Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will begin her five-day working visit to Paris, France, tomorrow to attend the Intergovernmental Council of the Management of Social Transformations Programme (IGC MOST) and 14th session of the IGC of MOST.

Wisma Putra said in a statement that Wan Azizah, who is also women, family and community development minister, will be chairing the IGC MOST programme on March 18 as well as the 14th session of the IGC of MOST on March 19 and 20.

“In between chairing these sessions, Wan Azizah is scheduled to meet the director-general of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Audrey Azoulay.

“She is also expected to meet with the French members of parliament; the French minister of state for disabled people; the former French minister of education, higher education and research; and the president of the French Council of Muslim Faith,” the statement said.

Wan Azizah is the current president of the IGC MOST following Malaysia’s re-election to the IGC for the 2017-2019 term.

She will be holding this presidency until the next extraordinary session of the IGC MOST.

On the sidelines, Wan Azizah is also scheduled to officiate at the Malaysian Tropical Fruits Festival at the Unesco Restaurant and to host a dinner reception for Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ambassadors/permanent delegates to Unesco as part of Malaysia’s lobbying efforts for the Unesco executive board (2019-2023).

Among Malaysia’s main achievement under the MOST programme was the completion of a research project on Valorising Evidence on Inclusive Social Development to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals by the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies under Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

The research project supported Malaysia’s implementation of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).

Two community development programmes under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry were involved in this project namely, the family and community empowerment programme and the activity centres for older persons.

- Bernama