Twenty-Three years in the service of development in the Islamic world
23rd Anniversary / 3 May 1982 - 3 May 2005

Creation: The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -ISESCO- was set up by virtue of Resolution No. 12/10-C of the Tenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which was held in Fez, Kingdom of Morocco, in May 1979.
The Statute (Charter) of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was adopted by virtue of Resolution No. 2/11-C of the Eleventh Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, which convened in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in May 1980.

Meeting in Makkah al-Mukarramah and Taef, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in January 1981, the Third Islamic Summit Conference issued Resolution No. 6/3-C (IS), wherein it called upon Member States to support the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and invited them to join the Islamic Organization.

The Founding Conference of ISESCO was then held in Fez, Kingdom of Morocco, on 9-11 Rajab 1402A.H./ 3-5 May 1982.

Objectives : The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization features in its objectives what follows :

1. To strengthen and promote cooperation among Member States and consolidate it in the fields of education, science, culture and communication; 

2. To develop applied sciences and use of advanced technology within the framework of the lofty and perennial Islamic values and ideals ;

3. To consolidate understanding among Muslim peoples and contribute to the achievement of world peace and security through various means, particularly through education, science, culture and communication ;

4. To consolidate complementarily and to seek to achieve coordination among the specialized institutions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the fields of education, science, culture and communication and among the Member States of the Islamic Organization (ISESCO) in order to consolidate Islamic solidarity ;

5. To consolidate Islamic culture, protect the independence of Islamic thought against cultural invasion and distortion factors, and safeguard the features and distinct characteristics of the Islamic civilization ;

6. To safeguard the Islamic identity of Muslims in non-Islamic countries.

Membership : The Charter of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization stipulates that any Member State of the Organization of the Islamic Conference -OIC- or observer therein becomes a member of ISESCO upon its approval of the latter’s Charter. A State which is not Member of the OIC nor observer therein cannot become member of ISESCO.
 

The membership of ISESCO, to date (May 2004), stands at 51 States.
Here is a list of ISESCO’s Member States, arranged according to the Arabic alphabetical order.

The organs of the Islamic Organization -ISESCO- are :

I. The General Conference :
It is composed of the representatives of ISESCO's Member States, appointed by their governments and specializing in education, science, culture or communication.
The General Conference meets in a regular session once every three years. It may meet in an extraordinary session.

II. The Executive Council :
The Executive Council is made up of one representative for each Member State. The members of the Executive Council must be versed in science, education, arts, literature and communication.

III. The General Directorate :
It is headed by a Director General elected by the General Conference for a renewable three-year term, from among candidates of Member States. The Director General is the head of the administrative setup and is accountable to the Executive Council and the General Conference.

Director General : Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri
(November 1991 to date)

ISESCO WEBSITE : www.isesco.org.ma
 

UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945. For this specialized United Nations agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in devastated countries or to publish scientific breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication are the means to a far more ambitious goal: to build peace in the minds of men. For, if peace is to exist, it must first of all be desired by the women and the men of the whole world. But before that idea takes shape in the minds of each one of us, a long road remains to be travelled.

UNESCO is working to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture. This role is critical, particularly in the face of terrorism, which constitutes an attack against humanity. The world urgently requires global visions of sustainable development based upon observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which lie at the heart of UNESCO’s mission and activities.

By adopting the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in 2001, UNESCO Member States reaffirmed their conviction that cultural diversity is one of the roots of development “as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature” and categorically rejected the idea that conflicts between cultures and civilizations are inevitable. www.unesco.org/culture/pluralism

UNESCO is working on diverse fronts to implement the principles and action plan of the Declaration, which aims to promote dialogue among cultures and civilizations. From the Silk Roads to the Slave Route, several academic research programs shed light on positive and negative forces shaping cultural diversity in the past and present. Studies like the Atlas of Endangered Languages highlight the need to preserve linguistic diversity, while the Index Translationum provides an international bibliography of translated works. www.unesco.org/culture/xtrans

UNESCO is building a Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity that brokers new partnerships between public and private actors to support local cultural industries - such as music and publishing - in developing countries. The alliance works to increase the availability of diverse, affordable cultural products worldwide, to prevent piracy and to encourage respect for international copyright regulations. www.unesco.org/culture/alliance