Category: News update

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met Ms. Ameenah Garib-Fakima, former President of the Republic of Mauritius, during her visit to ICESCO headquarters, in Rabat, on Thursday (June 1, 2023).

During the meeting, Dr. AlMalik expressed his thanks and appreciation to Ms. Garib-Fakima for her permanent participation in ICESCO’s forums and activities through videoconference, noting that the Organization will launch and implement several programs and activities aimed at building the capacities of women and youth, developing the skills for future professions, building human capital, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, and consolidating the values of coexistence, peace and civilizational dialogue.

He added that ICESCO, within the framework of its vision and strategic orientations, adopts a policy of openness to non-Member States to serve Muslim communities around the world, welcoming the Republic of Mauritius to join ICESCO as an observer.

For her part, Ms. Garib-Fakima expressed her happiness at participating in ICESCO’s activities, appreciating the Organization’s efforts to serve Muslim countries in its areas of competence, and reaffirmed that she would convey the message of ICESCO Director-General to the competent authorities in Mauritius to consider joining the Organization as an observer.

Afterward, the former President of the Republic of Mauritius toured the International Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and Dr. Darem Tabbaa, Minister of Education of the Syrian Arab Republic, explored ways to enhance cooperation between ICESCO and Syria in the educational field, mainly the use of modern technology in the process of preparing curricula, building youth capacities and the inscription of historical schools on Islamic World Heritage Lists.

At the outset of the meeting, which took place on Thursday, June 1, 2023, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik reviewed the Organization’s vision and strategic orientations and highlighted the key programs and projects being implemented for the benefit of its Member States in its areas of competence, mainly developing the education sector, building youth capacities, developing their knowledge and preparing them for tomorrow’s jobs, as well as holding training sessions in the field of space science and its applications and consolidating the values of coexistence and civilizational dialogue.

ICESCO Director General reaffirmed the Organization’s eagerness to cooperate with the Syrian authorities and support them in facing the risks related to the educational process, mainly school dropouts and educational loss, as well as providing educational opportunities for the displaced population.

For his part, Dr. Tabbaa valued ICESCO’s role in contributing to the development of education, science and culture in its Member States, noting his intention to inscribe historical schools and elements of the Syrian intangible heritage related to religious education on ICESCO’s Islamic World Heritage Lists.
The meeting touched upon means and mechanisms for strengthening cooperation between ICESCO and Syria in preparing school curricula, implementing joint programs and projects to employ modern technology and artificial intelligence in preparing these curricula, in addition to cooperation in building youth capacities.

The meeting brought together Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General of ICESCO, and Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Advisor to ICESCO Director-General for Partnerships and International Cooperation, Supervisor of the General Secretariat of National Commissions and Conferences.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and together discussed the latest developments in cooperation between ICESCO and Egypt, especially in the field of building the capacities of teachers and developing their skills to keep up with the advancements of technology applications and capitalize on them in modernizing the educational process.

The meeting was held on Thursday, June 1, 2023, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, in the presence of Ambassador Yasser Othman, Ambassador of Egypt to Morocco, the delegation accompanying the Minister, Dr. Abdelilah Benarfa, ICESCO Deputy Director-General and several heads of departments at the Organization. During the meeting, Dr. Al-Malik stressed the Organization’s keenness to continue fruitful cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt in the fields of education, science and culture, commending the patronage of His Excellency President El-Sisi for ICESCO’s Year of Youth, which will be marked by the launch and implementation of numerous initiatives, programs and activities for the benefit of young people in the Islamic world. He added that this year-long event will be officially launched in a major international celebration in Cairo in the coming period.

For his part, Dr. Hegazy expressed his delight at visiting ICESCO Headquarters, commending the Organization’s role in supporting the efforts of its Member States within its areas of competence, and its keenness to contribute to the modernization of educational strategies.

