OIC Journal - Issue 34

August - November - 2016

Issue No. 34

Launch of Massive AntiPoverty Initiative of $2.5 billion

Al-Othaimeen is OIC Secretary General The Foreign Ministers Meet in

Land of El-Bukhari, El-Termothy, El-Khawarzmy, El-Bairouny, and Ibn Sina

About OIC

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world. It endeavors to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.

The Organization was established upon a decision of the historical summit which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco on 12th Rajab 1389 Hijra (25 September 1969) following the criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

In 1970 the first ever meeting of Islamic Conference of Foreign Minister (ICFM) was held in Jeddah which decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Jeddah headed by the organization’s secretary general. Dr. Yousef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen is the 11th Secretary General who assumed the office in November 2016.

The first OIC Charter was adopted by the 3rd ICFM Session held in 1972. The Charter laid down the objectives and principles of the organization and fundamental purposes to strengthen the solidarity and cooperation among the Member States. Over the last 40 years, the membership has grown from its founding members of 30 to 57 states. The Charter was amended to keep pace with the developments that have unraveled across the world. The present Charter of the OIC was adopted by the Eleventh Islamic Summit held in Dakar on 13-14 March 2008 to become the pillar of the OIC future Islamic action in line with the requirements of the 21st century.

The Organization has the singular honor to galvanize the Ummah into a unified body and have actively represented the Muslims by espousing all causes close to the hearts of over 1.5 billion Muslims of the world. The Organization has consultative and cooperative relations with the UN and other inter-governmental organizations to protect the vital interests of the Muslims and to work for the settlement of conflicts and disputes involving Member States. In safeguarding the true values of Islam and the Muslims, the organization has taken various steps to remove misperceptions and have strongly advocated elimination of discrimination against the Muslims in all forms and manifestations.

The Member States of the OIC face many challenges in the 21st century and to address those challenges, the third extraordinary session of the Islamic Summit held in Makkah in December 2005, laid down the blue print called the Ten-Year Program of Action. It has successfully concluded with the close of 2015. A successor programme for the next decade (2016-2025) has been adopted.

The new programme OIC-2025 is anchored in the provisions of the OIC Charter and focuses on 18 priority areas with 107 goals. The priority areas include issues of Peace and Security, Palestine and Al-Quds, Poverty Alleviation, Counter-terrorism, Investment and Finance, Food Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change and Sustainability, Moderation, Culture and Interfaith Harmony, Empowerment of Women, Joint Islamic Humanitarian Action, Human Rights and Good Governance, among others.

Among the OIC’s key bodies: the Islamic Summit, the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), the General Secretariat, in addition to the Al-Quds Committee and three permanent committees concerned with science and technology, economy and trade, and information and culture. There are also specialized organs under the banner of the OIC including the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as well as subsidiary and affiliate organs that play a vital role in boosting cooperation in various fields among the OIC member states.

For more details, visit the OIC website at www.oic-oci.org

OIC - OCI

OUR MESSAGE Inauguration of the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding

Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

The establishment of the Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding is an important milestone in the history of the OIC

The challenges facing OIC Member States and Muslim communities in general these days are no longer limited to the fight against poverty, unemployment and diseases, or to improving living conditions and catching up with civilization and modern technology. Rather, the biggest challenge is preserving the stability of states and societies and confronting destructive ideas, ideologies and schemes that not only stifle development and spread killing and destruction, but also undermine the Ummah’s spiritual security and social stability.

One of the clearest manifestations of this challenge is the escalation of violence and its geographical spread in large parts of the Muslim world.

This situation has tainted the image of Islam such that the religion that has built civilizations to be proud of to be accused of terrorism, a Muslim to be equal to terrorist, and the fundamental religious values of peace, mercy and tolerance to be mere claims.

Now, the question is: where is our place among the nations of the world? What is our role in combating radicalism, extremism and terrorism? And, what is the role of the OIC in these circumstances, being the umbrella of the Muslim countries and their united voice?

The OIC sensed the enormity of the danger early on and remained at the forefront of the battle against terrorism and extremism. The OIC was among the first in the world to elaborate a unified stance against the phenomenon by adopting the “Code of Conduct for Combating International Terrorism” in 1994 and the “Convention on Combating International Terrorism” in 1999.

The OIC is convinced that fighting terrorism and violent extremism in all their forms and manifestations should remain one of its priorities. Having realized that terrorism and violent extremism cannot be addressed at the security and political levels alone, the OIC formulated an idea for joint intellectual action to assist in dealing with this complex phenomenon and to address its root causes. The OIC is well aware that containing extremist ideologies, confronting radicalism and violent extremism can only succeed through concerted intellectual and cultural efforts among Member States and their institutions, and through the establishment of a centre that will seek to achieve this purpose.

In keeping with the OIC Charter which obliges its Member States to contribute to building international peace and security, consolidating means of understanding and dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions, and spreading the noble ideals of Islam that call for moderation, tolerance, and respect for cultural diversity, and based on summit and Council of Foreign Ministers resolutions, the Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding was established at the General secretariat in Jeddah.

The centre was officially launched on 1 October 2016 at the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Minister held in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan on 18 – 19 October 2016.

The Centre is concerned with combating extremist and deviant ideologies that defame the image of Islam and stoke sectarian conflicts and wars among Muslims. It also creates the appropriate climate to unite the intellectual efforts of Muslims to contain extremist ideas, propaganda and opinions that fuel violence and exclusion.

The most dangerous means used by the terrorist groups is “religious legitimacy.” Hence, the best way to fight terrorism is to delegitimize them with intellectual discourse through esteemed institutions and figures in the Muslim world. Given that terrorism is a thorny issue with many dimensions, the OIC Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding looks forward to the efforts of international organizations, Islamic bodies and research centers to create a common ground for coordination among these centers and organizations.

Given that the social media is one of the key tools used by those who engage in extremism and violence to spread their ideas of hatred, narrow and erroneous understanding of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s sunnah, thereby exploiting the state of social and economic frustration affecting many Muslim youth in order to lure them to extremism and fringe ideologies, and given that it is impossible to block all harmful content on the Internet, it has become essential to use the same tools against extremism and to use soft power to uproot this phenomenon.

The establishment of the Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding is an important milestone in the history of the OIC. From this platform, I appeal to all Member States, intergovernmental organizations and relevant nongovernmental organizations to cooperate with the Centre and support it to perform its objectives.

OIC Journal Issued by The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Chief Editor & General Supervisor Maha Mostafa Akeel Editors Bashir saad Layout & Design Mohammed Abdelqader Qalaba Advisory Board Ali Abolhassani Shahreza Jakhongir Khasanov Translation Amgad Hassan Yahya El-Khatib Mohamed Esseth Address: Madinah Road, P.O. Box 178, Jeddah-21411, Saudi Arabia Tel: 012 6515222 Fax: 012 6512288 Telx.: 601366 Islami SJ. Website: www.oic-oci.org For comments, enquiries

E-mail: journal@oic-oci.org OIC Permanent Observer to the UN New York Office 320 East - 51st Street New York 10022 New York, USA www.oicun.org oic@un.int OIC Permanent Observer to the UN Geneva Office ICC-20, Route Pre-Bois - Case Postal 1818 CH 1215, Geneve, Suisse www.oic-un.org oic@oic-un.org The views expressed by the writers/authors of the articles published in the OIC Journal do not necessarily represent the views of the OIC, but are the personal views of the authors themselves. However, the OIC reserves the right/discretion to amend, revise, edit, delete or scrutinize any part or portion of the text as and wherever deemed necessary.

OIC Related Links Subsidiary Organs The International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) www.fiqhacademy.org The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) www.sesrtcic.org The Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) www.ircica.org The Islamic Center for the Development of Trade (ICDT) www.icdt-oic.org The Islamic University of Technology (UIT) www.iutoic-dhaka.edu

Specialized Institutions and Organs The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) www.isdb.org International Islamic News Agency (IINA) www.islamicnews.org.sa The Islamic States Broadcasting Organization (ISBO) www.isboo.org The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Rabat (ISESCO)www.isesco.org.ma Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) www.ias-worldwide.org

Affiliated Institutions Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) www.icci-oic.org Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities (OICC) www.oicc.org Organization of the Islamic Shipowners Association (OISA) www.oisaonline.com World Federation of Arab Islamic International Schools (WFAIS) www.wfais.org Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) www.icyf.com Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) www.ias-worldwide.org

OIC Calendar: November – December 2016 1 - 2 November 2016: OIC-ISESCO-GCTF Workshop on the Role of Religious Education in Fostering Peace and Countering Violence, Rabat 1- 3 November 2016: 6th Session of the Ministerial Conference on Women’s Role in the Development of OIC Member States, Istanbul – Turkey 14 - 15 November 2016: Eighth Islamic Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Bamako, Mali 14 - 15 November 2016: 3rd Meeting of Vaccine Manufacturers’ Group (VMG), Bandung, Indonesia 21 - 24 November 2016: 32nd Session of the COMCEC, Istanbul, Turkey 27 - 01 December 2016: 10th regular Session of the OIC-Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), OIC HQ, Jeddah 11 - 14 December 2016: OIC-CERT AGM and Annual Conference 2016, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 19 - 22 December 2016: Eleventh Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

CONTENTS In Focus: 4: OIC Foreign Ministers Denounce Iran’s Interventions in Internal Affairs and its Support for Terrorism

Palestine File: 6: A bridge between OIC and Palestine and Al-Quds

World Affairs: 11: OIC Continues to Follow Developments in Northern Mali 12: Human Rights Violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir 18: ACM of OIC Foreign Ministers Discusses Main Issues in Muslim World 24: UN Special Envoy and OIC Secretary General Stress Need for Humanitarian Conference for

25

OIC Elects New Secretary General

22

OIC holds Emergency Executive Committee Meeting on Aleppo

28

The Foreign Ministers Meet in Land of ElBukhari & El-Termothy

40

Youth and Sports Ministers Call on Youth to Combat Terrorist Organizations

56

OIC Participates in ISESCO’s First Conference of Education Ministers in Tunisia

Yemen

Interview: 14: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan in an interview with IINA

Humanitarian Affairs: 21: OIC Co-chairs 3 Humanitarian Meetings...Iraq, Yemen and Lake Chad Basin

Human Rights: 34: IPHRC Calls for Global Consensus to Convert Declaration on Right to Development into a Binding International Convention

Family Affairs: 42: Creating Real Opportunities for Women

Media: 46: Appraising China’s Engagement with International Community on Silk Road Economic Belt 48: Winners in the OIC Human Face of Ramadan Photo Contest honored

Health: 54: Islamic Advisory Group Supports Final Push for Polio Eradication and Expands Group’s Role

Economy: 61: Launch of Massive Anti-poverty Initiative of $2.5 billion

Opinion Articles 41: How well did Muslim countries perform in Rio Games?

IN FOCUS

OIC Center for Dialogue Commences its Duties in Fighting

Extremist Discourse The OIC Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding has proceeded with its work in facing the issue of extremist discourse.

The center has been launched officially at the opening session of the forty - third session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on 18 October 2016.

The Centre will undertake a number of tasks, at the forefront of which is the fight against the terrorist rhetoric and the dismantling of the ideological infrastructure in all its forms through broadcasting messages, articles, and videos denouncing the allegations of the extremist and terrorist groups in the Member States.

The center, which operates under the Department of Dialogue and Outreach in the General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, aims to counter incitement to terrorism, violence and extremism in all its forms, especially through social networks, the media and cyberspace.

It will also work at establishing a mechanism for the dissemination of cases of incitement against the Member States and facts in order to deal with them decisively.

The Center carries out several tasks with a priority given to exposing the lies of the discourse inciting terrorism by broadcasting counter messages via social networking sites. In addition to broadcasting interactive messages about ideological issues regard-

4

ing young Muslims, and the production of videos and programs documentary that unveil the false allegations of terrorist groups.

It will also work to correct misconceptions promoted by terrorist groups, by challenging them with texts of the Koran and the Hadith, as well as promoting a positive image of the policies pursued by the Member States, and playing the role of the reference for communication between the various local and regional initiatives established in order to fight violent extremism and prevent it.

The Center works closely with similar entities and national centers dedicated for combating terrorism in the Member States, as well as with the OIC concerned institutions, other regional bodies and UN special-

Establishing the OIC Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding to Confront Hate Speech and Terrorist Discourse

OIC Journal August - November 2016

ized mechanisms.

Mr. Bashir Ahmed Ansari, the Director of the Center, explained that the OIC believes that violence and terrorism cannot be eradicated by security and military solutions alone, and that the actual confrontation must be multidimensional, using multiple approaches and means, as terrorism stems from an array of factors- the economic, social and political problems. Hence, this phenomenon must be addressed from different approaches that can respond to the multiplicity of its causes. Accordingly, OIC has been aware of the role of intellect visà -vis destructive ideological projects that target the States’ entity and the stability of societies.

On the future of the Center, Ansari said, ÂŤWe hope the center will reach the stage of uniting most of the efforts made in the Muslim world in the fight against terrorism.

