From the first session to the 33nd session

The Executive Council of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) held 33 sessions, the first of which convened in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, over the period between 15 and 17 November 1982, i.e. six months after the Founding General Conference. During the first Executive Council, Mr Saleh Bauzir (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was elected as chairman of the Executive Council.

The Second Executive Council Session was held in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, from 15 to 16 January 1983 and the Third in Casablanca, from 4 to 5 June 1983. Mr. Muhammad Ben Abdu Salam (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was elected Chairman of the Council and Mr. Ahmed Ali Diaw (from the Republic of Senegal) was appointed Deputy Director General for Education.

Former ISESCO Director General, Prof. Abdelhadi Boutaleb, alongside the Chairman of ISESCO Executive Council, at the opening of the 12th session of the Executive Council of ISESCO (Rabat, 19-25 November 1991)

In the Fourth Session held in Rabat, 18-20 September 1984, Dr. Rashed Ben Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was elected Chairman of the Council, and Dr. Mohammad Khayrate Ben Rassa (from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan) was appointed Deputy Director General for Science.

The Fifth Session was held in Rabat on 30 April - 4 May 1985.

The Sixth Executive Council Session was held in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in the period from 31 August to 1st September 1985. It was during this Session that Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was appointed Deputy Director General for Culture.

Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, ISESCO Director General, delivering an address at the opening of the 15th session of the Executive Council, alongside Mr. Mohammad Ghassan Halabi, Syrian Minister of Education, and Mr. Lamine Kamara, Chairman of the Executive Council (Damascus, 27 November 1994)

The Seventh and the Eighth Sessions of the Executive Council were held in Rabat , on 1-3 September 1986 and 7-12 December 1987 respectively. The Ninth Session was held in Amman , Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on 7-10 November 1988, and during which Mr. Muhammad Ben Ahmed Al-Uthaimin (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ) was elected Chairman of the Council.

The Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Sessions of the Executive Council were held in Rabat , on 27-30 November 1989, 3-8 December 1990, 19-25 November 1991, 23-27 November 1992 and 22-27 November 1993 respectively. During the 10th Session, Mr. Abdulaziz Ben Sulayman Al Fadhel (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ) was elected Chairman of the Council; and on the 13th Session, the Council elected Mr. Lamine Kamara (from the Republic of Guinea ) as Chairman.

The Fifteenth Session of the Council took place in Damascus , Syrian Arab Republic , on November 19-24, 1994.

The Executive Council held its Sixteenth Session in Rabat (on 1-5 December 1995) and appointed Mr. Omar Saad Touré (from the Republic of Mali ) as Deputy Director General. The Seventeenth Session of the Council was also held in Rabat (on December 1-6, 1996).

The Eighteenth Executive Council Session was held in Riyadh , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , during the period from November 29 to December 4, 1997. In this Session, the Executive Council proceeded to the election of Mr. Qadi Raqibudin Ahmed (from the People's Republic of Bangladesh ) as Chairman of the Council.

The Executive Council held its Nineteenth Session in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, (on 19-23 November 1998), and reappointed Mr. Omar Saad Touré to the position of Deputy Director General.

As for Sessions Twenty and Twenty-one, they both took place in Rabat , Kingdom of Morocco , from 22 to 27 November 1999, and from 16 to 20 November 2000 respectively.

Session Twenty-two of ISESCO Executive Council was held in Sharjah , United Arab Emirates , (on December 22-26, 2001). Mr. Mohamed Abdellah Faris (from the United Arab Emirates ) was elected Chairman of the Council; and Dr. Mohamed Hashem Felougi (from the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) was appointed Deputy Director General of ISESCO.

The Executive Council held its 23rd Session in Rabat on December 12-15, 2002.

The 24th Session was held in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 21 to 25 December 2003.

The Executive Council held its 25th Session in Rabat , (24-26 December 2004). It elected Dr. Bachir Ahmad Said (from the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) as Chairman of the Council; and appointed Dr. Hadi Aziz Zadeh (from the Islamic Republic of Iran) as Deputy Director General.

