The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) will launch on Thursday 30 April 2020, the “Societies We Want” Initiative. This virtual meeting will feature keynote speakers namely Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General; Dr. Lalla Malika Issoufou, First Lady of Niger; HRH Princess Lamia bint Majid AlSaud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies; Mr. Mamadou Talla, Minister of Education of the Republic of Senegal; and Ms. Jamila El-Moussali, Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco.

In its introduction, ICESCO noted that Coronavirus pandemic added another dimension to the long list of crises that hit the world in the age of globalization. The Organization stated that this pandemic uncovered our weak points and made us rethink the way our societies function. The Organization further explained that during the last few decades, there have been many signs of complex crisis the world has faced, hinting on the critical need to take proactive measures in refitting how our societies adapt to realities on the ground.

The Organization’s new initiative aims to spread knowledge, implement innovative programmes likely to contribute to building healthy, peaceful, vigilant, and inclusive societies that strive for prosperity, uphold sustainability and endeavor to change the future of humanity for the better. The dangers undermining peace and security, the economic crises and spread of poverty, climate change, and now the COVID-19 pandemic are all signs that our societies are at a critical turning point.

The “Societies We Want” initiative will be officially launched at 10:00 GMT. The three-hour meeting will see the participation of the keynote speakers in addition to other speakers specializing in human and social sciences, mental health, and strategic foresight. Speakers include Ms. Ramata Almamy Mbey, Director of Human and Social Sciences at ICESCO; Prof. Jamal El-Edine El-Hani, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Mohamed V University in Rabat; and Dr. Karim El Aynaoui, President of the Policy Center for the New South. The participants also include Prof. El-Mostafa Hadiya, Head of the Department of Psychology at Mohamed V University in Rabat; Prof Daniel Béland, Professor of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of Strategic Foresight Center at ICESCO; Ms. Hind Jalal, Resident Representative of UN Women in Cameroon; and Dr. Bakary Sambe, Director of Timbuktu Institute.

The invitation is open to the public through virtual meeting on Zoom platform at the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83937495557?pwd=VEZzKzhkK3FnbFdIMDhGckg3UWtCdz09

The meeting is also available as a live broadcast on ICESCO’s official Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar