of cultural institutions to develop the plans and strategies likely to ensure the sustainable access to the right to culture during and after this health crisis.

The symposium, held yesterday via videoconferencing, was watched mainly through the live streaming on ICESCO page on Facebook. The seminar made several recommendations that praised the role of government cultural institutions in sustaining cultural resilience and preserving and publicizing the Palestinian identity despite its difficult situation before and during Covid-19.

This event also called for incorporating the protection of Al-Quds’ heritage within the partnership to be signed with the World Heritage Center and the Islamic World Heritage Center, recently established by ICESCO, to join and coordinate the relevant efforts; and preparing a new strategic plan along with its implementation mechanisms to protect the Palestinian heritage, particularly the heritage of Al-Quds and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Besides, the participants urged the staff working in the Palestinian cultural field to capitalize on modern technologies and social media to ensure the sustainability of cultural action and benefit all the social groups.

Moreover, they underscored the key role of ICESCO in preserving Al-Quds’ heritage, hailed the decision of establishing a special unit for Al-Quds’ heritage within the Islamic World Heritage Center, and called upon the Organization to schedule more activities to support institutions and protect the cultural heritage in Palestine in general, and in Al-Quds Al-Sharif in particular, through the Palestinian National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

ICESCO launches series of lectures, “e-Learning in the time of COVID-19”

Posted on 21 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

In a bid to sustain its support for the efforts to fight the Coronavirus pandemic and mitigate its impact on the fields of education, science and culture, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched a series of educational lecture entitled “e-Learning in the Time of COVID-19” as part of the comprehensive initiative “ICESCO Digital Home”, on the link: https://www.icesco.org/التعليم-عن-بعد/

This series of lectures consists of videos by experts in pedagogy and educational technology, university professors, educational professionals, researchers and academicians from different countries. The lectures will tackle the effective use of ICTs to contribute to the continuity of the teaching process and ensure its quality.

Through these videos, which will be an addition to the contents of ICESCO Digital Home in the field of education, lecturers will address a number of topics including e-learning in the educational system; technology for teaching adults and literacy; technology in original education; and digital citizenship and cybersecurity. These lectures will target educational policy makers; educational officials; high-level professionals, teachers, and educators from the civil society; and students’ parents.

This series of lectures aim to open wider horizons for prospective thinking on the future of education; anchor the “learning anywhere anytime” approach; contribute to the production of advanced technological resources and mediums for teaching and research; and urge Member States investing technology in the field of education.

Convened by ICESCO, IWHC holds an extraordinary meeting

Posted on 19 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

Convened by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC) held its 2nd Extraordinary Meeting via videoconferencing, to examine ways to protect and conserve heritage in the Islamic world, and train workers in this field amid the spread of Covid-19. The crisis has affected several vital sectors, most notably the cultural institutions, which have been closed to the public, particularly heritage sites and tourism destinations.

At the outset, the Committee considered the items placed on the agenda and hailed the initiative of holding its meeting via videoconferencing. It also called for adopting this mechanism whenever necessary and incorporating it in the Internal Regulations of IWHC and considered the challenges relevant to the management of heritage sites and museums during and after Covid-19 crisis as well as matters pertaining to the intangible heritage and the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Conference of Culture Ministers in the Islamic World.

Besides, the Committee welcomed the establishment of the Islamic World Heritage Center and adopted its Organizational Chart while taking into account the remarks of its members and reaffirmed its commitment to support the Center’s activities, programmes and projects.

The Committee also recommended the adoption of the amended nomination form for the inscription of intangible heritage on the Islamic World Heritage List. It will take into account the remarks of its members, called upon the Secretariat of the Committee, to circulate the form to all Member States to prepare the files of the intangible heritage elements nominated for inscription on the Islamic World Heritage List.

Moreover, the Committee praised ICESCO’s swift adoption of the management of cultural activities through its website during Covid-19 crisis and the provision of distance training videos in the fields of tangible and intangible heritage. It also included the management of heritage sites and museums; and called for sustaining and promoting these efforts through the preparation of the strategic digital cultural project for heritage documentation and the establishment of the heritage platform in the Islamic world and virtual museums, as well as taking the necessary technical measures to design a digital portal for inscribing the heritage sites on the Islamic World Heritage List.

The Committee also called upon the Islamic World Heritage Center to prepare a guide on how to protect from destruction and sabotage heritage sites amid crises, disasters, and armed conflicts. Also, to complement this effort by establishing cooperation with UNESCO World Heritage Center through coordination with the ICESCO Member States representatives in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. This move will serve the objectives of the IWHC and support the action of the regional and international organizations, bodies, and centers operating in the field of preserving heritage and monuments.

