Category: News update

Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Mr. Ibrahim Norbert Richard, Assistant Secretary-General, and their accompanying delegation, and together they discussed cooperation prospects between the two Organizations in areas of common interest, particularly in the cultural field.

At the outset of the meeting, which was held on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, in Mexico City on the sidelines of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2022) taking place in Mexico, in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of ICESCO’s Culture and Communication Sector, Dr. Benarafa reviewed ICESCO’s new vision and strategic orientations, and its key programmes and activities aimed at supporting the efforts of its Member States in advancing education, science and culture.

For his part, Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, commended ICESCO’s pioneering role in developing culture in Member States, particularly through the preservation and valorization of cultural heritage, expressing his desire for OACPS to join ICESCO as an Observer State.
The OACPS consists of 78 Member States (48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean, and 15 from the Pacific Ocean).

On the sidelines of his participation in the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2022) in Mexico, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with several officials in charge of cultural action participating in the Conference and availed himself of the opportunity to emphasize the Organization’s keenness to foster cooperation with all parties.

On the margins of the opening session, which was held on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, in Mexico City, Dr. Benarafa discussed with His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Saudi National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, who hailed the distinguished cooperation between ICESCO and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the cultural field. For their part, ICESCO representatives stressed the Organization’s keenness to sustain this cooperation.

ICESCO Deputy DG also discussed with Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), regarding the cooperation between the two Organizations and the means to strengthen them to serve the Member States.

It is worth noting that the ICESCO delegation to MONDIACULT 2022 also comprises Dr. Mohamed Zinelabidine, Head of the Culture and Communication Sector.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held a meeting with a committee of high-level officials from different ministries in the Gabonese Republic, to finalize joint programmes and initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation between ICESCO and Gabon.

The meeting, which was held on Monday, September 26, 2022, via videoconference, touched upon proposals for programmes and projects to be implemented jointly, particularly in the field of capacity-building for women, youth and vulnerable groups, civilizational dialogue, promoting peace, and encouraging scientific research through the establishment of ICESCO scientific chairs in Gabonese universities. Other cooperation avenues included ensuring quality education for all, preserving cultural heritage and valorizing local culture as a contribution toward achieving sustainable development goals and attaining the Organization’s strategic objectives.

The meeting brought together Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Head of ICESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Head of the Legal Affairs and International Standards Department, Ms. Jihane El Assimi, from the Financial Affairs Department, Mr. Serge Kratha, Director of the Office of the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research, Technology Transfer and National Education in Gabon, and representatives of the Gabonese National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, the Ministry of Budget and Public Accounts, the Ministry of Sports, and the Ministry of Trade and Small and Medium Enterprises.

The workshop held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), to develop the capabilities of education planners on modern trends in the field of educational planning, kicked off Today, Monday, September 26, 2022. The event is organized in cooperation with the Tunisian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, under the patronage of its President, Dr. Fethi Sellaouti, Minister of Education of the Republic of Tunisia.

The four-day workshop is aimed at upskilling educational planning professionals, including officials in planning units at the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the National Center for Adult Education, and relevant bodies in the Republic of Tunisia, and equipping them with the necessary tools and expertise. The event also seeks to disseminate the latest educational planning methods, processes and techniques, and promote the culture of educational planning to contribute to the development of educational systems.

Dr. Ahmed Zanfali, Programme Director at ICESCO’s Education Sector, attended the workshop’s opening session, during which he emphasized the importance of the event, hoping that it would develop the capabilities of education planners, and thus contribute effectively to the desired educational development. The session also saw the participation of Dr. Kamel Hajjam, Secretary-General of the Tunisian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, who praised in his address ICESCO’s role in enhancing educational systems and its support for its Member States’ efforts in multiple areas.

The workshop sessions cover the different phases of educational planning, its procedures and methods, mechanisms for its practical application, modern trends, and how they can be used to improve education systems and ensure their quality. The sessions also address the use of strategic planning in education, the requirements for the success of the educational planning process, and education planning in times of crisis, as well as the participant’s experiences in the field and the challenges they encounter.

On Friday (September 23, 2022), the Strategic Foresight Center of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) concluded the series of meetings, held in partnership with Mohamed bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) of the United Arab Emirates, in several Moroccan universities, to introduce students of engineering and science faculties to the scholarships provided by MBZUAI.

The week-long meetings, which saw the participation of more than 500 master’s and doctoral students, aimed at introducing them to the importance of artificial intelligence and its applications in building the future. It also highlighted MBZUAI’s keenness, through its various departments, to enhance scientific research in the fields of computer vision and machine learning.

Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center for Strategic Foresight, along with his team represented ICESCO in these meetings while Dr. Hosni Ghadira, Director of Research Services Department, Mr. Abdul Muttalib Al Seddik, Acting Head of the Computer Vision Department, and Ms. Reem Orfaly, Director of Student Affairs, represented MBZUAI.

The closing ceremony of the International Conference on “Unity of the Source of Messages against Extremism and Terrorism for Peace and Cooperation,” hosted by the Russian Islamic University affiliated with the Central Religious Department of Muslims of Russia, in Ufa, capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, witnessed the announcement of the establishment of the ICESCO Chair for Arabic Language in the Service of Dialogue and Coexistence at the University.

Procedures for signing the agreement on the Chair’s establishment between ICESCO and the Department should be completed in the days ahead. The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in the fourteenth session of the Conference, which was held within the framework of the celebrations marking the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam as an official religion in the historic Kingdom of Bulgar, Russian Federation.

The event is part of a series of international scientific meetings organized by the Department and its affiliated University, with the assistance of the Presidency of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and in cooperation with the Fund for Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education.

The opening ceremony took place on September 21, 2022, in the presence of His Eminence Sheikh Al-Islam Talaat Safa Taj Al-Din, General Mufti, Head of the Central Religious Department of the Muslims of Russia, representative of the Presidency of the Republic in Bashkortostan, and a host of scientific and intellectual figures from Russia and the Islamic world.Mr. Adel Bouraoui, Advisor to the Director-General for ICESCO’s External Centers and University Chairs in the field of Arabic Language, represented the Organization in the opening ceremony and delivered an address in which he noted that the Conference’s theme lies at the core of ICESCO’s concerns. He emphasized that ICESCO places dialogue, peace, coexistence and rejection of extremism at the heart of its educational, cultural and communication strategies and action plans, reviewing a number of the Organization’s achievements in this field.

The Human and Social Sciences Sector of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held a meeting with the National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture in Mauritania, Pakistan, Malaysia and the Comoros Islands, to discuss arrangements for launching the ICESCO initiative to rehabilitate street children through football in these countries.

The meeting, which was held via videoconference, was attended by Mrs. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, head of the Human and Social Sciences Sector at ICESCO, and the Sector’s work team, while the countries benefiting from the initiative were represented by Mr. Mohamed Ould Sidi Abdallah, Secretary General of the Mauritanian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture; Mr. Junaid Akhlaq, Secretary-General of the Pakistan National Commission for UNESCO and ICESCO; Mr. Hizrul bin Ali and Mr. Muhammad Nazif bin Muhammad Noor from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, and Mr. Muhammad bin Ali, ICESCO’s delegate in Comoros.

In her intervention, Mrs. Ramata Almami Mbaye stressed that ICESCO aims, through this initiative, to use sport as a powerful and effective tool to enhance child protection, education, rehabilitation, peace-building and contribute to building the capacities of vulnerable groups, noting that football tournaments, training sessions, physical activities and games contribute significantly to social integration and cohesion, combating violence, promoting tolerance and creating safe spaces for street children.

During the meeting, the participants stressed that this initiative constitutes an opportunity to support street children aged between 7 and 17 through football, and to instill in them the values of leadership and social skills to motivate and inspire them and contribute to a creating brighter future.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) celebrates Islamic World Heritage Day annually on September 25, an occasion to review ICESCO’s important achievements made in the preservation and valorization of the cultural properties of the countries of the Islamic world, placing them on the map of global cultural tourism and exploring the promising prospects in this field.

As part of ICESCO’s efforts to protect the cultural heritage in the Islamic world and document its elements, the Organization inscribed a large number of historical sites and cultural elements of its Member States on ICESCO’s Lists of Tangible and Intangible Heritage in the Islamic World. It held several training sessions for the benefit of professional staff working in the field of heritage to develop their capacities in preparing inscription files. The Organization also held several international fora and symposia to raise awareness of the need to combat illegal trafficking in cultural property and its restitution.

Relying on modern technology and keeping pace with the latest developments, ICESCO is working to expand the experiment of employing artificial intelligence in heritage documentation for the benefit of Member States and is working on the completion of a set of guides on types of heritage, mechanisms for its valorization, and ways to combat its illegal trafficking, which will be soon available for heritage staff.

ICESCO’s Islamic World Heritage Center, which has become a think-tank for specialists and experts in this field, is implementing an integrated programme that provides the required support to Member States to respond to their various needs in the field of heritage, including reviewing legal systems, supervising professionals and raising their level of readiness, carrying out inspection and reconnaissance visits to endangered heritage monuments by ICESCO’s specialized committees and preparing technical reports on them, as well as documenting, restoring and maintaining the various components of cultural heritage in the Islamic world and contributing to preparing them to support the Member States’ local and national economies.