OIC opens its Foreign Ministers Coordination Meeting at the United NationsThe Secretary General urges Member States to continue supporting OICIhsanoglu: Muslims’ visit to Al-Quds is a religious duty

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

OIC opens its Foreign Ministers Coordination Meeting at the United NationsThe Secretary General urges Member States to continue supporting OICIhsanoglu: Muslims’ visit to Al-Quds is a religious duty

Date: 27/09/2013

As UN General Assembly will focus this year on the development agenda and the follow-up on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu pointed out that the OIC achievements in the economic sector feature the steady implementation of its various programs. In his speech at the opening of the ministerial Annual Coordination Meeting in New York on 27 September 2013 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, he listed the achievements in the OIC trade preferential system, the increasing interventions under the poverty alleviation programmes, and the rigorous implementation of the various programmes and projects in the domains of agriculture and food security, labour, youth and women empowerment and productivity as well as tourism and infrastructure development, among others. He therefore hoped that, while steady progress continue to be made in the current programmes, projects and activities, the Member State’s collaboration would also go a long way in ensuring the success of new socio-economic projects, including the creation of a specialized institution for food security in Astana, Kazakhstan, the successor programme for the Special Programme for Development of Africa, the take-off of the Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia, and the creation of a specialized institution for labour, employment and social protection in Baku, Azerbaijan. On the humanitarian front, Ihsanoglu called upon Member States to strive for the establishment of a Humanitarian Emergency Relief Fund (HERF) so as to provide the General Secretariat with all necessary means to fulfill its duties towards the needy and vulnerable populations in the face of increasing humanitarian challenges in the Muslim world. Beyond and above all these challenges and the issues related to the United Nations agenda, he emphasized that the OIC has a lot more to offer. Ihsanoglu referred to the General Assembly Resolution on the UN-OIC Cooperation adopted last month, which calls for enhanced cooperation between the two Organizations. Furthermore, he announced that a High Level Briefing on UN-OIC Cooperation will be held on 28 October 2013 under Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship of the UN Security Council. Meanwhile in his speech, the Secretary General spoke about the Israeli settlement activities, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, which have manifestly escalated recently, remain the core challenge to making progress in peace negotiations and need to be seriously addressed by the international community. “Israel’s settlements are illegal and will remain illegal. We have to remember that unjust acts cannot create law,” he stressed. On this occasion, he commended the EU stance on Israeli settlements and expected the OIC Member States to go a step further, and are encouraged to do more. Ihsanoglu also stressed that every Muslim has a share in Al-Quds, and has a duty to support the city with all possible means including visiting it. “I would like to highlight that Muslims’ visit to Al-Quds is a religious duty that represents a crucial economic and moral support to the city.” On the other hand, Ihsanoglu said that the OIC remains convinced of the need to urgently work out a political solution to extricate Syria out of this bloody crisis and restore peace and security in the country. On Afghanistan, he said that it is set to face up to new challenging days starting next year as it will retake full responsibility and control over its destiny. Afghan people will also take part in the important presidential election next year. He reassured Afghan people that the OIC, as in the past, will continue to fully support the country during the crucial months and years ahead to help Afghan people to successfully ride political, security and economic challenges. In another important development, and just a few days ago, Ihsanoglu said that an important conference of Muslim Ulema was convened in Kabul in a joint effort by the Afghan High Peace Council and the OIC. The main objective of the Conference was to establish a platform that would contribute to the reconciliation process and to exploring the ways of securing a peaceful future in Afghanistan on the basis of the teachings of Islam. Meanwhile, the Secretary General conveyed the plea of the Kosovo authorities to the OIC Member States to seriously consider recognizing Kosovo that have not done so yet. So far, 34 OIC Member States have recognized Kosovo and more recognition is required in order to help Kosovo achieving UN membership. Finally, Ihsanoglu expressed his hearty congratulations to Mr. Iyad Madani who will soon take over the reins of the OIC General Secretariat, wishing him great success during his term.

Related: Alquds

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