In addition, the Committee called upon the Secretariat of the Islamic World Heritage List to launch an awareness-raising campaign on ICESCO website and social media for the benefit of local communities, particularly youth, to highlight the importance of heritage in promoting the cultural and civilizational identity of nations and peoples, and the socio-economic development.

on the International Museum Day: ICESCO calls for expanding the use of modern technology and AI applications in museums

Posted on 18 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

On 18 May of each year, the world celebrates International Museum Day, which was proclaimed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). This Day is an occasion for museum professionals to communicate with the general public to raise awareness of the importance of museums and their role in social development and cultural exchange among peoples. While more than 55,000 museums in about 150 countries took part in celebrating last year’s International Museum Day, the Day is however celebrated this year at a time when almost all museums around the world are closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in compliance with the strict lockdown measures. These measures imposed the cancellation or postponement of mass cultural activities and caused an unprecedented decline of cultural tourism based on visits and organized trips to heritage sites and museums.

Amid the current extraordinary circumstances, ICESCO reiterates its call for making culture accessible to all without exception or discrimination and bringing it closer to people in different parts of the world. Today, this call gains renewed momentum and offers further opportunities for its realization provided that we draw on the latest positive developments, particularly the innovative distance working and production mechanisms and digital and virtual alternatives for face-to-face cultural activities. Accordingly, ICESCO took prompt action to adopt this approach and ensure its application from the early days of the lockdown and social distancing enforcement. It was one of the first international organizations to launch, under its “Digital Home,” several digital initiatives including its comprehensive cultural initiative, “Distance Culture” aimed to contribute to addressing the growing “cultural loss” in various countries since March. ICESCO was also one of the first organizations to hold e-training sessions and broadcast introductory and training videos in the field of heritage on its online platforms. Most notable of this is introductory capsules on training museum professionals on museum management and security, which the Organization makes to all nations inside and outside the Islamic world.

In furtherance to the interest ICESCO gives to museums, the Organization has created a Division of Museums and Movable Heritage within its recently completed Islamic World Heritage Center. This Division is tasked with providing technical support to museums in the Islamic world; contributing to training museum professionals; building national capacities in the field of museum and museum collections management; and expanding their scope of benefit to cover all fields of sustainable development (cultural, educational, social and economic fields). In this context, the Organization proclaimed the week starting from 25 September as an annual Week of Heritage in the Islamic World, during which a variety of activities and conferences are held to review and exchange expertise on museum management in the Islamic world, exhibition tools and use of modern technology in museums.

In light of the continuing lockdown measures, many museums took the initiative to launch digital platforms to allow the public to admire some of their collections virtually. In this regard, ICESCO commended these initiatives and called for consolidating them through using modern technology and AI applications. This step would lay down all possible future scenarios for museum management, collections, and human resources and drafting future strategies for the future of museum and heritage action post-crisis.

In line with the noble intents of its “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition,” recently launched to firmly establish a global humanitarian approach to address crises and emergencies, ICESCO reiterates its call to culture ministries inside and outside Member States, international organizations’ museum authorities, and major national and international museums to upgrade museum facilities and allow access to museum collections through digital platforms. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of museums and their key role in developing societies, building human understanding, harmony, and spreading peace across the world.

Dr. AlMalik at UNA-OIC Forum: Islamophobia is an intrusive term whose use should be reconsidered

Posted on 16 May 2020 by MOHAMED.AQEIL

The Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, called on news agencies in the Islamic world for closer cooperation and partnership with similar agencies and media institutions in the world to develop awareness and push for joint efforts in handling Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The remarks came in his address at the first web forum of the Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA-OIC) held today to explore the role of news agencies in backing anti-COVID-19 efforts. The forum was organized under the patronage of Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Acting Minister of Media of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the UNA-OIC Executive Council, with the participation of Dr. Ahmed Yousef Al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB); Dr. Zayed Sultan Abdullah, UNA-OIC Deputy Director-General; and presidents and managers of the Islamic world news agencies.

Dr. AlMalik demanded that the concepts and terms used by news agencies in their discourses and materials in the Islamic world be thoughtfully and seriously reconsidered. Most notable terminology, “Islamophobia,” which he qualified as “intrusive,” should be scrutinized in terms of meanings, scope, and impact on entrenching on values of tolerance and understanding.

In another vein, ICESCO Director-General listed the initiatives launched by the Organization to support anti-COVID-19 efforts and help the Member States overcome its adverse effects on education, science, and culture. In this respect, he cited the digital information, and video clips ICESCO has broadcasted on its website and social networks pages for raising awareness of the threat of a pandemic. These materials provide ample explanation on how to protect against the virus in three languages: English, French, and Arabic, including few local African languages.

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