BAKU - Azerbaijan is supporting the rehabilitation of 100 damaged schools and the construction of 10 new educational facilities in Syria, the head of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said on Oct. 27.
ICESCO Director-General Salim M. AlMalik announced the work during the opening of the seventh World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, according to Vesti Baku and Report.az.
The project follows a $30 million tripartite agreement signed in February by ICESCO, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Science and Education and Syria’s Ministry of Education. The agreement calls for 100 schools damaged by conflict to be rehabilitated and 10 new schools to be built.
Education Projects in Africa
AlMalik said ICESCO is also working with Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyev Foundation to support girls’ education in Burkina Faso and Niger.
In Niger, the partners launched a program this month to support 5,150 displaced and boarding-school girls and women. The ICESCO initiative includes improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools, literacy support, non-formal education and economic empowerment opportunities.
Heritage and Technology Cooperation
AlMalik said ICESCO technical missions in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur had documented damage to cultural heritage sites during the Armenian occupation and prepared recommendations for their preservation and restoration. One report has been submitted to the Azerbaijani government, he said.
ICESCO and Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Science and Education have also developed an artificial intelligence index for the Islamic world to measure how prepared countries are to develop and use the technology.
AlMalik said ICESCO’s young peace ambassadors network includes about 360 participants from more than 80 countries. The organization and Azerbaijan have also established an award named for 19th-century Azerbaijani poet Khurshidbanu Natavan for cultural heritage preservation projects.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received AlMalik in Baku on Oct. 27. An official statement confirmed the meeting but did not provide details of the talks.