JEDDAH, 9 January 2007 — The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) intends to facilitate intra-economic integration of its member countries and with the rest of the world, Siddig Saleh, the bank’s deputy director for strategic planning, said.
“The mission of IDB is to promote comprehensive human development, with a focus on the priority areas of alleviating poverty, improving health, promoting education, improving governance and prospering the people,” Saleh said at a workshop on community development organized by IDB’s Special Assistance and Scholarship Program Office (SASPO).
Presenting IDB’s 1440 Vision and Mission in a meeting attended by representatives of leading Muslim NGOs from 16 countries including Nigeria, Canada, New Zealand, India, Netherlands, Britain, Somalia, Mauritius, Singapore, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, he said “closing the gender gap without breaching Islamic tenets and improving the image of the Muslim world are other strategic goals of the bank.”
Saleh emphasized the IDB’s vision to become a world-class development bank within the next 12 years. IDB has been granted the highest long-term and short-term credit rating of AAA and A1+ respectively by Standard and Poor’s. The Bank of International Settlement has classified it as a zero-risk weighted multilateral development bank.
The workshop, opened on Sunday, also saw presentations on self-development for leadership by Sameer Halawany; activities planning and implementation by Mamoon Al-Azami - community development specialist at SASPO; making decisions in Islamic NGOs by Aliyu Tanko and managing money in organizations by Adel Sindi, program officer at SASPO.
Al-Azami emphasized the need for proper planning and continuous monitoring for the successful implementation of any project. He said NGOs must make sure that all their members participate in their activities in order to make them a resounding success. “We should have a proper vision. If you don’t know where you are going, you don’t reach anywhere,” he told the participants. Halawany, a charity consultant, called on Muslim NGOs to work with confidence. “Try to reach your objectives by working hard, instead of sitting idle thinking about the problems and obstacles,” he said. He reminded the participants that success is a journey, not a destination. “Some people dream of success sleeping while others work hard to realize their dreams,” he noted.
Apart from the bank, the IDB Group comprises the Islamic Research & Training Institute, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. The total amount approved by the bank for project financing, technical assistance and trade operations stood at more than $47.8 billion for 4,980 operations by the year 1426H.