The 26th and 27th Sessions of the Executive Council took place in Rabat (12-14 December 2005) and (4-6 December 2006). In the 26th Session, Dr. Mabrouk Ghaid (from the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) was elected as the Council's Chairman. At the closing session of the Ninth General Conference, the Executive Council convened a procedural session, after which it announced the election of Dr. Doukouré Boubakar (from Burkina Faso ) as Chairman of the Council.

Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, ISESCO Director General, alongside Mr. Mohammad Ghassan Halabi, Syrian Minister of Education, President of ISESCO Fifth General Conference, and Mr. Lamine Kamara, Chairman of ISESCO Executive Council, at the opening of the 16th session of the Executive Council (Rabat, 1 December 1995)

The 28th session of the Executive Council was held in Rabat on 9 July 2007. During this session, Dr Hadi Azizzadeh (Islamic Republic of Iran) was re-elected as Deputy Director General. Likewise, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on the Executive Council and the General Conference to re-elect His Excellency Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri as Director General of ISESCO, in recognition of his efforts, achievements and earnest action to develop the Organization and to spread its radiance.

As a token of gratitude and appreciation to Their Majesties and Highnesses the Kings and Princes of the Member States, who made donations for the construction of the permanent headquarters of ISESCO, the Executive Council has named the halls and wings of the headquarters as follows:

• The conference hall: Hall of Islamic Solidarity
• Hall I: Hall of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
• Hall II: Hall of His Majesty King Hassan II
• Wing a (fourth floor): Wing of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
• Wing b (fourth floor): Wing of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah
• Library: Library of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said
• Guest hall: Hall of His Royal Highness Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

The 29th session was held in Rabat over the period of 2-4 July 2008 during which two prizes were presented, namely: ISESCO 2007 Literacy Prize which went to the "Solidarité 2000" association from the Republic of Niger; and ISESCO 2008 Literacy Research Prize which was awarded for the Comprehensive Evaluation Study of the Literacy Programme in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Afterwards, the Director General received from the Education Ministry's Under-Secretary for Educational Affairs and Curriculum of the Kingdom of Bahrain the maquette of the Al-Hedaya Al-Khalifiya Secondary School for Boys, the first formal education school of its kind to open in the country in 1919.

The 30th session of the Executive Council was held in Tunis, Tunisian Republic, from 27 to 27 June 2009. During that session, the Executive Council adopted the reports and projects submitted to it. Moreover, at the close of the 10th session of the General Conference, the Executive Council convened  a procedural session during which it re-elected Dr. Doukouré Boubakar, of Burkina Faso, as Chairman of the Council.

The 31st session of ISESCO Executive Council took place at ISESCO headquarters in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, on 12-13 July 2010. During this session, ISESCO Gold Medal was presented to H.E. Dr Abdul Aziz Saleh Bin Habtoor, Rector of the University of Aden, Republic of Yemen; H.E Dr Ambassador Erkin Rahmatullaev, State Advisor to the President of Tajikistan on Foreign Policy; and H.E. Alhassane Souaré, Director of Strategic Studies at the Guinean Prime Minister's Cabinet. Moreover, during this session, ISESCO Director General H.E. Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri was granted the Shield of the University of Aden, and Pakistan's Elementary Education Foundation (EEF) was awarded ISESCO Prize for Literacy. Also significant, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed from Pakistan was elected as Deputy Director General of ISESCO for a three-year term of office, renewable once as of 1st January 2011.

The 32nd session of the Executive Council was held at ISESCO’s headquarters, in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, over the period of 13-15 June 2011. During this session, ISESCO Prize for Literacy was awarded to the « Organization for Women and Child Care » in the Republic of Guinea. The draft Broad Lines and Priorities of the Three – year Action Plan (2013-2015) was also adopted.

ISESCO Director General, Dr Ahmed AL-Saif, Deputy Minister of Higher Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr Boubacar Doukouré, Chairman of the Executive Council, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, ISESCO Deputy Director General, and the Council’s Rapporteur General, at the opening of the 33rd session of ISESCO’s Executive Council.

The 33rd session of the Executive Council was held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 27 to 28 November 2012. During this session, the Executive Council adopted the draft documents submitted to it. Also, at the close of the 11th session of the General Conference, the Executive Council held a procedural session during which Dr Boubacar Doukouré, from Burkina Faso, was reelected as Chairman of the Council.