There many research platforms and centers, which are tasked with combating extremism and violence, but the lack of coordination between them diminish their impact.

Regarding the mechanisms on which the center focuses in order to achieve its objectives, Ansari indicates that as shown on its website, the activities of the Center are multiple and diverse. It combines the scientific and academic effort that collects and publishes the efforts of a number of scientists and specialists from all countries who write and conduct researches on the strate-

www.oic-oci.org

IN FOCUS gies of fighting violence and extremism. It also combines the well-known legitimate efforts for correcting misconceptions and interpretations of some verses and hadiths whose meaning are sometimes misunderstood, and which extremists rely upon to justify their violence and extremism. Moreover, the Center is interested in collecting the leading fatwas issued by Islamic scholars on issues of violence and terrorism to

publish and disseminate them. The Center will try to launch media campaigns on selected materials across the platforms that attract the greatest attention and thus ensure greater spread and impact.

He added that «as long as it is not always possible, from a legal and technical point of view, to impose control on all activities on the internet, the only remedy that remains for an effective fight against the terrorists’

propaganda is by using the same network connectivity and social media tools.» He pointed out that the Center is working on producing videos and animations that expose the real face of terrorist groups by posting the correct interpretation of the Koran and the Hadith and revealing the erroneous interpretations propagated by terrorist groups.

Advisory Group for the OIC Messaging Centre to Counter Extremist Narratives Holds Inaugural Meeting The first meeting of the Advisory Group for the OIC Messaging Centre to debunk terrorist incitements was held on Thursday, 11 August 2016, at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) General Secretariat in Jeddah.

Four out of the seven Advisory Group members were present at the meeting.

They are Dr. Ahmed Abbadi, Secretary General Muhammadan League of Religious Scholars in Morocco; Dr. Nazif Shahrani, a Professor at Indiana University in the US; Dr. Din Syamsuddin, Chairman of Council of Ulema in Indonesia, and; Mrs. Shehnaz Bunglawala, Head of Research at Muslim Engagement and Development in the UK. The meeting discussed the current situation concerning the issue of terrorism and adopted a working paper that contains all essential elements for the working of the Messaging Centre.

The OIC messaging center named Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding was launched on 1st of October, which coincided with the beginning of New Hijri Year and the period towards the 43rd meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers held on 17 October 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Welcoming the Advisory group members to the inaugural meeting, OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani noted that OIC has been working on measures to tackle the contemporary challenges posed by terrorism and extremism, and the organization is of the belief that the approach cannot rely on military and security alone.

“Among the efforts taken is the establishment of the Messaging Centre through which the OIC can create alternative nar-

www.oic-oci.org

ratives for challenging the narratives of Daesh, extremist groups, individuals and Islamaphobes,” said Iyad Madani.

The role of the advisory group is to help and sustain the work of the Messaging Centre through intellectual contribution and to build bridges with Muslim communities around the world.

The Messaging Centre will work through the internet and social media platforms to delegitimize and deconstruct extremist narratives through counter messaging over social media sites.

“Currently, cyber platforms are increasingly being used by terrorist groups to spread hate message and disseminate distorted and self-coined interpretation of the Holy Quran and Hadith; exploit socio-economic frustrations of the Muslim youth; recruit and train terrorists; spread terrorist ideology and incite people against their governments,” said Bashir Ansari, OIC Director

of Dialogue and Outreach.

“Since legally and technically it is not always possible to censor all such activities on the internet, the only remedy to effectively counter this terrorist narrative is to use the same online communication and social media tools,” he added.

The OIC Messaging Centre has prepared articles and videos exposing the reality of terrorist groups by juxtaposing true interpretations of Quran and Hadith against the misinterpretations disseminated by terrorist groups.

The Centre will work in collaboration with national counter terrorism centers in Member states, relevant OIC institutions and the UN outfits.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has long been at the forefront in the fight against terrorism and extremism, through a series of initiatives making it one of the top priorities on its agenda.

OIC Journal August - November 2016

5

PALESTINE FILE OIC Representative Office in Palestine

A bridge between OIC and Palestine and Al-Quds

Ambassador Ahmad Al-Ruwaidi Head of OIC office to the State of Palestine Al-Quds, the religious and spiritual place associated with faith in space and time – the place is the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the time is Isra and Miraj. From its sacred rock the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has ascended to heaven, marking one of the Prophet’s miracles when he took a night journey from Makkah Al-Haram Mosque to Al-Aqsa Mosque which God has blessed its surroundings.

Al-Quds is Muslim’s first Kiblah (direction of prayer), it is a historical Canaan city built by Arab Jebusite in 4500 B.C. It was named then “Jerusalem” and several civilizations reigned in succession over it, and later opened by the Muslim Caliphate Umar ibn Al-Khattab in 16 AH corresponding to 637 C.E. Al-Quds fell under occupation in 1967. In 1969, an extremist Jew called Denis Michael Rohan set fire to Al-Qibli Mosque of Al-Aqsa Al-Mubarak. Following events revealed Israel’s intentions to turn the site into a Jewish temple claiming that the so-called Solomon Temple is located there.

This incident mobilized Muslim leaders to hold their first historical meeting in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco on 12 Rajab 1398 AH, corresponding to 25 September 1969, and establish the Organization of the Is-

6

lamic Conference, which made Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds its top priority. Later, a summit was held in Dakar, Senegal in March 2008, which adopted a new charter for the OIC identifying its goals and objectives. The Organization also changed its name to become the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation. The OIC with its 57 member states became the organization that unites the Muslim Ummah and represents 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.

No doubt the significance of Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds to Muslims made the mosque and the city as the most important issue for the OIC. The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers issued resolution number 40/42 in its 42nd ordinary session held in Kuwait on 9-10 Shabaan 1436 AH, corresponding to 27-28 May 2015, that called for establishing the first OIC representative office in Palestine State. This marks a practical implementation of the primary objective of OIC and its efforts to support Palestine in general and Al-Quds in particular.

The selection of a Palestinian from Al-Quds to be the first representative of the OIC office is an important sign indicating the seriousness of the OIC Secretary General to expand the attention to Al-Quds and its sacred places and provide support to Al-Quds residents to enable them to face the enor-

OIC Journal August - November 2016

mous challenges they face under occupation.

The office works on daily basis as a bridge between the OIC General Secretariat, OIC member states, OIC institutions and Palestine’s various official, private, public and media components. The office also works on three levels to achieve the goals and causes of its establishment.

On the political level, the office follows the political, diplomatic and media activities in supporting the Palestinian political program led by Mr. Mahmoud Abbas the president of Palestine. This goes in line with the vision of Jakarta Declaration on Al-Quds AlSharif announced at the extraordinary summit held in Jakarta on 27 Jumadal Awwal 1437 AH, corresponding to 7 March 2016.

The summit was held at the request of the Palestine State and it was held under the title “Unified for Just Solution.” The political efforts of the OIC Office include regular visits to Palestinian leaders, ministers, political parties and NGOs. The President of Palestine as well as the Foreign Minister has received the OIC representative to Palestine State on a number of occasions, and several leaders of the Palestinian society and factions of various national Palestinian entities visited the office.

The office is also a communication center that exposes the violations committed by

www.oic-oci.org

PALESTINE FILE Israel in the Palestinian territories. This is conveyed in the regular reports filed to the General Secretariat for distribution to the member states, OIC offices and OIC Human Rights Commission.

The OIC office in Palestine State devotes the greatest attention to the attempts for dividing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in space and time and the schemes for establishing the so-called Temple at the location of AlAqsa Holy Mosque. The office coordinates on daily basis with concerned authorities both in Palestine and Jordan to ensure that events and information are published in the media. The office also cooperates with authorities on the ground.

On the economic level, the office works on activating relations with government, private sector and civil society to implement the decisions for empowering the Palestinian people. The office also conveys the Palestinian views and approaches to the General Secretariat to include them in the resolutions of its different meetings, and to enhance the financial aid and capacity building programs provided by OIC member states or OIC institutions particularly the Islamic Development Bank.

On the legal level, the office activates its relations with the Palestinian official institutions in line with a number of resolutions related to international institutions in support of Palestine and the legal mechanisms that allows the General Secretariat to provide Palestine with the needed support.

Since Al-Quds is a special case considering what its residents, institutions and properties face, the city remains the core of OIC’s interests. The OIC representative office in Palestine enhances relations with locals and

communicates with them daily. The office has become a bridge between residents, Al-Quds establishments, the General Secretariat, OIC member states and various OIC institutions. This is witnessed in the daily visits and meetings held at the OIC office with the locals regardless of their religion and backgrounds.

Various work mechanisms were developed taking into consideration the views of Palestinians living in occupied lands and also the views of OIC member states that have diplomatic representation in Palestine. The meetings have resulted in important advices that will help the office play the role it is supposed to play in line with the resolution for its establishment and the singed agreement between Palestine and the General Secretariat to open the office.

The office takes initiatives in order to be effective through cooperating with different Palestinian official and private bodies. It has taken the initiative to hold a workshop under the title “Uplifting Religious Tourism in Palestine and Particularly in Al-Quds” in co-

operation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Al-Quds.

The workshop was attended by influential religious scholars and aims at encouraging Muslim to visit Palestine, Al-Quds and AlAqsa.

The office is also taking the initiative to coordinate with international establishments that operate in Palestine and follow on their implemented projects that support Palestine politically and economically.

Since mass media is today an important tool in creating impact and conveying activities, the office is interacting with the local Palestinian media to highlight the role OIC plays to support the Palestinian people.

The office highlights the statements issued

by OIC, which indicates to the Palestinian public that the OIC is supporting them in international meetings and backing the initiatives and steps of the Palestinian government. The office also conveys the efforts of the OIC and its institutions in empowering and economically supporting the Palestinian people.

OIC Symposium in Ramallah Discusses Strategy on Drawing Tourism to Jerusalem A symposium titled: “Advancing religious tourism to Palestine, particularly Jerusalem”, was organized by the Representative Office of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the State of Palestine in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Al-Quds Affairs. It recommended the activation of cooperation between the official Palestinian agencies represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on one hand and the OIC General Secretariat on the other, to open the road for Islamic tourism that would increase the number of Muslim tourist arrivals

www.oic-oci.org

in Jerusalem.

The recommendations also included promoting tourism to Palestine, especially Jerusalem at the Islamic level through literature, promotional materials, exhibitions and conferences held by tourism offices in the Muslim world. The workshop also recommended that religious edicts (fatwas) issued by the OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy in 2015, the Palestinian Daar al Iftaa and by the meeting of Muslim scholars held in Jordan under the theme: Road to Jerusalem should be disseminated. The speakers recommended that implementable strategies should be developed to encourage tourism

from Islamic countries to Jerusalem.

Participants in the workshop included the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Rola Muaya’ah, Minister of Al-Quds Affairs, Adnan Al-Huseini, Mufti of Al-Quds and Palestine Sheikh Muhammad Husein, the Sharia Chief Judge Dr. Mahmoud Al-Habash, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Teysir Jardat, and Archbishop Attallah Hana. Other participants were the ambassadors of Jordan and Morocco, the representative of OIC to the State of Palestine, Ambassador Ahmad Ruweidhi, and several representatives of Palestinian tourism institutions in Al-Quds.

OIC Journal August - November 2016

7

PALESTINE FILE Israel’s Suspension of Postal Packages Entry into Gaza Disrupts E-commerce Activities Gaza (DPA) – Israel’s suspension of the entry of goods packages into Gaza hurt the e-commerce activities of tens of young men who found a new way to earn a living in the face of unemployment and scarcity of jobs.

Nader Safadi, a young man from Gaza, feels frustrated and resentful because the Israeli action has disrupted his postal commercial activities, causing dozens of requests for goods to be accumulated with him without being able to deliver them.

Safadi, in his late twenties, explained that the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza Strip since mid-year 2007 led to a major electronic commerce boom via mail through using the internet in search of a livelihood.

This young man was working for two years in e-commerce through purchasOdah also explains that these packages ing online different kinds of goods from used to enter through «Beit Hanoun / Erez» abroad and bringing them to Gaza by mail, and then reselling them to his customers.‬ checkpoint, which is under Israeli control, and then received by their owners through Safadi created pages on social networking governmental post offices or through prisites to promote goods he intends to buy vate companies that work in this field. and receive by mail and then sell in Gaza. He The entry suspension of postal packages to sells different kinds of goods most popular Gaza Strip paralyzed the work of post ofare: accessories, glasses, perfumes, clothing, fices in the sector, after it used to receive as well as electrical and electronic devices.‬ huge amounts of large and small packages and postal imports that were purchased Israel froze the entry of postal packages through various online payment means.‬ of goods from abroad into the Gaza Strip until further notice for reasons, it claimed, related to security, in order to control the smuggling attempts of combat devices from armed groups in the sector.

The director of the postal offices in Gaza, Riad Odah, in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology confirms that all entries of postal packages of goods as well as the postal packages are at a standstill due to an Israeli decision.‬

8

According to the same statistics, 2015 saw the arrival of almost 78,571 parcels, with an increase of 7 thousand parcels than the previous year. Whereas the first four months of this year saw the arrival of about 50,537 parcels, indicating a significant increase in the number of incoming packages by 92%.

