RIYADH: The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) has announced the creation of three awards for students in three cultural areas as part of its Remote Culture initiative.

The first prize is $6,000, the second is $4,000 and the third is $2,000, in addition to certificates of appreciation, in the fields of short story writing and painting, the organization said.

National committees in member states will communicate with educational institutions to invite students to take part in competitions, and will select three works of each category to be sent to ICESCO by the end of June 2020.

The organization then will form a specialized international jury to choose the best three works in each branch.

The initiative is part of the “ICESCO Digital Home” initiative launched to support member states' efforts in combating the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and to find alternative solutions to ensure the sustainability of its educational, scientific and cultural work.

The new ICESCO initiative includes remote training and capacity-building for heritage frameworks, where the organization will be preparing and broadcasting a series of videos through its website as of April 15.

The videos include training programs in physical and intangible heritage, and documentation of cultural heritage using artificial intelligence techniques and risk-, crisis- and disaster-management in heritage sites and museums.

They will also introduce techniques for registering heritage sites on the lists of Islamic world heritage and world heritage, rehabilitating endangered crafts, promoting the general principles of managing museums in the Islamic world and protecting underwater cultural heritage.

The initiative also offers an invitation for remote reading to take advantage of ICESCO's digital libraries and other sites available.