ICESCO Year of Women 2021 closes at official ceremony chaired by Princess Lalla Meryem

The official closing ceremony of ICESCO Year of Women 2021 was held Wednesday in Rabat under the chairmanship of Princess Lalla Meryem, President of the National Union of Moroccan Women (UNFM).

Taking the floor during the official ceremony held at the headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Rabat, ICESCO Director General Salem Ben Mohamed El Malek expressed his sincere thanks to Princess Lalla Meryem for her special interest in the cause of women and his deep gratitude to King Mohammed VI for granting his patronage to the ICESCO Year of Women.

He stressed that the proclamation by ICESCO of 2021 as the Year of Women under the theme “Women for the Future” is not fortuitous, but is rather a well-deserved decision to pay tribute to women, in recognition of their pioneering roles before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative reflects ICESCO’s concern to guarantee women’s right, to grant them the value they deserve and to promote their role in building the future, he said.

He also surveyed the various programs, projects and initiatives implemented by the Organization during this year dedicated to women.

Afterwards, Princess Lalla Meryem followed a video presentation entitled “Son de cloches” (Sound of Bells), before proceeding to the launch of the “Bells of Awareness on the Role of Women in the Future of the Islamic World”.

Princess Lalla Meryem also toured an exhibition displaying plastic arts and handicrafts.

ICESCO has declared 2021 the Year of Women to pay tribute to women, strengthen their pioneering role and raise their status within the framework of the Organization’s new vision under its Strategic Plan 2020-2030, which aims at building an innovative and creative civilizational system for the Islamic world, and ensuring women, youth and children their educational, scientific, cultural, technological and environmental rights.

The program of the Women’s Year was marked by its diversity and focused on several axes, which mainly concerned the empowerment and capacity building of women, their integration into society, literacy and protection of girls’ right to education, as well as the fight against gender inequality.