Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the Kasbah of the Udayas, one of most emblematic monuments of Rabat, a city celebrated as the Culture Capital in the Islamic World for 2022, with a rich, year-long program featuring various activities. The celebration of Rabat, which officially kicked off on March 24, 2022, is granted the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him.

During the meeting, held today, Friday, March 25, 2022, the two parties reaffirmed the keenness of their respective Organizations to sustain cooperation within the framework of the agreement concluded between ICESCO and UNESCO in November 2019 on capacity building, development and technical assistance, along with other areas of common interest.

At the close of the meeting, Dr. AlMalik presented Ms. Azoulay with a copy of ICESCO’s recently-issued book “Peace 360: Exploring the Dimensions of Peace.”

ICESCO DG reviewed the main focuses of the Organization’s strategic orientations by 2025, its executive plans and priority programs that represent potential avenues of cooperation between ICESCO and UNESCO. These include training youth on peace-building, anchoring the values of coexistence and civilizational dialogue, promoting investment in space science and artificial intelligence applications, mitigating the adverse impact of climate change and conducting foresight studies on the future of the Islamic world and the African continent as well as the future of artificial intelligence in education.

This meeting took place on the sidelines of the celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the inscription of Rabat on the World Heritage List. The event was held at the Kasbah of the Udayas by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates in the Kingdom of Morocco.