Officials at the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the Palestinian Authority say that Israel did not formally announce the stoppage of postal

OIC Journal August - November 2016

goods, and that Israel repeatedly promised to resume the goods› entry within few days as was previously, but that has not been achieved yet.

The siege includes Israel›s control of the movement of people and goods to and from Gaza, which is inhabited by approximately 1,000,900 people who suffer from unemployment rates of up to 45% of the total population, according to international human rights organizations.

The director of Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights in Gaza, Rami Abdoh, says that the «rates of poverty, unemployment and the difficult economic situation of the people of Gaza reached shocking levels and numbers as a result of the Israeli siege policies.»

Abdoh also warns that preventing delivery of parcels affects and cuts communications between relatives and parents with one another, stressing that Israel should take full responsibilities towards Gaza, as the occupying power under the international law, and the consequent protection of the civilians› affairs and rights in the Strip.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Abdoh also stresses the necessity of an international human rights intervention to pressure Israel to “implement its obligations under the international law and stop the policy of isolation and abuse that is practiced against the isolated people of Gaza from the outside world under deteriorating human conditions.”‬‬

www.oic-oci.org

PALESTINE FILE OIC Expresses Disappointment over Quartet Report The OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, expressed his disappointment over the content of the recent report by the Quartet Committee on the Muddle East.

The report, Madani said, blamed the victims by assigning equal blame on the oppressed Palestinians and their oppressor. In using the term “Palestinian violence” the report glosses over the fact that the Palestinians are an occupied people of whom more than 2420 have been killed, some by burning to death, during the last two years alone.

Madani pointed out that Palestinians have been living under the yoke of a racist occupation for 50 years, their homes destroyed, supply of water and electricity cut off in collective punishment, infrastructure frozen, financial assets and revenues cut off at a whim and natural resources confiscated.

The Secretary General considered the report by the Quartet Committee lacking in objectivity in not seeing the Israeli occupation, policies and illegal practices as the main obstacle and fundamental cause that hin-

ders any progress in the political track. He expressed the need for the Quartet to carry its full political, legal and moral responsibility; and to perform its role as an honest mediator in sponsoring a multi political track based on a specified time frame, clear international references and definite steps towards ending Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Al-Quds as its capital.

OIC Condemns Israeli Practices in Al-Quds, Aggression on Gaza Strip and Attack on Zaytouna Flotilla The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Israel’s announcement of four bids to construct new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including AlQuds Al-Sharif, and to demolish 12 homes belonging to citizens in Qalndiya village in the occupied Al-Quds. The Secretary General denounced the latest Israeli escalation

against Islamic waqfs in Al-Quds, and particularly the arrest and security hunt for employees of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The OIC also strongly condemned the Israeli wave of air-raids carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Gaza Strip in August, a military escalation the OIC considers an outrageous crime in a whole string of crimes and violations persistently

perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in the absence of any political, legal, or ethical deterrent, posing a threat to security and stability in the entire region. The OIC has also strongly condemned the Israeli occupation’s interception of Zaytouna flotilla, carrying aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, and the detention of pro-Palestinian activists on board.

The Administrative Detention Practiced by Israel is Illegal and Gravest Form of Arbitrary Detention The Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Group, Ambassador Mansour Al Otaibi, underscored that administrative detention as practiced by Israel, the occupying power, is illegal and constitutes the gravest form of arbitrary detention. He indicated that over 700 Palestinian prisoners, including minors, are currently being held by Israel under administrative detention.

This was stated in a letter Ambassador Al Otaibi sent to the UN Secretary General on behalf of the OIC Group, regarding the plight of the Palestinian prisoners and ad-

ministrative detainees in Israeli jails and detention centers, particularly the critical situation of three prisoners who have been on a continuous hunger strike for two months protesting their administrative detention without trial or charge and the serious abuses by the Israeli occupying force. The three prisoners are: Muhammad Balboul (25), Mahmoud Balboul (22) and Malik AlQadi(20).

Ambassador Al Otaibi wrote: It is necessary to note here that, in concluding observations in a 2016 periodic report on implementation of the Convention against Torture, the Committee against Torture called

on Israel to “urgently take the measures necessary to end the practice of administrative detention and ensure that all persons who are currently held in administrative detention are afforded all basic legal safeguards”.

He stressed that the persistence of this critical situation demands the urgent attention and intervention of the international community.

On behalf of the OIC, Ambassador Al Otaibi appealed to the UN Secretary General to use his good offices to exert pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to immediately release the three administrative detainees.

OIC Welcomes UNESCO Resolution on Al Aqsa Mosque The General Secretariat of the OIC welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of a resolution that acknowledges Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif to be an exclusively Islamic holy site. The General Secretariat stressed that this resolution was an expression of the condemnation and rejection by the international community of all Israeli occupation policies and actions, designed to cover

www.oic-oci.org

up historical facts and deny the inalienable political, cultural and religious rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine.

The Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, commended the OIC group’s efforts and the positions of friendly countries that backed the resolution, which would entrench and preserve the Arabo-Islamic identity of AlAqsa Mosque.

Madani stressed the importance of enforcement of these historic and important resolutions, and called, at the same time, on UNESCO to shoulder its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to put an end to the serious Israeli violations against the Arabo-Islamic heritage in Palestine, especially in the cities of Jerusalem and Al-Khalil, which run counter to the principles of international law and relevant UN resolutions.

OIC Journal August - November 2016

9

WORLD AFFAIRS Nouakchott – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has stressed that the challenges of extremism and violence place it and the League of Arab States on the same path of working towards finding a lasting solution.

OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani made the assertion in his address to the 27th Arab League Summit, hosted by Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania on 25-26 July 2016.

Madani advocated the view that the path shared by the OIC and the League should lead to justice, equity and welfare.

He further pointed out that the OIC with its 57 Member States straddling four continents included the Member States of the Arab League and was connected to the latter with a network of human relations and a common cultural space.

Madani further noted that: “the OIC is a journey companion and a partner, striving for the same rights, a platform that connects the Arab world to its neighbors, East, West, North and South”.

Side Meetings

The OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani also used the 27th session of the Arab Summit in Nouakchott to hold series of meetings with a number of Arab foreign ministers on the sidelines of his participation in the Summit.

He also met with the special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Libya.

During his meeting with the foreign minister of Algeria, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, the discussion was on the latest development on the implementation of the Algeria Peace Agreement on Mali, the situation in the Sahel and Sahara region, and what needs to be done to instate peace and security and bring about development in the region.

Madani also met with the foreign minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Adel Al-Jubeir, and both reviewed the situation in the Middle East region and the efforts being made by Saudi Arabia to support joint Islamic action and the programmes and activities of OIC. The Secretary General discussed with the foreign minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Samih Shukry issues of bilateral relations and the role of Egypt in upgrading joint Islamic action. Both sides also discussed regional and international issues of

Madani: Challenges of Extremism and Violence Place the Arab League and OIC on a Common Track

common interest.

The Secretary General also held a meeting with the foreign minister of the State of Palestine, Mr. Riyad Al-Maliki, during which he reviewed the latest developments on the Palestinian question and the implementation of the resolutions of the Extraordinary Islamic Summit on Palestine, hosted in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. Both sides also discussed the international and regional efforts being made to advance the peace process given the special importance the OIC accords to the issue.

During his meeting with the foreign minister of the Republic of Iraq, Dr. Ibrahim Jaafari, the Secretary General renewed the OIC’s position in support of the unity of Iraq’s territory and people and its independence and sovereignty over all its territory, its security, stability and war against terrorism. Both sides also explored ways to activate the Makkah II initiative on Iraqi national reconciliation.

For his part, Iraq’s foreign minister expressed his country’s gratitude for the special interest accorded to it by the OIC in order to support Iraq and bring about national reconciliation.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General also met with the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya, Mr. Martin Kobler and discussed with him the latest developments on the situation in Libya

10 OIC Journal August - November 2016

President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (R), the current president of the summit, and the Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmad Abu al-Gheit (L) at the 27th session for the Arab League summit, Nouakchott, Mauritania, 25 July 2016 (epa)

and the UN’s efforts to end the crisis in the country. The Secretary General assured of the OIC’s commitments to the unity, security and stability of Libya.

Meets Mauritanian President H.E. Mr. Mohammed Ould Abdulaziz, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania received the Secretary General Mr. Iyad Madani, at the Presidential palace in Nouakchott, on 26 July 2016.

During the audience, the OIC Secretary General congratulated the President on the success of the Arab Summit in its twentyseventh session hosted by Mauritania.

He further expressed his confidence that Mauritania’s chairmanship of the Arab Summit will be a contributor to the advancement of joint Arab action and further intensify solidarity among the Arab states.

He also placed a particular emphasis on the positive role played by Mauritania in supporting the OIC’s activities.

On his part, the Mauritanian President welcomed the OIC Secretary General and praised him for his initiatives and activities in favour of achieving increased joint Islamic action, and underlined his country’s readiness to continue its support for the OIC. The two parties laid emphasis on the importance of a firm stand against Israel’s attempts to obtain an observer status at the African Union.

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC Continues to Follow Developments in Northern Mali

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed satisfaction with the decree issued by the Malian Government for the installation of the interim authorities as announced by the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement Follow-up Committee (AFC), at its 12th ordinary session held in Bamako on 19-20 October 2016.

The Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, recalled that the interim authorities fall under the political and institutional issues as per the Agreement’s provisions and that the implementation of these measures was a significant stepping stone in the peace process in Mali. In addition, he also affirmed that these decisions are reflective of the political will of the Malian Government, which he praised for its courage and spirit of sacrifice in favour of the establishment of peace in the country in general and in the North in particular.

He also expressed his satisfaction with the commitment, in parallel, of the High Representative of the President of the Republic in the follow-up of the Agreement’s implementation; as well as the Malian Prime Minister’s effective action to bring together so promptly the Malian parties in order for them to smooth out their differences in favour of a common understanding of the execution of the Governmental decree.

Mr. Madani launched an appeal to the various movements and parties to the Agreement to contribute their utmost efforts and sacrifices and fully assume their duties at

www.oic-oci.org

this particularly crucial juncture in the peace process. Lastly, he reiterated the unfailing support of the OIC for the implementation of the Agreement, which represents the only guarantee for peace, reconciliation and political stability in Mali.

Renewal of violence: Meanwhile the OIC has firmly condemned the renewed violence in Northern Mali in July and October, which resulted in several killings and assassinations of innocent civilians and peacekeeping troops.

OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, expressed his deep concern at the clashes between the self-defense Tonuareg Imghad and Allies (GATIA) Group and the Azawad Movements Coordination (AMC).

He emphasized that, as signatories of the Algiers Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, the armed groups involved in the repeated violations of the cease-fire and responsible for casualties and loss of life of innocent civilians, should bear their full responsibility; and ensure the return of calm and security in Northern Mali.

The crises in northern Mali continue to brew as recently five Malian military men, kidnapped earlier, were assassinated.

In addition, a military commander and the number two man in the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) Sheikh Ag Aoussa was killed on 8 October 2016 in Kidal, following the explosion of his car.

OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, expressed deep concern at the circum-

stances surrounding the violent death of the HCUA leader, calling on the competent authorities to conduct the necessary independent investigations to find out the causes of the car explosion.

He stated that the issue of security is a cornerstone in the implementation of the peace and reconciliation agreement in Mali and that all efforts should be deployed to reach a final solution.

The OIC also condemned in the strongest terms the attack carried out on 6 October 2016, on a security contingent deployed to protect a camp hosting over four thousand refugees from Mali in the Tahoua region of Tazalit in Niger Republic.

The attack claimed the lives of twenty-two soldiers and wounded several others. No refugee was harmed during the incident.

OIC also strongly condemned the terrorist attack that took place on 3rd October 2016, against an outpost of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) in Aguelhok, north-east Mali in which two peacekeepers were killed and several others were injured.

The Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani denounced the assault as an act of terrorism and a war crime perpetrated by the enemies of Mali against the soldiers of peace who continue to strive under difficult circumstances to support the Malian parties in the implementation of the Algiers Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 11

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC Renews Call for an Independent Investigation into Human Rights Violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned, in the strongest terms, the killing of at least thirty civilians and injuring hundreds of others at the peaceful demonstrations being held to protest the killing on 8 July 2016 of Kashmiri leader, Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces.

The OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, who expressed his sorrow over the incident, deplored the use of force by the Indian security forces on the peaceful protesters. He called for a thorough and expedient investigation on the incident to ensure that the Indian security forces cease forthwith the gross and systematic human rights violations of the Kashmiri people.

The Secretary General noted with regret the Indian attempt to malign the legitimate Kashmiri freedom struggle by denigrating it as terrorism. Meanwhile, he appreciated that the Kashmiris condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

The Secretary General expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished the wounded fast recovery from their injuries.

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also condemned the ongoing abysmal human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK), which includes unlawful incarceration of human rights activists, denial of right to peaceful protests and use of brutal force to inflict bodily harm on the innocent civilians including women and children.

