Category: News update

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), emphasized the need to restore universal human values that must prevail over all ideologies that divide peoples, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that this can be achieved through the promotion of peace culture and the development of policies that promote dialogue among civilizations, which are paramount for social cohesion and sustainable development.

This statement was part of an address delivered on his behalf by Dr. Abdelilah Benarfa, ICESCO Deputy DG, during the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Group of Friends meeting, which took place on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at the United Nations headquarters in New York and via videoconference. The high-level meeting was attended by Mr. Miguel Moratinos, High Representative for the UNAOC, Mr. Jose Manuel Albarís Bueno, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, along with other representatives of states and international organizations. The meeting aimed at reviewing the progress achieved in the implementation of UNOAC’s initiatives and programmes for 2021 and discussing the current year’s plans.

In his address, ICESCO DG commended the efforts exerted in the areas of peacebuilding and promoting social cohesion and peaceful dialogue, stressing that ICESCO’s vision is based on addressing peace issues and their cross-cutting dimensions relating to the economic, scientific, technological, cultural, environmental, psychological and social fields that foster common universal human values.

ICESCO DG added that the Organization spares no effort in integrating the values of cordiality and mercy into its Member States’ educational curricula, reviewing ICESCO’s major initiatives geared towards promoting a culture of peace, namely the International Conference on the Civilizational Values in the Prophet’s Seerah, held on May 27, 2021, that issued several recommendations and called on the United Nations to proclaim April 21st as the World Day of Mercy.

Dr. AlMalik concluded his address by reaffirming the Organization’s keenness to work closely with all partners towards achieving world peace by harnessing the power of educational programmes and civilized, inter-cultural dialogue to build peaceful, prosperous and sustainable societies.

Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) participated in the Islamic Center for the Development of Trade’s 20th Hybrid Meeting of Economic Advisors of the OIC Member States Embassies accredited to Morocco, held on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, in Rabat, to discuss the latest developments in trade and economy in the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The participants reviewed the developments in the field of environmental trade in the OIC Member States, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economic sector and the program of the public and sectoral exhibitions, fora, seminars and bilateral meetings that the Islamic Center for the Development of Trade has scheduled for 2022.

The meeting also considered the implementation of the Trade Preferential System Agreement in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the new regional context, and reviewed the Trade Information Network for Islamic Countries (TINIC), stressing the need to further develop the economies of Member States. The participants commended the OIC’s efforts to support the Member States most affected by the pandemic.

The meeting, which saw the participation of the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as the delegations of diplomatic missions and bodies, witnessed the signing ceremony of memoranda of understanding with the partners of the Islamic Center for the Development of Trade.

In a bid to promote and develop cooperation between the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and Sudan in the Organization’s fields of action, Ambassador Khaled Fathalrahman, Director of the Center for Civilization Dialogue at ICESCO, held two separate meetings with Dr. Graham Abdel Qader, Sudanese Minister of Culture and Information, and Ms. Wafaa Sayed Ahmed Nour-Eddine, Secretary-General of the Sudanese National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, respectively.

During the first meeting that took place on Monday, February 7, 2022, at the headquarters of the Sudanese Ministry of Culture and Information, in Khartoum, Ambassador Fathalrahman conveyed to Dr. Abdel Qader the greetings and congratulations of Dr. Salim M. Al-Malik, ICESCO Director-General, on assuming the position of Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of the Sudan.

The meeting explored the areas of cultural cooperation between ICESCO and the Sudan, most notably the Sennar Office for Tangible and Intangible Heritage and the importance of inscribing the Sudanese historical sites and cultural elements on the Islamic World Heritage List of ICESCO.

At the close of the meeting, the two parties agreed to sustain coordination to develop cooperation within the framework of the Organization’s new vision and action strategy, which found the implementation of its programs and activities on the priorities and needs of each Member State.

The second meeting considered ways to promote coordination mechanisms between ICESCO and the Sudanese National Commission for Education, Science and Culture to develop cooperation between the Organization and the Sudanese parties concerned with ICESCO’s fields of action and implement programs and activities likely to yield positive, tangible and measurable results.

