Riyadh (UNA-OIC) – The Future of Education, Science, and Culture International Organizations Forum (FESCIOF) will be held in Riyadh on the 8th and 9th of March under the theme of “Together for Impact in the 21st Century”. In a first of its kind global gathering, FESCIOF will bring together for the first time since their establishment half a century ago the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) along with more than 100 other entities.
The Forum’s agenda includes 23 sessions and panel discussions, focused on establishing a shared vision, and identifying opportunities for cooperation between organizations. More than 65 speakers will participate, including high-level representatives from UNESCO, ALECSO, and ICESCO, as well as other guests from international organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Blue Shield International, and the International Organization of La Francophonie.
FESCIOF will focus on four main themes: “Reimagining the future of international organizations”, “Driving a future-forward ecosystem”, “Enabling investment and knowledge sharing” and “Empowering mutual opportunities for collaboration “, through which it will provide a platform to establish a roadmap towards a better future.
Organized by ALECSO and the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science (SNC), the Forum aims to capitalize on available opportunities through cooperation to support the work of international organizations. It will provide spaces for dialogue and discussion between organizations representing a wide range of change-makers, including international organizations, global companies, academia, experts, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations.
The two-day Forum also aims to create a global, collaborative, and reliable platform for international organizations where they can meet to engage in dialogue. It will create opportunities for partnerships and establish a roadmap for more effective cooperation.
The event is expected to host experts in organizational governance and structures from international academic institutions such as Harvard Business School, Imperial College London, and the Brookings Institution, in addition to representatives from the private sector and banking such as Google, the World Bank, Visa, and the Islamic Development Bank.
Key speakers include Professor Renée Mauborgne, Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and co-author of best-selling books; Blue Ocean Strategy and The Blue Ocean Shift; Frédéric Laloux, author of one of the world’s most influential management books of the past decade, Reinventing Organizations; Irina Bokova, Patron of the International Science Council; and Costanza Farina, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau in Beirut and Representative of UNESCO to Lebanon and Syria.
Moreover, FESCIOF will include panel discussions on reimagining the future of international organizations in light of their adaptation to demographic changes, while other panel discussions will focus on topics such as measurement and progress of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, digital communication and innovation in international organizations, investment, and financial solutions.
The Forum will include talks presenting success stories and highlighting digital capabilities in international organizations program architecture, in addition to workshops and breakout sessions, where attendees can acquire effective tools and resources to use in their work.