IPHRC while reiterating its call on the In-

dian Government to allow the Commission to visit the IoK, welcomes the pressure exerted by the OIC Secretary General, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international human rights organizations for ‘an independent and fact-based analysis’ of the reports of the use of excessive force and human rights violations perpetrated by the Indian security forces in Kashmir.

Over the past two decades, more than

the ongoing abysmal human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK), includes unlawful incarceration of human rights activists, denial of right to peaceful protests and use of brutal force

60,000 people have been killed in IoK and both national and international human rights organizations have criticized India for its brutal and oppressive policies in Kashmir.

As mandated by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, the IPHRC, as an independent human rights organ of the OIC, has established a ‘Standing Mechanism of monitoring the human rights situation in the IoK’.

12 OIC Journal August - November 2016

It has approached the Indian Government to provide access to the Commission to visit the IoK to freely and objectively ascertain the reports of human rights violations.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also made similar request. However, despite persistent efforts, Indian government remains in a state of denial and to make the matters worst has up the ante against innocent Kashmiris through use of excessive force including extrajudicial killings.

The recent heavy-handedness of Indian security forces, the worst in the Muslimmajority region in the last six years, in response to the peaceful protests in support of Kashmiris ‘right to self-determination’, has resulted in killing of dozens of civilians and injury to thousands that include blindness due to use of pellet guns.

It is worth mentioning that a delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir in May this year and took first hand cognizance of the situation of the Kashmiris living in shelter camps as well as of the developments in the region around the line of control separating the two sides of Kashmir.

The OIC delegation headed by Ambassador Abdullah Abdurrahman Alim, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Special Envoy of the OIC Secretary General on Jammu and Kashmir, included officials from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF).

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS

Lone Wolves ...

Munich (DPA) – They kill and attack people who have done nothing to them, and justify those acts for political reasons, or demand ransom. There is a dividing thin line between describing an attack as a terrorist act or as a violent incident by a mentally disturbed.

There are many common traits shared by the perpetrators of the attacks in Nice, Forsberg, Ansbach, and in Munich massacre: all male teenagers or youngsters who were not followed by the authorities; and at least three of them clearly had personal or psychological problems. According to several investigations, this applies to 35% of the “lone wolves” who carried out attacks in the last 15 years.

The perpetrator of the train attack in the German town of Forsberg was a 17-yearold refugee who was described as an introvert with no self-confidence. He lived with a host family and had a job as a trainee.

However, until now it has not been determined whether his extremism was caused by trauma or physical problems.

Italian philosopher Franco Berardi says in his interview with the German newspaper ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’: “the difference between the assault carried out by a mentally disturbed and terrorism does no longer make sense; it has surpassed history. Terrorism with an Islamic tint is no longer linked to a political event, instead it is more like the period of terror of the Red Army Faction (RAF),” which operated during the period of the German Federal Republic between the year 1970 and 1998.

www.oic-oci.org

According to Berardi, “after what happened in Nice and Forsberg, there is no political strategy that can be identified anymore.”

However, at the same time he also spoke about a state of “extremist Islamic dispersal,” taking into consideration that there are many shared traits among the psychological backgrounds of the aggressors and terrorists.

The authorities are increasingly worried day by day from those fanatic aggressors who are motivated by hatred after being affected by the messages that spread over the Internet, especially that they remain invisible until executing their operations. But these are different from the Jihadists who move from one country to another with the purpose to commit premeditated attacks.

The first attack that had an Islamic tint on German territory was in March 2011, when Ired Oka killed two US soldiers in Frankfurt airport. Although he was not linked to any terrorist network, he decided to act independently driven by the hate messages that he used to read over the Internet.

According to Peter Neumann from the International Center for Combating Extremism in ‘King’s College’ in London, it is about “lone wolves” who are offered by Daesh (ISIS) a platform that allows them to “convert their personal problems into a political project…We can say that ISIS gives them, sort of speak, a license to use their ‘trademark’ in the operations they carry out.

ISIS did indeed promote in 2014 for such attacks as the one in‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Nice and Forsberg: without using firearms and through items

Or the Thin Line between Describing an Attack as by a Terrorist or Mentally Disturbed

that can be easily obtained, such as knives and vehicles; in other words, terrorism tools that are available to everyone.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Mesar said that the Forsberg attack that was carried out using an ax in a regional train was “at the dividing line between actions by a mentally disturbed and a terrorist.”

Whereas after the Ansbach attack, the first statements were oscillating between Daesh terrorism and an insane act or “a mixture of both.”

As for the Munich attack, the perpetrator was trying to simulate an extremist rightwing terrorist named Anders Breivik, who carried out a massacre five years ago in Norway that caused the demise of 77 people.

However, it is unclear whether the perpetrator, whose victims are many immigrants, had indeed a rightwing extremist mentality or not.

Following the recent attacks in Germany, more demands appeared asking politicians for the need to impose greater security measures and to deploy police forces on a larger scale, while performing faster operations of expulsion. The Interior Minister of Bavaria government, Joachim Herrmann, said after the Forsberg attack that it is better to inform the police as soon as someone notices anyone with suspicious changes in his surroundings.

The Department of Criminology Sciences in Bavaria does now indeed include a unit to receive any reports from friends or acquaintances or relatives of any one showing signs of extremism.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 13

INTERVIEW Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan in an interview with IINA

National Dialogue Arrived at 970 Recommendations…

Waiting for Authorization of Statute of Darfur Reconstruction Bank The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, met in his office with H.E. the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Sudan, Prof.

Ibrahim Ghandour, on April 4th, 2016.

During the meeting, the Secretary General acknowledged the important role played by Sudan as an OIC Member State and its efforts in support of Joint Islamic Action. He also underlined the OIC’s sustained support for Sudan towards the lifting of US unilateral sanctions imposed upon it.

On his part, the Foreign Minister affirmed his country’s support for the OIC’s activities and programs and its commitment to the objectives of its charter. He also exalted the OIC for its role in contributing to the resolution of the intricate and complex dossiers of the region. The Minister further briefed the Secretary General on the latest developments in the national dialogue in Sudan and expressed his optimism as to the positive results achieved thus far.

In an exclusive interview with the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), the Sudanese Foreign Ministers laid stress on the importance of the role assumed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and pointed out that they have an ongoing cooperation with the Organization to explore ways and means to elevate Joint Islamic Action and boost cooperation among the Member States. Also, he discussed the developments relevant to the Darfur Reconstruction Bank, which is a partnership between the OIC and the State of Qatar. Following is the text of the interview: • First, tell us about what was discussed in your meeting with the OIC Secretary General?

- Let me start by thanking the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for its continued support to Sudan. In the meeting, we affirmed our support for the OIC in playing its role

in the service of Islam and Muslims. We discussed various issues and we shed some light on the political issues in Sudan, and the road to peace and national dialogue.

We discussed issues of concern to our region regarding Libya, and Southern Sudan as well as the overall situation in the region, in Yemen and in Syria in particular and we examined possible solutions in which we may participate. We also broached on future relations and support for our fellows in the OIC, and how we may keep up our support for our other brothers within the framework of the OIC. • In your general response, you mentioned the national dialogue. What are the latest developments in this regard?

- The national dialogue at the core debate encompasses six fundamental topics: the economy, combating poverty, political practice and public freedoms, external relations, system of governance and the execution of the dialogue outcome. In fact the dialogue arrived at 970 recommendations.

• But how did the dialogue mechanism proceed?

- The dialogue followed a dual approach: the first one being political with the participation of all the political parties, 114 of them. The second, was the social dialogue which involved the participation of the active players in the society including labourers, economists, business people, expatriates and the like from the different social strata. The recommendations of the papers of both dialogues, “political and social”, will be consolidated into one paper so that the recommendations may form a nucleus for a permanent written constitution to be followed by general elections. This, therefore, is our path to dialogue. And, with the grace of Allah, we are making good headway on that track.

• How about the internal conflict in Sudan?

14 OIC Journal August - November 2016

- The conflict in Sudan is regressing thanks to the Sudanese armed forces and the other Sudanese powers.

• What about the Arab Food-Security Initiative?

- The initiative has now been adopted by the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which wound up with a food-security Summit. This initiative is now on the right track and has resulted in substantial investment initiatives in a number of Arab States, foremost of which, the Sudan, on account of its expansive fertile land that are not exploited and suitable for agriculture, therefore the initiative is full of potential.

• Any fresh news about the Projected Darfur Reconstruction Bank?

- We are awaiting the adoption of its statute. In fact, this item formed part and parcel of the discussion and dialogue which I had with HE the OIC Secretary General, and also part of our current dialogue with our Qatari brothers, for this bank is the fruit of a cooperation and partnership between the OIC and Qatar.

• For years now, the US has been imposing an economic blockade and sanctions on Sudan. Any developments?

- The boycott is still in force, but we are in continued contact and dialogue with the Americans. This blockade has been on for quite some time and we are still trying and keeping up hopes that we will one day have it lifted. Indeed it has no justification.

It is no more than a politically driven blockade par excellence. In this respect, we have consistently had the support of our brothers particularly among the GCC, the OIC Member States, the OIC General Secretariat, the League of Arab States and the African Union. We shall therefore keep up the momentum of the dialogue and we look forward to soon achieving understandings that

www.oic-oci.org

INTERVIEW will put a closure to this issue.

• Sudan is one of the states participating in the Arab Coalition for the reestablishment of legitimacy in Yemen. What is your take on the situation there and, any vision regarding a solution for the Yemeni conflict?

- There is the Kuwaiti mediation, supported by all. The OIC and the Arab League have both backed up this initiative and we in Sudan have done so too. We hope that our brothers in Yemen will reach a consensus because the return to legitimacy is essential and the implementation of the UN resolution No. 2216 is of particular importance.

We hope that, as an international community, we may play a greater role in favour of an agreement and the implementation of the substance of the paper issued by the OIC Secretary General’s envoy, Mr. Ismael Ould Sheikh Ahmed. Our conviction is that the issue and its solutions cannot achieve a successful ending unless they are of a political and consensual nature.

• What about the recently established Islam-

ic Coalition?

- We are party to that coalition and we will back it up in favour of security and stability in our region and in the Islamic world at large.

Relations with Southern Sudan and Ethiopia • There has been some talk about the return of Southern Sudan to Sudan. How are relations between Khartoum and Juba against the background of the escalating conflict there?

- With regard to the reintegration of Southern Sudan, that is not on the table currently at all. As for our relations with Juba, we have proposed, immediately after the cessation, a number of flexible solutions and we engaged in full economic cooperation with Southern Sudan. However, the Government of the South continued, regrettably, to support the Sudanese insurgent movements, beyond tolerance. And yet, Sudan is now an active member, through IGAD, for the return of peace in the South.

• How do you view the rising migration from

the South to your country?

- We have received, thus far, around one million refugees from the South, and it is quite evident that the collapse of the South would serve no one, neither the regional states nor the continent. We therefore are working together, through the neighbouring states of Southern Sudan and IGAD, for the benefit of re-establishing peace there. Last week, the Republic of Sudan played host to a meeting of the African Monitoring and Assessment Committee with its partners, the European Union, the USA, the UN, Norway and Britain and discussed avenues to achieve peace.

• Lastly, with regard to Annahda Dam, any new developments?

- Actually, all three ministers of irrigation in Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia will sign with the concerned companies that will undertake the study on filling the dam and identifying the anticipated impacts thereof, both economical and environmental. Also the foreign ministers will be meeting with the irrigation ministers in all three countries.

The OIC Participates in the Closing Session of the Sudanese National Dialogue At the invitation of the Government of Sudan, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation participated with a delegation headed by Ambassador Abdullah Alim, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in the closing session of the national dialogue, which was held in Khartoum, on Monday 10 October 2016.

In his speech to the meeting, Ambassador Alim reiterated the OIC’s full support to the results of this inter-Sudanese dialogue, which constitutes a strong message to the world of the ability of Sudanese people to reach consensual solutions by themselves internally, without foreign tutelage or interference that comes with agendas, which may aggravate the differences among the people of Sudan and prolong the conflict.

Commending the courageous and responsible positions of the parties that have declared their commitment to the national dialogue, Ambassador Alim renewed the OIC’s invitation to the parties that have not yet participated, and those who still bear arms, to shoulder their historical responsibilities toward the people of Sudan. Through the spirit of sacrifice and reconciliation in this critical juncture of the history of Sudan they can make the best out of this opportunity to achieve peace in Sudan by joining the national consensus as the only option to resolve all national issues. This would allow all the citizens tocontribute to the peace, stability, reconstruction and development, prosperity and progress of the country.

Ambassador Alim stressed the OIC’s commitment to harness all its capabilities to support constructive dialogue among the people of Sudan to promote peace and stability in this OIC founding member, in realization of the principle of Islamic solidarity.

The procedural session of Sudan’s National Dialogue Conference on Sunday has approved the national document, which would con-

www.oic-oci.org

Sudanese President Omar Bashir (R) and Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno (L) attend the opening session of the Sudanese national dialogue, in Khartoum, Sudan, 10 October 2015 (epa)

stitute the basis for drafting the country’s permanent constitution.

Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, who chaired the procedural session, said the national document reflects the will of the Sudanese people and serves as basis to govern the country.

He welcomed the Future Forces of Change (FFC), the National Forces Alliance (NFA) and the sacked figure of the National Umma Party (NUP) Mubarak al-Mahdi for joining the dialogue conference.

The Sudanese president stressed that the national document has expressed views and aspirations of all political forces including the opposition, adding the “door will remain open for anyone who wishes to join it”.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 15

WORLD AFFAIRS The Crumbled Coup Attempt: OIC Supports Constitutional Legitimacy in Turkey The Organization of Islamic Cooperation followed closely news reports of some elements within the Turkish army associated with Fethullah Gulen Organization who attempted a coup on July 15, 2016 through force using Turkish fighter jets, tanks and helicopters.

They bombed the Presidential Palace, parliament, police and public buildings.

People in the streets who protested against the coup in Ankara and Istanbul were shot and bombed by fighter jets and choppers.

The OIC was at the forefront of those who were quick to announce their total support for constitutional legitimacy in Turkey - an OIC Member State and the current Chair of its Islamic Summit.

OIC in a statement noted that it monitored closely the attempt of some military elements to stage a coup against the country’s democratic institutions, for which the Turkish people fought and sacrificed a great deal.

“The OIC recalled the fundamental principles of its Charter, which underscores the need to protect constitutional legitimacy and calls for the promotion of good governance, democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law,” the statement added.

OIC expressed its support for the elected government under H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It reiterated its rejection of any attempt to destabilize Turkey, the security and stability of which is the mainstay of security and stability in the region and the Muslim world.

OIC also stressed the need to respect the will of the Turkish people and to resolve differences through constitutional institutions as called for in the OIC Charter and that of the United Nations; and the key necessity to protect the national interest as exhibited in the political and economic status Turkey represents.

Numerous OIC member states, OIC organs and affiliates also expressed their solidarity with Turkey’s people and government during the troubling period.

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission IPHRC of the OIC strongly condemned the failed coup d’état attempt.

The Commission hailed the valiant efforts of the people of Turkey who fought for their democratic rights and immediately restored the constitutional order with unity and fraternity.

IPHRC used the occasion to reaffirm its unwavering support for the principles of democracy, freedom, respect for human rights and rule of law at all costs and at any time.

OIC Welcomes the Adoption of the Timetable for the Electoral Process in Somalia The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed the new timetable for the 2016 electoral process in Somalia adopted by the National Leadership Forum on 9 August 2016 in Mogadishu.

The Secretary General, Mr Iyad Ameen Madani commended the stakeholders

particularly the Federal Indirect Elections Implementation Team, which drafted the plan, for the important step taken to finalize outstanding issues related to the electoral process. He encouraged them to firmly proceed with the implementation of the agreed timetable in a transparent and

inclusive manner.

The Secretary General reiterated the determination of the OIC through its Office in Mogadishu to enhance its support to the authorities in Somalia to successfully implement the electoral system underway in the country.

Madani Expresses Condolences on the Passing Away of King Bhumibol of Thailand Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to WhatsAppShare to EmailShare to Print The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Ameen Madani expressed his heartfelt condolences to the government and people of the Kingdom of Thailand and conveyed his deepest sympathies to the members of the Royal family on the passing away of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Madani said that in his death, the world had lost a great leader and the Kingdom of Thailand had lost a

16 OIC Journal August - November 2016

revered monarch, who was a symbol of unity and stability for his country. He also expressed hope that the people of Thailand would turn their grief into strength and would continue to follow the path of care, welfare and human values shown by late King Bhumibol during his 70 years of rule.

King Bhumibol, also known as King Rama IX, passed away at the age of 88 on 13 October Thursday at a hospital in Bangkok.

The Kingdom of Thailand is an observer state in the OIC.

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC Satisfied with Elections in Gabon dialogue” with the opposition.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed its satisfaction at the manner in which the President Ali Bongo has since been sworn in as GaPresidential elections were held in the Republic of bon’s president for a second seven-year term.

Gabon on 27 August 2016, which recorded a high The result of the August election sparked days of turnout of voters. deadly violence, which prompted OIC to expressed The OIC Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, concern and urged all political stakeholders to refrain commended all Gabonese voters for their dedication from any violence and only resort to legal channels and commitment to democracy and to the rule of law in order to address any political differences to avoid during the electoral process. jeopardizing the peace and stability Gabon has been President Ali Bongo won the August’s election but the enjoying over several decades. opposition says the poll was rigged.

OIC had dispatched a team of electoral observers to Gabon’s constitutional court upheld President BonLibreville to monitor the presidential election as it did go’s election victory, rejecting opposition calls for a President Ali Bongo seven years ago in 2009 to encourage Gabon to conrecount.

Following the court ruling, President Bongo called for a “political tinue on its path in democracy.

OIC Participates in 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement The 17th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) concluded its proceedings on Sunday, 18 September 2016 at the Resort Island of Margarita, near Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The meeting was attended by Heads of State and Government from the 120 member intergovernmental forum, which core objectives are to promote peace, solidarity, sovereignty and development of its peoples.

Upon the special invitation extended to him by the host President Nicolas Maduro Moros, the OIC Secretary General, His Excellency Iyad Ameen Madani, was represented at the Summit by the Assistant Secretary General (Economic Affairs), Ambassador Hameed A. Opeloyeru.

Attended at very high levels by OIC delegations, the Summit adopted a Final Docu-

ment of the Island of Margarita, which called for maximum commitment by all member states of the Movement towards decisively addressing the challenges posed in the areas of peace, economic and social development, human rights and international cooperation.

The Summit, among other issues, agreed to strengthen and revitalise the Movement, enhance international peace and security and promote right to self-determination and the inalienable national rights of the Palestinians. NAM leaders also expressed their commitment to eliminating threats posed by proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including the implementation of outcome of the Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 1995 and related subsequent meetings.

On imposition of unilateral coercive sanc-

tions against some of its members, the Summit condemned the violation of the relevant UN resolutions calling for global observance of the principles of nonintervention, self-determination and independence of states.

Akin to the various OIC resolutions against armed terrorism and violence extremism, the Summit condemned terrorist acts in all their forms and manifestations, branding such reprehensible acts as serious threats to international peace and security, including the attendant destruction of cultural heritage and religious sites.

President Maduro has now assumed the chairmanship of the Movement having taken over from the President Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose country was elected NAM Chairman at the16th Summit held in Tehran in 2012.

The Passing Away of the President of Uzbekistan In a message to H.E. Mr. Nigmatilla Yuldashev, Acting President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani has expressed his deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences at the passing away of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.

The President was hospitalized after suffering a stroke last week and passed away on Friday September 2, 2016.

Madani said that the people of Uzbekistan and the Muslim Ummah have lost a visionary leader, whose absence will be particularly felt by the OIC as it is his firm commitment to the causes of the Muslim World that led Uzbekistan to assume the Chairmanship of the 43rd OIC Council of Ministers (CFM).

H.E. President Karimov, a reputable statesman and a historic leader, had led his country through the period of its independence. Due to his wise leadership and vision, Uzbekistan has achieved development and prosperity. His policy of seeking peace has greatly helped in establishing and consolidating peace and security in the Central Asian region.

www.oic-oci.org

OIC Journal August - November 2016 17

SPECIAL REPORT On the Sidelines of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly Annual Coordination Meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers Discusses Main Issues in Muslim World

New York – The Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held their Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM) on Thursday, 22 September 2016 on the margins of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Meeting discussed the main issues in the Muslim world and those on the agenda of the UNGA. The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah, chaired the Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM). In his speech, he spoke about the challenges and difficulties facing the Muslim Ummah, at the forefront of which is the Palestinian issue, terrorism, the situation in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, stressing the importance of coordination and cooperation among the OIC Member States in addressing these challenges.

In his speech at the Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM), the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani expressed his appreciation to the State of Kuwait for competently and diligently chairing the 42nd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) and welcomed the chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan of the next session of CFM in October. He also expressed his appreciation of the existing and constructive cooperation between OIC and the United Nations and its various organs and structures.

The Secretary General registered with satisfaction the return of international attention to the question of peace in the Middle East since the announcement of the French initiative and affirmed the importance of help-

ing to intensify efforts towards coordination with all active international parties in order to hold a peace conference before the end of this year. Madani also urged the Palestinians to achieve real national reconciliation.

On the other hand, the Secretary General condemned the attacks on aid convoys in Syria and expressed deep concern and attention to the deteriorating and unpredictable situation in Syria, Yemen and Libya, the continuation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the occupied Kashmir. He expressed his concern about the recent bloody developments, which threaten peace and security and have claimed the lives of innocent citizens.

The Secretary General stressed that the OIC is following closely the developments in Somalia, Mali and Central Africa with the hope to continue measures that would bring about the desired stability in these countries.

Madani also stressed that the OIC is working earnestly with the Government of Afghanistan, in coordination with other active actors, to organize international Ulema conference, which the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has kindly agreed to host.

As for the issue of the Rohingya community in Myanmar, the Secretary General pointed to his meeting on the margin of the current session of the UN General Assembly, with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar. “The discussion we held on all Rohingya-related issues were marked by frankness, clarity and transparency. Our meeting has also paved the way for a con-

18 OIC Journal August - November 2016

structive dialogue with the Government of Myanmar towards finding serious and practical solutions to the causes of the Rohingya and the improvement of their humanitarian conditions,” he said.

He added that the OIC is working very hard to follow up on the situation of Muslim communities in the Philippines, Thailand and other states.

As for the issue of terrorism, the Secretary General emphasized that terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to security, stability and lifestyle in many Member states.

In view of the worsening situation of this phenomenon to such an extent that it cuts across borders coupled with the rising numbers of victims, he urged for further coordination and cooperation to find a common and comprehensive approach.

Meanwhile, Madani stated that: “At a time when our member states, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are deploying great efforts to combat terrorism, the recent ‘Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act’ passed by the US Congress has come to undermine, in our judgment, the international efforts to combat terrorism, to weaken alliances that promote peace and security throughout the world, and to challenge the principles and traditions governing inter-state relations. We call from this forum on the US Congress to withdraw this act that seeks to undermine international peace and security and bring about considerable chaos in international relations.”

Palestine, Jammu And Kashmir, Sierra Leone and the Aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan OIC Contact Groups on Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir, Sierra Leone and the Aggression of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan held their meetings at Ministerial level on the sideline of the Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM) of OIC Foreign Ministers in New York. The separate meetings reviewed the prevailing developments on the respective issues and reaffirmed their full solidarity with Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir, Sierra Leone and Azerbaijan.

www.oic-oci.org

SPECIAL REPORT On Palestine, the meeting reiterated the OIC’s unwavering position on the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif and called for concerted efforts in the UN Security Council to assume its responsibility to ensure Israel’s halt to its violations, end the Israeli occupation within well-defined timeframe and to maintain the vision the two state solution.

Regarding Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministers, highlighted the systematic human rights violations of the Kashmiri people and the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and called on ICHAD and UN OCHA to act as a matter of urgency to deliver the much needed relief to the affected population.

On the aggression by Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Contact Group, which held its inaugural meeting, expressed the hope that Group will serve as a useful platform to implement OIC Resolutions as well as harmonize individual and joint efforts of the Member States in order to put an end the Armenian aggression and occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan. The meeting also agreed to formulate a roadmap to guide the activities of the Group towards the realization of its objectives.

While expressing its solidarity with Sierra Leone, the meeting urged the Member States to continue to extend all forms of support and assistance to the country in its endeavors to achieve full recovery in the post Ebola epidemic era.

Mali, Somalia, Yemen and Bosnia Herzegovina The OIC Contact Groups on Mali, Somalia, Yemen and Bosnia Herzegovina also convened at Ministerial level on the sideline of the Annual Coordination Meeting (ACM) of OIC Foreign Ministers in New York. The four separate meetings reviewed the prevailing latest developments on the ground and reaffirmed their full solidarity with the affected countries.

On Mali and the Sahel, the meeting reviewed the implementation of the Algiers Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali and commended the progress made so far in this regard. It encouraged the parties to commit themselves to the full and speedy implementation of the peace accord

www.oic-oci.org

as a means of returning durable stability to the country and the region. The meeting also reiterated the OIC’s principled support for the unity and territorial integrity of Mali.

Regarding Somalia, the Ministers discussed the current electoral process under way in the country and stressed the importance of supporting the Federal Government of Somalia to implement in an inclusive and transparent manner the current electoral process, which they hoped would further contribute to the overall stabilization efforts. They also commended the recent transformation of the OIC’s Humanitarian Office in Mogadishu into a Development Agency.

In the Contact Group on Yemen, which held its second session, the participants reiterated their full support for the unity, sovereignty and political independence and territorial integrity of the country. It also reiterated its continued support for the constitutional legitimacy and the efforts of the government to achieve security, political and economic stability in Yemen. The meeting called on the OIC to continue the ongoing preparations to convene the humanitarian and development support conference for Yemen.

