JEDDAH, 30 October 2007 — The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Saudi Red Crescent Society (SRCS) has made an agreement to bilaterally cooperate in humanitarian areas. The agreement follows the OIC secretary-general’s vision of enhancing the OIC’s cooperation with civil institutes to strengthen common Islamic work.
In a meeting in June, Ambassador Atta Al-Manan Bakhit, OIC assistant secretary general for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Prince Faisal ibn Abdullah, chairman of the SRCS, agreed to form a team of experts from both bodies to explore ways of cooperating in various humanitarian fields. In relation to this, a delegation from the International Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Department (ICHAD) met their counterparts at the SRCS last week and identified some fields for cooperation.
The OIC is also in the process of drafting a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be soon signed by the heads of the two institutions.
“The visit was essential and timely. It opened a new prospect for the OIC to establish a mutually fruitful cooperation with the Saudi Red Crescent Society in the domain of humanitarian affairs,” Ambassador Bakhit told Arab News.
“No doubt, such cooperation would not only beef-up the OIC’s limited resources but would also promote its image as an active partner in the international humanitarian effort,” he added.
Among the main areas of cooperation between the two institutions is human resource development and poverty alleviation in OIC member states. After being briefed about the OIC’s Alliance for Children Victims of Tsunami program, which is currently operating in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the SRCS proposed providing a training scheme package for those orphans leaving the Alliance sponsorship program at the age of 18 in the area of humanitarian work.
The SRCS also agreed to consider organizing an annual training scheme for about 100 youths from the Least Developed OIC members in the area of humanitarian affairs management at its workshops in Riyadh and Jeddah.
The SRCS highly valued the OIC’s initiative in organizing the International Donor Conference for Niger in Doha, Qatar, back in June and hailed it a success. The OIC delegation informed their SRCS counterparts of the preparations underway to open an OIC office in the Niger capital Niamey to commence implementing the programs submitted to the conference to promote food self-sufficiency in Niger in the first quarter of 2008.
The SRCS counterparts proposed sending a request letter to Prince Faisal ibn Abdullah for $10 to $30 million to be allocated for specific food programs to be sponsored by the Saudi government.
The OIC delegation mentioned that on the heals of the success of the Doha conference, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu is in consultation with the government of Sudan on organizing a donor conference for Darfur, currently scheduled for Nov. 26, under the auspices of the OIC. The SRCS officials expressed full support to the OIC’s plan proposing identification of specific developmental programs in Darfur to be sponsored by the Kingdom.
A final issue discussed was the OIC NGO Forum, another new initiative by the OIC secretary-general, to strengthen cooperation with civil institutions. The Saudi officials expressed support of the idea of establishing such a forum under the OIC umbrella.