The meeting discussed the latest developments regarding the programs and projects implemented in cooperation between ICESCO and Egypt in the field of education, notably the International Professional Teaching Certificates Project, which will benefit 2,000 teachers in a number of Egyptian governorates. They also discussed the implementation of ICESCO’s project to improve water and sanitation services in many Egyptian schools.
At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to sustain coordination to explore more cooperation opportunities.

Afterward, Dr. Al-Malik accompanied Dr. Hegazy on a tour of the International Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, currently housed at ICESCO Headquarters. The Egyptian Minister expressed his admiration for the rich information provided by this great scientific edifice on the Seerah of the Noble Prophet, using the latest display technologies.

On Wednesday, May 31, 2023, several heads of delegation participating in the 13th Conference of Arab Education Ministers held in Rabat, visited the International Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, currently organized at the headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of ICESCO who welcomed the officials, pointed out that the Exhibition is the fruit of a strategic partnership between ICESCO, the Islamic World League (IWL) and the Mohammadia League of Scholars in the Kingdom of Morocco stating that the event is the first edition of the Exhibitions and Museums of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The delegation received detailed explanations of the contents of the various pavilions and sections of the Exhibition, and the modern display technologies which tell the story of and document in detail the Seerah of our Prophet (PBUH), and virtually take the visitor back to his time.

At the end of the visit, the heads of the Arab delegations praised the visit, during which they benefited from encyclopedic information presented in a simplified and convincing way, thanks to the use of AI and augmented reality technologies.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) is participating in the 1st African edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX), which kicked off on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, in Marrakesh, Kingdom of Morocco, under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him.

Through its participation with a special pavilion in the three-day GITEX Africa 2023, ICESCO seeks to contribute to promoting technological development in its Member States, encouraging innovation and exchanging expertise and experiences in the fields of education, science and culture, as well as building youth capacities in the field of modern technology, such as artificial intelligence and metaverse, to contribute to the development of policies, partnerships and strategies that promote digital transformation.

ICESCO’s pavilion program at GITEX includes panel discussions with several prominent experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, health care, metaverse, space sciences, smart cities, the importance of artificial intelligence in transforming businesses, educational technology and the challenges of creative industries.

During the Exhibition, the pavilion will also unveil several ICESCO initiatives and programs related to modern technology, youth capacity-building, digitization of the Organization’s action, and its use of the latest technologies.

Dr. Ghita Mezzour, Minister Delegate in charge of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, and Dr. Awatif Hayar, Minister of Solidarity, Social Inclusion and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco, visited ICESCO’s pavilion at GITEX Africa 2023 and commended the Organization’s efforts to support its Member States in advancing the field of new technology.

GITEX Africa is the largest technology event on the continent and an occasion for technology pioneers, governments, small and medium companies, startups, programmers, investors and academics to cooperate, accelerate and explore new opportunities, as well as review the latest developments in the world of modern technology.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), stressed the importance of adopting a forward-looking and proactive vision, and integrating foresight in educational curricula from the early years to build a generation that anticipates the future and capable of developing proactive scenarios to keep pace with the transformations of the education sector and job market, and bridge the digital gap, which is a multi-dimension dilemma, noting that ICESCO gives foresight a high priority through its programs and workshops to develop the capacities of the new generations.

This was part of Dr. AlMalik’s address during the Thirteenth Conference of Arab Ministers of Education, held by Arab League of Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), on Wednesday (May 31, 2023), in Rabat, under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him, in partnership with the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, and the Moroccan National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, under the theme “Future of education in the Arab world in the era of digital transformation”. The event witnessed rich discussions on many educational issues.

At the outset of his address, Dr. AlMalik commended the theme of the conference, which bears the seeds of renewal and modernization as it brings together the leaders of educational action to discuss the future and the digital revolution, explaining that a proactive vision is necessary to avoid the dangers of technology and Internet, which ICESCO focuses on its recent international conference on the reality and foresight studies that brought together experts from around the world.

