JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — An international donors’ conference on consolidating food security in Niger will be organized in Doha by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in cooperation with the government of Qatar on June 12-13.
Invitations to participate in the conference have been sent to major OIC donor countries, specialized international agencies, international and regional financial institutions and charitable and civil society organizations.
The conference is being convened on Niger’s request following food shortages it sustained in 2005. Niger has asked the OIC to explore ways to mobilize the solidarity of the Muslim world for help in this regard.
Aichatou Mindaoudou, minister of foreign affairs, cooperation and African integration, met with OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu recently. They agreed on the need to go beyond the limited framework of emergency assistance to supplementary food programs that achieve sustainable self-reliance.
Accordingly, three principal programs will be submitted for funding to the International Donors’ Conference: Program for the Reinforcement of the National Food Security Stock; the Program for Environmental Restoration through Rainwater Infiltration Works; and the Program to Combat Food Insecurity Through Irrigation Development.
The three programs being submitted to the Doha conference are aimed at securing sustainable solutions to these conditions.
The total funding required for the implementation of these programs is estimated at $370 million over a period of five years.