At the close of the meeting, the Sudanese National Commission honored the representative of ICESCO, in appreciation of the Organization’s efforts and remarkable roles in promoting the fields of education, science and culture in its Member States.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in the 14th meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Steering Committee on Health (SCH) held on Sunday, 6 February 2022, both in-person at OIC’s headquarters in Jeddah and via videoconference. The meeting featured presentations on the Member States’ experiences in addressing COVID-19 and the measures they adopted to mitigate the pandemic’s impact.

Participants in the meeting emphasized the need for sustained action to strengthen health systems, commending the efforts of OIC and its various organs in supporting its Member States that were most affected by the pandemic.

Mrs. Ramata Almamy Mbaye, Head of ICESCO’s Human and Social Sciences Sector and Mr. Mohamed Hadi Shili, Director of ICESCO’s Legal Affairs and International Standards Department, represented the Organization in the meeting.

In her intervention, Mrs. Mbaye reviewed ICESCO’s major programmes and activities aimed at supporting its Member States with the utmost need for assistance in the areas of education, science, culture, communication, environment and relevant fields. She also noted that ICESCO has successfully devised innovative programmes on community health and humanitarian issues that led to the development of sterilants, masks and pandemic-prevention guides. Mrs. Mbaye also reviewed ICESCO’s programmes that are geared towards the promotion of entrepreneurship, particularly among young people, women and girls, and the infrastructural rehabilitation of water networks in rural education facilities, as well as the granting of university scholarships to support research and innovation in science and technology.

To conclude her intervention, Mrs. Mbaye called on the international community to adopt a comprehensive approach to health by placing greater emphasis on sports, nutrition and mental health.

The Sector of Science and Technology at the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) held a meeting to explore cooperation prospects and mechanisms for developing and implementing programs and organizing activities and training sessions in the fields of science and technology with the aim of capitalizing on scientific advancements to achieve peace and address the challenges facing the world today.

During the meeting, held Thursday 3 February 2022, via videoconference, the two parties discussed the organization of an international conference at ICESCO Headquarters on the mutual impact of science and culture. They also discussed holding workshops on the climate fallout of deforestation related to countries’ cultures, religious beliefs and biodiversity policies. Furthermore, seminars on scientific diplomacy and the future of healthcare, in addition to symposia on engaging religious leaderships in supporting the attainment of sustainable development goals will also be line-up, as part of the arrangements for the celebration of Rabat as the 2022 Culture Capital in the Islamic World, which falls within ICESCO’s Programme for Culture Capitals in the Islamic World.

The parties also commended the strategic partnership between ICESCO and KAICIID, calling for promoting cooperation in STEM, environment protection through raising awareness, holding training sessions, and publishing research works and studies on the role of science in enriching culture in the countries of the Islamic world.

Dr. Abdul Rahman, Expert at the Sector of Science and Technology, represented ICESCO, while Mr. Anas Al-Abbadi, Deputy Program Manager, represented KAICIID, along with a team from the Center.

The Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), will launch its project for “Developing Open Education in FUIW Member Universities” in March 2022, to promote the use of open educational practices in ICESCO’s Member States through teacher training programs.

In preparation for the project’s launch, Dr. Omar Halli, Advisor to ICESCO Director-General (DG) for FUIW, met with Dr. Khaled Berrada, coordinator of the project’s scientific team. During the meeting, the two parties discussed the project’s objectives, namely the provision of training programs for researchers and teaching professionals on the design, production, use and dissemination of open education resources, and the adoption of open science and educational practices in higher education in FUIW Member Universities.

The training courses will be launched online on the Moodle learning platform and will include five modules on open education, open educational resources, open educational practices, training courses, open science, copyright and open licenses. A certificate will be issued upon successful completion of the training courses.

These training courses will be supervised by several specialized professors, notably Dr. Berrada from Mohammed V University in Rabat, Dr. Daniel Burgos, Vice-rector for Knowledge Transfer & Technology at the International University of La Rioja in Spain, Dr. Lilia

The national training session on writing local African languages in the standardized Arabic script kicked off, on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. The training is held by ICESCO Center of Arabic for Non- Arab Speakers, in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Youssef Al-Khalifa Center for Writing Languages in Arabic Script at the International University of Africa, in Sudan, at the headquarters of Blue Nile University.