He added that ICESCO is interested in foresight through its vision that it presented before the United Nations Education Transformation Summit, in New York, in September 2022. “ICESCO is preparing to hold a comprehensive conference in the presence of education ministers of Muslim countries and the representatives of international organizations to discuss the future of education through a forward-looking vision and new thinking strategies.

ICESCO DG concluded his address by pointing out that despite the statistics indicating a regression in education in the Islamic and Arab world, the capacities of our students reflect their excellence and the future would be promising if we reconcile ourselves with it.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received Mr. Mohamed Ben Amor, Director General of the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), to discuss prospects for cooperation between the two organizations to support the efforts of countries in the Islamic world in digital transformation and cybersecurity, and strengthen the presence of the Arabic language on the Internet.

During the meeting, which took place on Tuesday 30 May 2023 in the presence of the delegation accompanying Mr. Ben Amor and several ICESCO sector heads and department directors, the two parties affirmed their willingness to build fruitful cooperation on issues related to digitization, notably the strengthening of digital trust, to encourage countries to digital transformation and contribute to bridging the digital divide existing between them, and consequently achieve digital inclusion.

The meeting discussed specific proposals for cooperation between ICESCO and AICTO, notably capacity-building for young people and new generations in the fields of technology to keep pace with their rapid evolution, promoting Arabic digital content and the presence of the Arabic language on the Internet, and contributing to strengthening the protection of personal data on the Internet in the light of developments in artificial intelligence.

In conclusion, it was decided to pursue consultation and coordination to agree on a number of programs and projects to be implemented by the two organizations within the framework of a practical agreement including said programs and projects.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) signed a new cooperation agreement with the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) to strengthen the existing partnership between the two institutions in areas of common interest. The agreement aims to support scientific research in education and teaching, promote initiatives in the fields of open education, publications and translation, and create networks for the promotion of technical and vocational education and development of educational systems in the Islamic world.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Organization, and Dr. Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al-Assimi, ABEGS Director-General, in the presence of Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, ICESCO Deputy Director-General, and a number of the Organization’s heads of departments and centers.

At the signing ceremony, Dr. AlMalik emphasized that the agreement strengthens the fruitful partnership between the two institutions. For his part, Dr. Al-Assimi stated that the partnership between ICESCO and ABEGS will go beyond the implementation of the projects and programs provided for in the agreement.

The agreement provides for co-organizing international workshops, seminars and symposia in the fields of education and teaching; launching training programs and sessions for teachers; conducting studies in this field; promoting consultation between the two parties, particularly in areas of common interest; collecting statistical data; and cooperating in technical studies, particularly in the fields of educational technology and artificial intelligence.

A meeting was held before the agreement signing between Dr. AlMalik and Dr. AL-Assimi, in which the two officials discussed ways to strengthen the partnership between ICESCO and ABEGS, and agreed to pursue coordination and joint action to ensure optimal benefit from programs and projects to be implemented, in support of Muslim countries’ efforts to modernize their education systems.

In this connection, Dr. AlMalik pointed out that ICESCO proclaimed its Year of Youth, which will be marked by the launch and implementation of a series of initiatives and programs to build the capacities of young people in the Islamic world in the fields of leadership for peace, technology, innovation, space sciences and the awarding of scholarships at prestigious universities.

For his part, Dr. Al-Assimi commended ICESCO’s efforts, stressing that the Islamic world had recently changed its view of the Organization, given its remarkable efforts in service of its Member States, particularly in the fields of education, science and culture.

Following the signing, Dr. AlMalik accompanied Dr. Al-Assimi on a tour of the Exhibition and Museum of the Prophet’s Seerah and Islamic Civilization, currently housed at the Organization’s headquarters. The ABEGS delegation received detailed explanations on the treasure troves exhibited at the various pavilions and sections of the Exhibition and Museum, presented using modern display techniques, which recount and document in detail our Prophet’s Seerah.