By WAM,
Paris : Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri and Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Ko?chiro Matsuura signed programme of cooperation in Paris on Tuesday.
With a budget of five billion dollars, the new cooperation programme will implement 128 activities covering the fields of education, science, culture, communication, external relations and the national commissions.
In the field of education, the two organizations agreed to conduct workshops for the staff working in literacy, as well as to implement activities concerning the fight against AIDS and drugs in schools, non-formal education and vocational training, and modernizing educational systems.
Concerning the field of science, the two sides agreed to implement activities on the management of science parks, modernizing science policy, south-south cooperation in science and technology, the role of science and technology in economic development, organizing workshops and seminars on renewable energy and water management, convening meetings of the bio-ethics commissions, bridging the digital divide, providing distance teaching of science, organizing workshops on the experience of exact science, as well as combating and preventing natural disasters.
As to the field of social sciences, the two organizations agreed to organize workshops on the fight against poverty, provide assistance to women and young girls, vocational training, draft a study on poverty and social seclusion in the Muslim countries, contribute to the project of the Horn of Africa on social cohesion and capacity building, and organize meetings for parliamentarians.
In the field of culture and communication, the two sides agreed to implement activities on the technological liability of electronic publications, developing museums in the Arab Maghreb countries, preparing a guide to the management of museums, developing traditional industries (glass), convening a meeting of experts on the network of research on economic, social and cultural rights in the Arab Maghreb countries. The programme also includes training female journalists, drafting and distributing a study on cultural diversity, using information and communication technologies to establish libraries for ancient Arab literature, and organizing training sessions in some applications of information and communication technologies.
ISESCO and UNESCO also agreed to organize training sessions for the staff working in the National Commissions for Education, Science and Culture in the Member States.