JEDDAH, 9 May 2007 — The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), an affiliate of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), will launch a $10 billion solidarity fund to fight poverty in member countries during its annual meeting in the Senegalese capital Dakar at the end of this month.
Twenty-one member countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco and Libya have welcomed the project, one of the resolutions passed by OIC leaders during their summit in Makkah in December 2005, and agreed to contribute to the fund. Saudi Arabia has offered to contribute $1 billion to the fund.
The annual meeting of the IDB board of governors will be held for the first time in the Senegalese capital on May 29 and will be attended by ministers of finance, economy and planning of the IDB member countries. About 600 people will attend the meeting, representing international and regional financial organizations, in addition to representatives of Islamic banks, national development finance institutions in member countries, and the Association of Contractors and Consultants in the OIC states.
An informed source at the IDB emphasized the significance of the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF), which has so far received $1.35 billion from 21 member countries.
“The IDB in its capacity as an international Islamic financial institution is committed to exerting every conceivable effort and mustering all its energies and capacities to combat poverty,” said IDB President Ahmed Mohammed Ali. He said the bank would allocate $350 million annually for poverty reduction projects.