The three-week training session aims to develop the participants’ skills and capacities in the field of computational linguistics by taking advantage of language computing developments, identifying educational strategies and the procedural and technical steps for writing and programming local oral languages in the Arabic script, and presenting the research projects in local languages written in the Arabic script on different topics.

This training session is part of the cooperation agreement between ICESCO, IsDB and the International University of Africa, within ICESCO’s Action Plan for 2022. It also comes in response to the priorities and needs of Member States in writing and saving the local languages of Muslim communities in Africa from extinction.

The event further promotes the Organization’s efforts and new vision to develop and update the strategies for teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers in line with the pedagogical approaches that suit the local learning environment.
Over forty learners from different groups of civil society will benefit from this training, including staff and faculty members of Blue Nile University, public education teachers and media professionals, in addition to a group of people interested in African languages.

The training is supervised by Dr. Saber Abdullah Muhammad, Head of the Training Department at the International University of Africa, and Dr. Al-Sadiq Muhammad Adam, from Blue Nile University, as well as two local experts specializing in the field of education, linguistics and media.

The Culture and Communication Sector at the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in an international symposium on the role of cultural institutions in promoting culture. The symposium was organized by the Ministry of Culture of Egypt and the Egyptian General Book Organization within the framework of the 53rd edition of Cairo International Book Fair held under the theme “Egypt’s Identity: Culture and the Question of the Future.”

The symposium took place on Monday, January 31, 2022, in Cairo. Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Head of the Culture and Communication Sector, represented ICESCO and spoke about “The New Awareness of Cultural Issues in Development Policies… A Pressing Need,” emphasizing the new roles that culture has assumed in the world. He discussed ICESCO’s role under its new vision and action strategy for the period 2021-2024 to support Member States’ efforts to shape their cultural development policies and build capacities. The Organization assists its Member States in conducting scientific and methodological studies to leverage cultural investments, both public and private. It also supervises civil society initiatives in its Member States to enhance youth employability and provides the needed material and human resources for cultural action.

Dr. Zine El Abidine reviewed ICESCO’s initiatives that are aimed at strengthening and promoting cultural rights in the countries of the Islamic world, namely the right to take part in cultural life and the author’s rights. He also cast light on initiatives that are geared towards digital innovation in creative industries, social and cultural economies, heritage tourism, and craft industries.

He pointed out that ICESCO places culture and heritage at the heart of its forward-looking strategies through its “Roads to the Future” Program. “The Organization is keen on inscribing and valorizing heritage in the Islamic world through the Islamic World Heritage Center, which is a cultural structure in charge of preserving the Islamic world’s tangible and intangible heritage, cultural elements and living human treasures. The Center seeks to valorize the Islamic world’s civilizational components, historical memory, identity and diversity,” added Dr. Zine El Abidine.
It is worth noting that ICESCO celebrates Cairo as the Culture Capital in the Islamic World for 2022 that will bring together intellectuals, creators and artists. As part of the celebration program, ICESCO will organize several cultural activities, in cooperation with competent authorities in Egypt.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) took part in the International Forum on “Islamic Culture Curricula in Universities: Challenges and Development Prospects.” The Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University held the Forum via videoconference, in cooperation with the Qatari National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, as part of the Celebration of Doha as the 2021 Culture Capital in the Islamic World, under the theme “Our culture brightens the world.”
Mr. Najib Riati, Cultural Advisor to the Director-General, and Dr. Omar Halli, Advisor to the Director-General for the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World, took part in the Forum, held Saturday, 29 January 2022, along with several academics and specialists from Arab and Islamic universities. The Forum aims to explore the prospects of developing Islamic culture curricula to address current challenges, exchange expertise between Qatar University and other universities in this field, and promote institutional and individual efforts to develop these curricula.

The Forum commenced with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by an opening remark highlighting ICESCO’s key role in supporting university development projects, and a video on the Forum. The opening lecture reviewed the various stages of developing the concept of Islamic culture in universities over the last decades, before moving to participants’ various presentations addressing the topic, which led to a rich discussion.