While reviewing the situation in Bosnia Herzegovina, the meeting acknowledged the significance of the continued contributions of OIC Member States to the Peace Implementation Council and the Office of the High Council. The meeting also called on all Bosnian political leaders to join forces for the common future of the country and by focusing on the reform process.

Side Meetings at UN General Assembly On the sidelines of his participation in the Seventy-First Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani met H.H. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Chairperson of the Forty-Second Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). The meeting discussed a number of issues of concern to the OIC countries, ways of enhancing joint Islamic action, and the OIC’s role in the strengthening cooperation and solidarity among its Member States.

The Secretary General also held a bilateral

meeting with Federica Mogherini, the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, where the two sides discussed ways of monitoring the implementation of the topics agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding they had signed to support and strengthen their relations and dialogue.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation to deepen mutual understanding between them in various fields through regular consultations and meetings.

The meeting also discussed the most important issues on the agenda of the UNGA session in addition to the developments of the Palestinian Cause, the situation of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and the efforts to combat terrorism, extremism and Islamophobia.

Similarly, the OIC Secretary General met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Libya, Mr. Muhammad Taher Sayala. During the meeting, the minister gave a detailed briefing on the situation in Libya. He appreciated the continuous support of the OIC for the Government of National Unity and the efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis through peaceful means. For his part, the Secretary General affirmed the commitment of the OIC to peace, security and stability in Libya and to devote all its capabilities to achieve the objective.

The Secretary General also met with Professor Ibrahim Gandour, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan. ​​Both sides reviewed ways to follow up the implementation of the resolutions on solidarity with Sudan.

The Secretary General also met with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, State Adviser to the Government of Myanmar.

During the meeting, the Secretary General was informed on the efforts of the Myanmar government to promote democratic governance and end religious and racial conflicts in the country.

For his part, the Secretary General welcomed the Myanmar government’s efforts in this regard and pointed out the OIC’s interest in the protection of the basic human rights of the Rohingya Muslim community, including their fundamental right to citi-

OIC Journal August - November 2016 19

SPECIAL REPORT zenship. Madani called for more efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the Arakan region.

Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan On a separate note, Secretary General met with H.E. President Abd Rabuh Mansour Hadi, President of the Republic of Yemen.

During the meeting, the Secretary General renewed the OIC’s constant position in support of the unity, sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Yemen.

He rejected interference in Yemen’s internal affairs and expressed the full solidarity of the OIC with the Yemeni people in their aspiration for freedom, democracy, social justice and comprehensive development.

The Secretary General also reiterated continuous support for constitutional legitimacy and the national efforts being made by the Yemeni government to achieve security, political and economic stability in Yemen, and resumption of the political process.

For his part, President Abdu Rabuh appreciated the OIC’s support for his country in this critical phase of its history, pointing out the importance of the resolutions adopted by the sessions of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers on the situation in Yemen.

There was exchange of views on the ongoing preparations to convene the humanitarian and development support conference for Yemen and the importance of mobilizing necessary and urgent support to confront the humanitarian situation in coordination with the Yemeni government, international partners and the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Action Centre.

The OIC Secretary General also met with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),Jn Kubiš.

They exchanged views on the situation in Iraq and how the UN and the OIC can support Iraq at this important stage.

The UN envoy affirmed the support of the United Nations for the OIC’s efforts to hold the Makkah II Conference aimed at bringing about national reconciliation in Iraq.

It was agreed to continue the cooperation and coordination between the OIC Office

and the UN Offices in Iraq.

Similarly, the Secretary General held a meeting with Salahuddine Rabbani, the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan.

During the meeting, the Secretary General reaffirmed the OIC’s continued support to the Government and people of Afghanistan. For his part, the Afghan minister underscored the important role of the OIC and reconfirmed the commitment of Afghanistan to support any effort in line with the implementation of the relevant OIC resolutions for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The meeting reviewed preparations for the upcoming international Ulema conference in support of peace, security, stability and national reconciliation in the country.

Likewise, UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon received the Secretary General of OIC Iyad Ameen Madani and his accompanying delegation at UN headquarters.

The two Secretaries General discussed issues of mutual concern and stressed on strengthening UN-OIC cooperation to address these issues including Syria, humanitarian assistance and preventing and combating violent extremism.

At the top of their concerns is the Palestinian issue and the peace process. Ban Ki moon emphasized that resolving the Palestinian issue is critical for peace and security in the world. Ki moon expressed support to OIC peace efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Madani highlighted the issue of Rohingya community in Myanmar and the issue of Kashmir especially with current developments. He also brought to attention the situation in Mali and the efforts of OIC to consolidate peace and security in the country.

In the same way, the Secretary General had constructive meetings with officials from the United Nations responsible for counter terrorism.

In his meeting with Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde, Executive Director of UN Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Secretariat (CTED), the Secretary General briefed Laborde on the OIC structure for conflicts resolution, which consists of the Wise Persons Council, the Special Envoys of the Secretary General and the Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution Unit.

20 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Madani reiterated the position of OIC that terrorism is multifaceted and cannot be tackled through security means alone, but rather through a comprehensive approach that addresses the context and situation on the ground.

Laborde concurred with this analysis and stressed the need for cooperation between OIC and CTED on information, expertise and implementation of the relevant UN resolutions on terrorism. The two sides agreed to continue joint cooperation through seminars and workshops to counter terrorism, which is in line with resolutions adopted by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on this regard.

The Secretary General also met with Mr. Jehangir Khan, Executive Director of the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). Madani highlighted the need to counter the ideology as well as the economic, cultural and education aspects in countering terrorism and to focus on the youth. Mr. Khan proposed stronger relations and cooperation with OIC on specific programs and projects.

Memorandum of Understanding The OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani and the Administrator of United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID) Gayle E. Smith signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA. The OIC and USAID renewed their commitment to strengthen cooperation on humanitarian assistance and to uphold humanitarian principles.

The Memorandum of Understanding builds on original commitments made in 2012, which outlined a framework for cooperation that included mutual consultations and strategic dialogue, exchange of information, participation in disaster response and training, operational support and facilitation, and enhanced coordination. Since the original commitments were made, USAID and OIC have partnered to support trainings for humanitarian responders on best practices, in addition to co-hosting the Global Forum for Humanitarian Action in advance of this year’s World Humanitarian Summit.

www.oic-oci.org

SPECIAL REPORT

OIC Co-chairs 3 Humanitarian Meetings...

Iraq, Yemen and Lake Chad Basin A man stands in what has been the bed of a branch of Lake Chad. The lake has lost up to 90 per cent of its surface in the last 50 years (OCHA)

Ambassador Hesham Youssef, Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of OIC co-chaired with the UK Secretary of State for International Development and UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator a High Level Meeting on the Humanitarian Situation in Yemen, on 21 September 2016.

In a joint statement they pointed out that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is not receiving enough international attention, the international response is critically underfunded, and the international humanitarian delivery system is yet to deliver effectively.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is one of the most serious in the world and it is having a devastating impact on civilians. Millions of Yemenis no longer have enough money to buy food and other essential goods. The economy and public services, especially the health system, are collapsing severely exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Access for essential imports and humanitarian staff and supplies continues to be severely constrained.

The co-chairs agreed that the international community must act now to bring an urgent step-change in the humanitarian response on the ground and avoid a further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis.

Amb. Hesham Youssef, the OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs also co-chaired a high-level event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq in the margins of the 71th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on 21 September 2016, with H.E. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, Mr. Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner of

www.oic-oci.org

Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Mr. Brett McGurk, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Mr. Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Mr. Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-SecretaryGeneral for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

In response to the escalating humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Iraq and considering those to emerge during the Mosul campaign, the Co-chairs of this High-level event stressed the importance of taking concrete steps to ensure that all civilians are protected and assistance is delivered in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law and consistent with humanitarian principles. This is crucial for saving lives and alleviating human suffering, as well as for prospects of stability and prosperity in Iraq.

Participants acknowledged the scope and scale of the humanitarian crisis to date, and the challenge of meeting expected needs yet to come from the Mosul operation. They confirmed that respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and humanitarian principles to provide assistance to people in need is crucial during conflict, and that displaced persons’ human rights must be respected, in accordance with applicable domestic and international law. They restated the importance for parties to the conflict to do all in their power to uphold their responsibilities to protect civilians, during and after the conduct of hostilities, in accordance with IHL. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

(OIC) and the European Union (EU) co-organized a high-level event on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Lake Chad Basin held on the margins of the UN General-Assembly with OCHA on 23 September 2016. Speakers included the President of the Republic of Chad, Idriss Déby; President of the Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou; the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari; the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation of the Republic of Cameroon, René Emmanuel Sadi; the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides; and the Secretary General of the OIC, Iyad Ameen Madani.

Heeding the call of United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, donors including Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States pledged over US$163 million in humanitarian support for the Lake Chad Basin, an area which straddles Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Beyond financial assistance, affected countries and humanitarian partners pledged to strengthen collaboration to meet immediate needs of affected communities, provide longer-term development assistance and to address the root causes of the crisis.

Over nine million people across the Lake Chad Basin urgently need humanitarian assistance. Some 6.3 million are food insecure and 2.6 million people, including 1.5 million children, have been forced to flee from their homes. Violence and insecurity have brought economic activity to a halt and farmers across the region have missed three successive planting seasons.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 21

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC holds Emergency Executive Committee Meeting on the Worsening Humanitarian Situation in Aleppo Syria

The Secretary General addressing the Emergency Meeting on Aleppo

Jeddah – The Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation held a meeting - at the level of Permanent Representatives - on the deteriorating situation in Syria on 9 October 2016 at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah.

The communique of the meeting held at the request of the State of Kuwait, Chair of the 42nd Session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), reaffirmed the commitment of the OIC Member States to the sovereignty, independence, political unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The communique condemned the Syrian regime for stepping up military operations and aerial bombing through systematic and arbitrary use of barrel bombs and incendiary materials and heavy bunker-buster bombs in residential areas.

It also condemned the heinous assaults on hospitals, health facilities, water plants, schools, and humanitarian convoys and the continued use of siege and starvation and forced displacement as a tactic of war, which are considered as war crimes for which the Syrian regime must be held accountable. The Russian Federation and other states supporting the regime must also be held responsible for the continuation of these violations. Such massacres and crimes constitute serious violations of the UN Charter, the OIC Charter, and international humanitarian law.

The meeting stressed the need for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities under the UN Charter, through the implementation of its resolutions on the situation in Syria, calling for the implementation of the ceasefire, for putting an end to hostilities and providing humanitarian aid.

It further called on the international parties having pledged to impose a cessation of hostilities and consolidate the humanitarian truce for rapid intervention to stop the killings to which residential areas are subjected, lift the blockade on besieged civilians while providing protection to them and to children, women and to Syrian civilians in general as well as humanitarian workers. It called for the withdrawal of foreign militia, particularly from the city of Aleppo or provide safe corridors to civilians and impose an immediate hu-

22 OIC Journal August - November 2016

manitarian ceasefire at least for sufficient time.

The OIC Executive Committee members called on the UN General Assembly to shoulder its responsibility in line with the provisions of the UN Charter, should the UN Security Council continue its failure to fulfill its duty in the maintenance of international peace and security in Syria.

The communique underlined the need for the peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis through the resumption of the negotiating process within the framework of the implementation of the Geneva Declaration 1 and relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Meeting therefore reiterated the commitment of the OIC and its Member States to fight and eradicate terrorism. It stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat terrorism and extremist thought, particularly in Syria. It condemned the gross and systematic violations of human rights, international humanitarian law and despicable terrorist crimes perpetrated by the Daesh and Al-Nusra Front terrorist organizations in Syria. It affirmed the need to isolate and separate terrorist organizations on the field, in accordance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

It urged Member States and the Humanitarian Department at the General Secretariat as well as civil society organizations active in the humanitarian field, to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to all Syrian refugees and displaced persons and to the countries hosting refugees.

The Meeting called on the Permanent Representatives of the OIC Group in New York to convene and follow-up on the humanitarian situation in the Aleppo.

The Executive Committee called on the Islamic Group in Geneva to coordinate with international and regional organizations, geographical and political groups, to urge the Human Rights Council to stop the gross human rights violations and systematic crimes committed by the Syrian regime and its allies against innocent civilians in Syria.

The communique also called on donor States participating in donor conferences to support the humanitarian situation in Syria by expediting the payment of their contributions pledged previously in those conferences.

The Meeting requested the OIC Secretary General to continue contacts with all international and regional parties concerned with the Syrian dossier, particularly international organizations and the member states of the Security Council, for the implementation of previous Security Council resolutions on Syria, and the adoption of a new resolution calling for a cessation of military acts in all parts of Syria, especially in the city of Aleppo.

The OIC Executive Committee is composed of the Islamic Troika, namely Egypt, Turkey and the Gambia, the CFM troika, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Uzbekistan, and the OIC Secretary General.

