Saudi Arabia is leading the development of the work mechanism of the ALECSO General Conference for the first time since its founding

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In a step considered the first of its kind since the founding of the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) 56 years ago, the Committee for Developing the General Conference’s work mechanism, chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, concluded by developing a participatory and effective work model that enhances the conference’s efficiency.

This came after the first comprehensive developmental review of the work mechanism of the Organization’s General Conference, presented by the Kingdom as an initiative approved by the Executive Council and the Organization’s General Conference, to enhance the process of reform, development and institutional transformation during the Kingdom’s presidency of the General Conference for the period 2024-2026, in accordance with best practices in similar organizations.

In addition, the Kingdom chaired the committee through its representative and Chairman of the Executive Council, Hani Al-Muqbel, with the participation of 12 Arab countries, to begin its work by preparing a new working model for the work mechanism of the General Conference, which resulted in the development of an integrated governance and legislative system that contributes to raising the efficiency of decision-making, involving all countries in making them, and addressing 4 basic challenges, which are: legislative, governance, institutional and operational.

The outcomes of the committee’s work included the creation of 4 new mechanisms for the first time in the organization’s history, namely the General Conference Office, the Preparatory Committee, the Strategies and Action Plans Committee, and the Legal Affairs Committee, in addition to making a comprehensive amendment to the internal regulations of the General Conference, and building a new structural model for the conference. The committee also recommended that the outcomes of the project to develop the conference’s work mechanism be submitted to the Economic and Social Council of the League of Arab States, as an indicative model that other Arab organizations can benefit from.

The committee’s work extended for a year and a half, during which the work was divided into 4 phases, during which 33 meetings were held, and 60 challenges were monitored, divided into 4 axes: legal, technological, coordination, and participatory, while 90 proposed solutions to these challenges were presented.

The project to develop the work mechanism of the General Conference, which the committee worked on, led to a transformation in the work mechanism of the conference through 5 main axes, the most important of which is the governance transformation, from managing sessions to institutional supervision and guidance, and clarifying powers and distributing them among the conference organs.

The transformation also included the digital aspect, by adding provisions for electronic convening and voting, and aligning the system with modern digital practices, in addition to operational transformation, by developing session management mechanisms from a limited traditional system to preparatory mechanisms, and approving preparatory meetings that precede the conference to ensure the readiness of files and save ministerial time.

The transformation also extended to the structural aspect, through developing the committee system from a traditional structure to an integrated interactive structure, creating a preparatory committee and specialized committees before the conference, and enhancing advance preparation and study of files. It also included institutional transformation, through the establishment of the General Conference Office for the first time within the conference’s organizational structure, to assume the tasks of preparation, supervision and follow-up, while enhancing the continuity of work between sessions of the General Conference.

By the end of its work in May 2026, the committee had reached 16 recommendations that were submitted to the Executive Council and the General Conference of the organization, in preparation for discussion at their meetings scheduled for next November.

The recommendations included adopting a draft to amend the bylaws of the organization’s General Conference in its next session (28), adopting a periodic methodology to review and update the bylaws every 4 years, reconsidering the update of the organization’s constitution, developing financial and administrative governance mechanisms for the General Conference, and preparing an organizational and technical framework for digital transformation in the conference’s work mechanism and its emanating bodies and committees.

The recommendations also included establishing a regular forum for legislative councils and specialized ministerial conferences for ALECSO, and submitting the project’s outputs to the Economic and Social Council of the League of Arab States for its briefing, as a guiding model for developing the work mechanisms of other specialized Arab organizations.