Every year, November 30th marks the anniversary of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), which reports to the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). On 30 November 1987, the FUIW was founded in Rabat to be a federating framework specialized in developing higher education, strengthening cooperation and collaboration between its institutions, and fostering partnerships between Member Universities.
On this year’s FUIW anniversary, Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, ISESCO Director General and ex-officio FUIW Secretary General, stated that the Federation aims at improving the quality of academic research in all fields; sharing their findings and aligning them with the developmental and civilizational requirements of the Islamic world; strengthening cooperation in a way that fosters the exchange of experiences, studies, programmes and visits in the fields of education, science, culture and technology; and promoting the teaching of Arabic and Islamic culture in Member Universities.
He added that the Federation supports the efforts exerted by higher education institutions to address current issues and instill the values of tolerance and peace in the peoples of the Muslim Ummah and the world at large, upgrade knowledge and human capacities, promote the Islamic heritage by publicizing, translating and authenticating it, and shed light on the contribution of Muslim scholars to human civilization.
The FUIW makes use of several means to carry out its missions, including preparing studies, documents and guides to promote university education, working towards the creation of specialized universities or institutions, assessing universities’ performance to upgrade their quality and accreditation standards; easing access to scholarships for the students of Member Universities, and holding sessions, symposia and continuous training workshops in Member Universities.
The Federation has so far 314 Member Universities. Membership in the Federation is open to all universities and similar higher education institutions in the Islamic world and beyond, which meet membership requirements.
The Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World has an Executive Council that convenes once a year. The Executive Council is in charge of processing the membership applications, taking appropriate decisions regarding these applications and submitting them to the General Conference for adoption. The FUIW General Conference, which is made up of the Vice-Chancellors, rectors and presidents of universities, convenes every three years and is in charge of laying down the general policy of the FUIW.
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