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS The Stench of ‫‫‬ Death and Blood is Everywhere in ‬Aleppo, Syria‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Aleppo (DPA) - There is no place in hospitals anymore in Aleppo, except on the ground, because of the heavy bombing and ferocious siege on this Syrian city. Reverberating cries of children across the bloodstained corridors where wounded people scatter everywhere, Ibrahim Alhadash, a volunteer in the White Helmets civil defense NGO, describes the place. “The smell of death and blood surrounds everything here.”

Yet, the international community can no longer take action but only watch powerless to provide a helping hand to the destroyed city, which has become for some time a melancholic symbol of the brutal current conflict.

In his recent statement on the margins of the Security Council emergency meeting on Syria, the Ambassador of France to the United Nations, Francois Delattre, said “in many aspects, Aleppo for Syria is similar to Sarajevo for Bosnia or Jernica city for Spain during the Spanish Civil War.” A few days ago children were playing and having fun in the city streets, just before the collapse of the fragile cease-fire, which did not last long. Since then the only sounds heard are of whizzing fighter jets, crossing the horizon over northern Syria, where the shelling by the Syrian regime and its allies, Iran and Russia, continues unrelentingly on Aleppo causing hundreds of civilian casualties.

Many streets became deserted except for the destructed structures of houses that

www.oic-oci.org

were affected by the vicious bombing with its facade blackened by to the fire. The UNICEF warned that since the bombing of the main station for the distribution of drinking water, the water has been cut off for nearly two million civilians of Aleppo’s residents.

Reports indicate that the regime of Bashar Assad and his allies are using the most destructive and deadly types of missiles. Furthermore, the new rocket-propelled grenades have the ability to penetrate armors and break into the walls of the trenches where civilians surviving the horrors of the bombing are holed up, according to activist Bahaa Halabi. The Secretary-General of the United Nations described what is happening in Aleppo as a kind of “barbarism and hooliganism.”

The regime continues the bombardment using explosive barrels, although it is internationally prohibited, along with other criminalized weapons such as cluster bombs and firebombs.

The United Nation’s envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says “We have seen reports, video tapes and photographs of attacks with firebombs that result in glowing fire balls transforming the darkness of east Aleppo night into noon, while the civilians trapped in the city wonder whether they still have a secure haven to resort to under this bloody violence.”

There are nearly a quarter of a million people in eastern Aleppo under constant bombardment, since the Syrian regime army and

its allies besieged the city, where no one can neither enter nor exit the city. Photojournalist Mohamed Raslan says that bakeries only open once every three days because of lack of food supplies. Raslan adds, “But people do not want to go out and buy bread because they fear for their lives from the army’s bombing even on bakeries, so they no longer leave their homes.

At the same time, a paramedic says, “medicines and medical equipment became extremely rare, due to the extended period of the siege for several weeks. Many people die since there is a shortage of everything; we can no longer take care of all the seriously wounded people.” He continues, “all of us work without rest at all, but there are patients who need complex and difficult operations, and there are no doctors left in Aleppo to do that. People sit helplessly watching their family members and loved ones die slowly in front of their eyes, while we are unable to offer any assistance to them.”

Aleppo residents feel that everyone has abandoned them, and that the world turned their back on them, as they are incapable of defending themselves in the face of a wide massacre that does not respect any human dignity. The leader of the opposition factions in Aleppo, Britta Haji Hassan, says “Aleppo is burning, they want to erase east of the city from the map, while the international community stands helpless, without doing anything.”

OIC Journal August - November 2016 23

WORLD AFFAIRS UN Special Envoy and OIC Secretary General Stress Need for Humanitarian Conference for Yemen United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Mr. Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmad visited the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation OIC and met with the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani on August 8, 2016.

The two sides held important discussions on the latest developments in Yemen and the outcome of the Kuwait negotiations. They also discussed ways of strengthening political and humanitarian partnership between the OIC and the United Nations.

The UN envoy reviewed the outcomes of the latest Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait and of his consultations with Yemeni parties aimed at advancing the political process. He assured of the United Nations’ commitment to the negotiations in order to reach an amicable solution for the Yemeni crisis.

For his part, the OIC Secretary General affirmed the OIC’s support for the efforts of the UN Envoy and for the preference for YemeniYemeni dialogue based on the Gulf initiative, its implementation mechanisms, the outcomes of the comprehensive national dialogue and relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council.

On another level, both sides affirmed the need for a special conference to be held as soon as possible to provide humanitarian and developmental assistance to Yemen as endorsed by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers. This is to mobilize urgently needed resources to address the dire humanitarian situations and to provide for the requirements of the next phase in coordination with the Yemeni government and regional and international partners.

Following their meeting the UN Special Envoy to Yemen and the OIC Secretary General held a joint press conference where Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that terrorism was benefiting from politi-

The Secretary General and the UN Special Envoy at the press conference

cal and security vacuum in Yemen.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that there were clear solutions to the crisis in Yemen. Those include the withdrawal of rebels from the occupied territories, the handover of arms and the adoption of national political dialogue, according to the international envoy.

“There is no alternative to a political solution in Yemen,” Ould Cheikh Ahmed said, adding that “a military solution will not be possible.”

“The coming period will be dedicated to maintaining peace negotiations in order to reach a comprehensive solution” to the crisis, he said.

The UN envoy noted that any agreement should be based on UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the implementation mechanisms of the Gulf Initiative and the outcome of national dialogue.

The U.N. envoy insisted that peace talks between the Yemeni government and Houthis have not failed.

For his part, OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani said he hoped that efforts exerted by the Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed would lead to a political solution.

Madani expressed concern over the unilateral decision taken by the “parties that turned against legitimacy,” to establish a political council and their call on Parliament in Sanaa to vote in favor of the council’s establishment.

Such steps will lead to further complications, Madani noted, reiterating the Organization’s support to a political solution in Yemen, in accordance with the relevant documents and international resolutions.

A Yemeni girl fills jerry cans with water from a donated source amid disruption of water supplies in Sana›a (epa) Yemenis set up a makeshift shelter at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (epa)

24 OIC Journal August - November 2016

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS

King Salman bin Abdulaziz congratulating the Al-Othaimeen on being appointed OIC Secretary General

Al-Othaimeen delivering his speech after being appointed OIC Secretary General

OIC Refers Houthi-Saleh Militias Attack on Makkah to United Nations

Elects New Secretary General Makkah Al-Mukarramah hosted an emergency meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday, 17 November 2016 - following the recommendation of the Executive Committee emergency meeting held at the ministerial level in Jeddah on 5 November 2016 - to discuss the launching of a ballistic missile towards Makkah Al-Mukarramah by Houthi-Saleh militias.

In a resolution passed at the end of the meeting, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) referred the issue of HouthiSaleh Militias attack towards Makkah AlMukarramah to United Nations.

The CFM resolved to address a message by the Executive Committee in the name of OIC Member States to the United Nations to take necessary international actions that would ensure that such vicious aggressions on Makkah Al-Mukarramah and other Islamic holy lands are not repeated.

The meeting also adopted the communiquĂŠ of the Executive Committee, which called on Member States to stand united against the heinous aggression and those behind it; who support its perpetrators with arms, as an established accomplice in the aggression on the holy sites of the Muslim world; an obvious party seeking to sow dissent and fuel sectarian discord, and a key sponsor of

www.oic-oci.org

terrorism.

The CFM constituted a working group of the member States in the Executive Committee to consider taking urgent practical steps to ensure non-recurrence of such vicious aggressions.

The meeting also reaffirmed the OIC Member States’ commitment to enhance their unity and solidarity as well as to promote mutually beneficial relations to maintain peace, security, stability and prosperity among the OIC Member States and beyond in line with the spirit of Islam as Rahmatan lil Alamin (i.e. mercy for the universe).

The CFM further re-iterated the principles and objectives enshrined in the OIC Charter, particularly those relating to non-interference in the domestic affairs of Member States and the respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each Member State.

New Secretary General The extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) also elected Dr. Yousef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen as the new Secretary General of the OIC. In a resolution passed at the end of the meeting, the council stated that the election follows the resignation of H.E. Iyad Ameen Madani from his post of Secretary effective 31 October 2016 for health rea-

sons and the nomination of H.E. Dr. Yousef Ahmed Al Othaimeen, to the post by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Council of Foreign Ministers expressed appreciation to the former Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani for his great services and invaluable efforts at the service of the interests of the Muslim Ummah and Member States.

The Foreign Ministers called on all Member States to support the new Secretary General in performing his functions in full.

For his part, H.E. Dr. Yusuf bin Ahmad AlOthaimeen, the new Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), expressed his deepest thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, on his unanimous nomination and election as OIC Secretary General for a term of five years.

Al-Othaimeen emphasized that the confidence reposed on him is a major responsibility, praying to Allah Almighty to enable him to perform his mission in the service of the Muslim Ummah, promote solidarity among Member States and push joint Islamic action forward.

The new OIC Secretary General also appreciated the support of OIC Members States for his election.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 25

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC Considers JASTA a Violation of the Principle of International Law The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed its great concern on the passing of the U.S. law known as the Justice against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).

The law according to OIC General Secretariat is a violation of the principle of immunity of sovereign states, which is a basic and established legal principle in international relations and international law.

US President Barack Obama initially vetoed the passage of the law, but the US congress voted overwhelmingly to override his veto of the bill.

JASTA bill grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S soil.

OIC in a statement noted that the reactions of the international community to the law underscore the need to adhere to the centuries old position held by states that no sovereign state, relying on arbitrary standards as means of applying political and economic pressure, may impose its jurisdiction on another sovereign state. Otherwise, this would be a breach of the independence of states and a flagrant violation of established prin-

ciples in international law and interstate relations.

According to the OIC statement: “Regrettably, this unilateral law is an invitation to serious chaos in international relations. It upsets a firm and established international legal order and diminishes the integrity of the entire international legal system because it opens the door to states to pass similar laws, which is expected in reaction to protect their rights.”

“The current international crisis situation and the humanitarian tragedies we witness everyday should propel all states, particularly the big powers, to affirm their respect for and commitment to the rules of international law. They should look for solutions to these international crises within and under the umbrella of international law, and not by breaching or violating it. Otherwise, the world would unfortunately witness more chaos, injustice, and oppression,” the statement added.

The OIC therefore expressed its hope that the American legislature would reconsider the said law and that it would not enter into

effect so as to ensure regional and international peace and to ensure that the international efforts to combat terrorism are not negatively impacted.

In its reaction to the passage of the law, Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers emphasized that the adoption of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorist Act (JASTA) by the US Congress is a matter of grave concern for the international community as it would weaken the sovereign immunity and negatively impact all states including the US. Even the White House press secretary Josh Earnest called the Senate vote on the bill “the single most embarrassing thing” the legislative body has done in decades.

Also in a letter to Republican and Democratic Senate leaders, US President Barack Obama said: “I strongly believe that enacting JASTA into law would be detrimental to US national interests.”

Obama warned of “devastating” consequences for the Pentagon, service members, diplomats, and the intelligence agencies.

OIC Welcomes Signing of Peace Agreement between Afghan Government and Hezb-e-Islami The Secretary General further expressed the hope that all other groups would also shun violence and facilitate working on finding a peaceful solution to the unjustifiable bloodshed and violence in the country.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani (C) signs a peace agreement during a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, 29 September 2016 (epa)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) welcomed the peace agreement signed on 29 September 2016, in Kabul between the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Hezb-e Islami, The deal was signed at a ceremony attended by negotiators, the President›s national security adviser, and representatives of the Hezbi-Islami faction of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Reiterating the OIC’s principled position in supporting and contributing to durable peace, security and stability in Afghanistan, the Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, expressed the hope that the peace agreement would pave the way to restore peace to the country.

He indicated that the Agreement proves that the way to resolving the conflict in Afghanistan can only be through dialogue, and not by military means and violence.

26 OIC Journal August - November 2016

OIC Congratulates the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Successful Parliamentary Elections The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed its satisfaction with the positive atmosphere in which parliamentary elections were held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 20 September 2016.

OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, congratulated Jordan on the success of the elections, which witnessed large participation of women and youth and was conducted in an atmosphere of freedom, transparency, and political pluralism.

Advanced electronic systems were used throughout the electoral process in line with international standards.

Jordan also made significant changes to its electoral law this year, replacing the one-person-one-vote system with a list-based system.

OIC Secretary General praised the political reform programme approved by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Husein aimed at supporting the rule of law and institutions in Jordan.

OIC General Secretariat participated with a delegation of observers to monitor the Jordanian elections.

www.oic-oci.org

WORLD AFFAIRS OIC Continues Engagement with the Peace Process in Southern Philippines The OIC Special Envoy for the Peace Process in the Southern Philippines, Ambassador Sayed Kassem Elmasry, accompanied by representatives of the Department of Muslim Minorities and Communities, concluded a four-day official visit in October 2016 to the Republic of the Philippines. The purpose of the mission was to engage in talks with various stakeholders in the peace process to follow up on the latest developments on the ground.

The OIC delegation met with Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process to receive a briefing on the Government’s plan for federalism and its

new road map for peace. At the opening of the meeting, Secretary Dureza outlined the plan of the government to converge the key elements of all previous international agreements into one enabling law that will be passed for the benefit of all parties. Mr. Dureza emphasised the importance of the continued role of the OIC as an important partner in the peace process and he commended the achievements of the OIC, in particular, the creation of the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum (BCF).

