The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) is taking part in the 14th International Conference & Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development—E-Learning Africa, being held under the theme “The Keys to the Future: Learnability and Employability”, in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, on 23-25 October 2019.
This conference is one the key international thematic events that address the role of technology in supporting learning, training and skills development. It also bring together experts, academicians, professionals, investors and people interested in the future of education in Africa.
The event’s programme features holding core dialogues, discovery demos, expertise exchange sessions, knowledge factories, panel discussions, and plenary sessions. It also includes holding high-level ministerial roundtables for African ministers of education, training and ICT.
This is not the first time ISESCO participates in this event; the Organization had taken part and co-held previous editions of e-Learning Africa. In this edition, ISESCO gave a presentation in one of the plenary sessions on ISESCO’s Project on “Educational Technology in Service of Alternative Teaching and Learning Patterns”, entitled “ICT and Leadership for Teachers’ Professional Growth: ISESCO’s Initiatives”. The presentation aimed to highlight the strategic orientations of ISESCO’s new vision regarding the use of ICT in service of education, and its role in teachers’ professional growth.
ISESCO is represented in this conference by Mr. Aziz Elhajir, Programme Specialist at the Directorate of Education.
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) published the Issue No. 1 of ‘ISESCO Journal’, a refereed academic periodical in Arabic, English and French.
This issue includes the following articles: “Religion, renaissance and middle stance” by Dr. Fahmi Jadaan; “Al-Quds Al-Sharif: View from wider perspectives” by Dr. Mohammed Amara; “Hate speech in pluralist societies” by Dr. Mohammad As-Sammak; “Inter-civilizational dialogue: Classification approach and foundational propositions” by Dr. Ahmed Abbadi; and “Education and civilization in Muslim societies” by Dr. Khalid Aazeb.
The Journal, published from 1983 until 2018 under the name ‘Islam Today’ in ISESCO’s three working languages, republished a chapter entitled “Views on Modern Civilization” from the book “the Orient and the Occident” by Dr. Ahmed Amine.
This issue also features the full text of “Makkah Charter” issued by the “Conference of Makkah Charter”, convened last Ramadan in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, prefaced by ISESCO Director General and translated into English and French.
The Op-Ed, entitled ‘New Vision’, was written by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, explaining in details the philosophy and dimensions of ISESCO’s new vision. Dr. AlMalik made it clear that: “the New Vision is based on a strategy that fits the nature of the current stage, the purpose of the mission and the specificity of the work to be undertaken, in order to achieve interim goals that serve the overall philosophy underlying the tasks assumed by those in charge of the implementation of this strategy. Today, the requirements of civilization include the adoption of a scientific planning approach, use of prospective thinking, drawing on field statistics and specialized studies and functional research to join the society of knowledge and achieve the objectives that meet the vital needs of countries. Indeed, it is the right approach which, if applied in Islamic countries and adopted as a philosophy, method and standard of action, will meet the aspirations of Islamic nations for comprehensive, inclusive, balanced, integrated and sustainable development, to benefit present and future generations. It is the rational development that targets growth and progress in the present and the future, in a steadfast and upward movement with unfailing enthusiasm, determination, resolve and hope.”
Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), stated that the Organization has entered into a new phase of rebuilding based on an innovative vision, a developed methodology and modern foundations in its pursuit to achieve a genuine transformation to secure its proper international position and keep up with the rapid changes and modern technologies.
His statement was part of the press conference held today at ISESCO headquarters. Dr. AlMalik started this meeting with media professionals by saying that “ISESCO was founded to become the Islamic world’s version of UNESCO. Today, we seek to become an international organization rather than a local or regional one. Besides, this aspiration is legitimate as it hinges upon a new vision which constitutes the basis of a strategy having future dimensions.”
Moreover, ISESCO Director General stressed that the Islamic world deserves having a high-standing organization, with wide impact on Muslim communities inside and outside the Islamic world, which expresses the Muslim world’s enlightened vision on contemporary issues relevant to ISESOC’s areas of competence.
Dr. AlMalik further highlighted that modernizing ISESCO both in form and content is the major objective which includes the strategic objectives of the Organization. He also explained that ISESCO’s new vision is based on three foundations: a) innovation in planning and achievement, and modernization of performance while rationalizing costs through a developed financial management; b) openness to the prospects of this era so as to be enlightened with modern humanist ideas and international expertise in education, science, innovation, culture, communication and creativity by establishing “ISESCO International Consultative Body”; c) transformation of ISESCO from an organization with limited resources into an organization which produces resources through the establishment of the Waqf Fund on modern bases to ensure its security and continuity in times of crises likely to drain its resources.
ISESCO Director General also said “Our vision aims to turn ISESCO into an international beacon in the fields of civilizational building and knowledge progress, and make of its conferences, meetings and workshops occasions to present new initiatives and useful innovative ideas.”
Besides, Dr. AlMalik stated “we are working to make ISESCO an organization of competencies and a leadership and creativity center, which coordinates the efforts seeking to develop policies and educational systems in Member States, and improve the performance and outputs of these systems.”
He further added that ISESCO should have a purposeful and innovative information mission, an effective communication strategy to defend and promote the status of Arabic language at the Islamic and international levels through the programmes of teaching Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers, support the programmes of writing the languages of Muslim peoples in Arabic script, and become open to the Muslim peoples regardless of the geographical borders.
Dr. AlMalik also underscored that the mission of ISESCO is to develop key leaderships, set developmental policies in its areas of competence, develop knowledge and innovative systems, and provide technical expertise and advice and institutional support through openness to its environment and the world at large.
In conclusion, Dr. AlMalik tackled the nature of the relationship that should be established between ISESCO and media outlets as he commended the role of media professionals and asked to support and develop their role in a consistent way with ISESCO’s new vision.
Afterwards, ISESCO Director General received and responded to the remarks and questions of the various media outlets’ representatives. He also lauded the suggestions made in some remarks and promised to examine and adopt them in line with the new vision of ISESCO while calling for further communication between the organization and media professionals.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