The OIC delegation noted the strong support for the peace process and praised the efforts of the Philippines to achieve a just

and lasting peace in Mindanao by working for the convergence of the two peace tracks. Secretary Dureza noted that the Philippines is dedicated and fully committed to this process.

The OIC delegation held separate talks with the Moro fronts, namely the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to ascertain their views on the peace process. It was reiterated that the Bangsamoro Coordination Forum (BCF) is the prime venue for both the MNLF and MILF to close ranks, strengthen and consolidate their cooperation and unity and maintain their peaceful struggle for the common cause.

Grave Concern at Outbreak of Violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed grave concern at the eruption of violence in Rakhine state following attacks by unidentified insurgents against Myanmar border facilities on 9 October, which resulted in the deaths of several security personnel and insurgents. The OIC calls for a full investigation into the incident to determine the perpetrators in order to bring them to justice.

The OIC has received disturbing reports of extra judicial killings of Rohingya Muslims, burning of houses, and arbitrary arrests by security forces in Maungdaw Township and other villages in Northern Rakhine State. The situation has caused many Rohingya to flee their villages and the subsequent blockade in the region has also left many in the area facing acute shortages of food, water and essentials.

The OIC Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani appealed for calm and called on all stakeholders to apply maximum restraint, refrain from the use of violence and to avoid an escalation of the situation. He urged the Government of Myanmar to provide full protection to Rohingya people in Northern Rakhine state. Mr. Madani further expressed concern that the volatile situation and continued violence will only prolong the plight of Rohingya people and further polarise the Muslim and Buddhist Rakhine communities in the state. The Secretary General noted that it is only through dialogue and reconciliation with all members of society, including the Rohingya, that Myanmar could achieve true democracy, development and socio-economic progress.

OIC Appeals for Calm and Restraint in the Central African Republic The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has urged for calm, restraint and patience in the Central African Republic (CAR) following the resurgence of violence in parts of the country, including Bangui, where deadly protests calling for the withdrawal of the UN Mission (MINUSCA) occurred on 24 October 2016, in which four lives were lost and dozens were injured, among them peace keepers.

The Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen

www.oic-oci.org

Madani who voiced the concern of the OIC at the latest worrisome developments in CAR, recalled the sacrifices and contributions of the Organization and the international community, which have been working tirelessly to return durable peace, stability and national reconciliation to the country. He appealed to all the stakeholders in CAR to rededicate themselves to support the current international peace efforts and top reserve national unity, which has been

undermined by the crisis that gripped CAR in the past three years and stalled its socioeconomic development.

Mr. Madani further urged all the people of CAR to give a chance to the democratically elected Government to implement its agenda for reconstruction and development in an inclusive manner so as to accelerate the stabilization of the country.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 27

SPECIAL REPORT

43rd Session of CFM: Education, Enlightenment and Youth The Foreign Ministers Meet in

Land of El-Bukhari, El-Termothy, El-Khawarzmy, El-Bairouny, and Ibn Sina Tashkent – The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held its 43rd Session in Tashkent, the Capital of Uzbekistan, on Tuesday and Wednesday, 18 and 19 October 2016.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, and the Chairman of the 42nd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, H.H. Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-HamadAl-Sabah, inaugurated the Session.

The Interim President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, delivered a statement during the inaugural ceremony in which he expressed the profound significance of the theme of the Session (Educa-

28 OIC Journal August - November 2016

tion and Enlightenment: Path to Peace and Creativity).

The Interim President noted that the theme was proposed by the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, late Islam Karimov, stressing the need to consider the spiritual aspects in education, and strengthen cooperation among the youth.

He considered that choosing Uzbekistan to chair the OIC CFM represents recognition by the Islamic world of what his country provided to enrich human history through its scholars, such as: El-Bukhari, El-Termothy, El-Zamakhshary, El-Khawarzmy, El-Bairouny, and Ibn Sina.

H.E. Mirziyoyev identified six priorities to be achieved by

www.oic-oci.org

SPECIAL REPORT

Uzbekistan, during its CFM chairmanship, epitomized in the considerable role of education in strengthening the capacity of member states; enhancing creativity by promoting sciences and technology in order to achieve developmental, economic and social progress; ensure unity; capitalize on the core elements of the Islamic world through cooperation between the member states and other states; the provision of initiatives; and the prohibition of disseminating nuclear weapons.

The Interim President of Uzbekistan announced the introduction of an initiative to establish “Imam ElBukhary International Research Center”, with its headquarters at the Imam Bukhari Academy, in the City of Samarkand, and affiliated to the OIC. He called on the OIC Secretary General to support the initiative.

He also announced another initiative for the formation of a chair for Islamic sciences in the Islamic University in Tashkent.

The OIC Secretary General, H.E. Iyad Ameen Madani, delivered a statement, in which he started by recalling the wise stances taken by the late founder of Uzbekistan, who gave special attention to the OIC, and his sustained affirmation of his country’s commitment to the issues of the Islamic world, and his eagerness to convene the 43rd Session of OIC CFM. The Secretary General reviewed the conditions in the Muslim world, where the Palestinian Cause is central www.oic-oci.org

‫شؤون إنسانية‬

to the OIC, emphasizing the pains endured by the Palestinian people, as well as the hostile Israeli policy and its persistent and obvious trend toward oppressing and besieging the Palestinians.

He called for serious steps capable of putting an end to such Israeli obstinate attitude, and the indifference of the international community and the international active forces.

Iyad Madani mentioned the continuous plight in Syria, expressing his deep concern and condemnation of the continuous shelling of Syrian cities, and the adoption of the Syrian regime of a policy of terrorizing and displacing civilians, and stalling political solutions.

In this context, he pointed out the extraordinary meeting of the executive committee convened at the level of delegates on 9 October 2016, to examine the deteriorating conditions in Syria, particularly in the city of Aleppo, where the final communiqué stressed upon the need to hold the Syrian regime to account for the crimes committed against its people.

The Secretary General also spoke of the situation in Iraq, Yemen, Mali, Afghanistan, Central Africa, Jammu and Kashmir, the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, the tragedy of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the situation of Muslims in the Philippines and Thailand.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 29

SPECIAL REPORT Tashkent Declaration Following that, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait and the Chair of the 42nd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, H.E Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, gave the statement of Kuwait.

In his statement, he emphasized the fact that the previous Session was aimed at enhancing joint Islamic action and entrenching the principles of solidarity between the Member States.

He indicated that although 47 years have passed on the crime of Al-Aqsa Mosque fire, the suffering and deterioration of the standard of living of the Palestinian people is still ongoing.

He called for multiplying efforts, solidarity and mobility on all levels, and stated that Kuwait will soon be holding an international conference on the sufferings of Palestinian children.

Sheikh Sabah reviewed the conditions in Syria and Yemen, and congratulated the launch of the military operations to liberate Mosul from Daesh.

The Interim President of Uzbekistan announced the introduction of an initiative to establish Imam El-Bukhary International Research Center Upon receipt of the chairmanship of the 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, H.E. Abdel-Aziz Kamilov, delivered a brief statement in which he emphasized the significant role of the OIC, as the platform of the Islamic world, in promoting solidarity.

He stated that choosing Uzbekistan to chair the CFM is recognition of its role in and contribution to the Islamic history, affirming the continuous work with its partners to provide inputs, explore ways and means of development in the world, in order to realize the principles and goals of the OIC Charter.

30 OIC Journal August - November 2016

The foreign ministers of the OIC member states at the end of the 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers adopted the Tashkent Declaration, which recognized the leading role of the OIC in joining efforts to strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between its member states.

The foreign ministers emphasized that since its establishment the OIC has secured a rightful place among the prestigious and influential international organizations, becoming a key dialogue platform for maintaining international peace and countering modern challenges and threats across the OIC space. They therefore urged the OIC Secretary General to intensify efforts on improving the activities of the Organization in order to ensure the unity of the Muslim Ummah, establishing lasting peace and security, and promoting sustainable socioeconomic development in member-states.

The ministers in the declaration recognized the growing tensions and instability in various regions of the world, which is mani-

www.oic-oci.org

SPECIAL REPORT festing in deliberate attempts to tarnish the sacred religion of Islam, and therefore stressed that there is a growing need to convey to the entire world community the true humanistic essence and tolerance of Islam and its spiritual enlightening beginning.

The OIC foreign ministers emphasized that instead of dehumanizing the religion of Islam, there is need to take into account and deeply appreciate the historical scientific heritage of outstanding scholars and thinkers of the Islamic world.

The declaration of the Ministers in Tashkent also appreciated the enormous attention paid by the Leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan to preservation and enhancement of historical scientific and culturalspiritual heritage, as well as the true values of Islam.

The foreign ministers on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the entire Islamic world used the declaration to again deeply mourn the recent untimely passing of the First President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a prominent politician of modernity and the great son of the Uzbek nation, His Excellency Mr. Islam Karimov.

The declaration appreciated the enormous contribution made by President Islam Karimov during his lifetime to the cause of ensuring the unity of the Islamic Ummah, maintaining and strengthening security and

The Secretary General and the Foreign Ministers of Kuwait and Uzbekistan in the opening session

stability in Central Asia and the world as a whole.

In the context of the motto of the Session of the 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers: “Education and Enlightenment - Path to Peace and Creativity�, the declaration called on member states and relevant OIC institutions to continue and further expand the programs and activities in the field of higher education. The ministers called for the strengthening of Educational exchange program, and the links between higher educational institutions, and to promote joint scientific and research projects.

The declaration also noted the need for dissemination of knowledge about enlightened Islam as an important tool to combat the ideology of terrorism, violent extremism and religious fanaticism.

The 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers reiterated its full support for Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef, the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to selfdetermination and return to their ancestral places of residence.

The ministers noted that the earliest achievement of peace and stability in Afghanistan is an important factor in maintaining and strengthening security not only in the vast Asian continent, but also around the world. They therefore welcomed the

OIC’s efforts to convene an International Ulema Conference aimed at political reconciliation and restoring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan.

The declaration also underlined the importance of sharing experience among OIC member states in addressing the issues of economic slowdown, introducing innovative technologies, forming a favorable investment and business climate, and implementing long-term mutually beneficial projects in priority areas of cooperation and infrastructure development. In this regard, they applauded the role played by COMSEC and other OIC Institutions in promoting intra OIC trade and exchange.

The OIC foreign ministers also welcomed

Madani announced the official launch of the OIC Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding (CDPU) website

www.oic-oci.org

OIC Journal August - November 2016 31

SPECIAL REPORT the election of the cities of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah (Saudi Arabia) and Tabriz (Iran) as the OIC tourism capitals in 2017 and 2018, respectively, at the 9th Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers of the OIC member-states, which took place on December 21-23, 2015 in Niamey, the Republic of Niger.

The ministers in the declaration underlined the key importance of healthcare in ensuring high living standards and prosperity of society as a whole, and in this context, call for the effective and full implementation of the “OIC Strategic Health Program of Action 2014-2023”.

Tashkent Declaration also welcomed the proposal made by Côte d’Ivoire to hold the 44th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC in Abidjan in June 2017.

The ministers expressed their gratitude to the Secretary General of the OIC His Excellency Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani for his role in promoting the interests of the Muslim Ummah and Joint Islamic Action in achieving the goals set in political, socio- economic and humanitarian spheres.

Launch of OIC Messaging Centre OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, announced, the official launch of the OIC Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding (CDPU) website during the opening ceremony of the 43rd Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) Session.

The Center will engage in several mandates, at the forefront of which is addressing the terrorism discourse and dismantling all forms of its ideological structure through broadcasting messages, articles and videos exposing the false and misleading claims made by terrorist and extremist groups in the Member States.

The Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding, supervised by the OIC Department of Dialogue and Outreach, will act as

a reference and platform for communication and consultation between the centers operating in the field of fighting terrorism and extremism in the Islamic world.

OIC Contact Group for Muslims in Europe The OIC Ministerial Contact Group for Muslims in Europe convened its first meeting, on the sideline of the 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

The OIC Contact ‎Group for Muslims in Europe, whose formation was announced by the Istanbul Summit in April 2016, includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, Malaysia and Jordan.

The establishment of the OIC Contact Group for Muslims in Europe aims at ensuring the effective cooperation between the relevant parties, in order to lay out strategies to eliminate hate speech, physical assault, practices of intolerance, prejudice, racial discrimination and Islamophobia, and to support intercultural dialogue and social inclusion.‎ Further, the Group c‎an be a platform through which Muslims from various nationalities can exchange experiences, define best practices, with a view to increase Muslim participation in the political and social life in Europe.

Violence against Rohingya Continues The OIC Ministerial Contact Group on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar also convened its meeting on the sideline of the 43rd Session of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

In his statement addressed to the meeting, and delivered on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary General for the Humanitarian Affairs Ambassador Hesham Youssef, the OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani, emphasized that despite the progress achieved toward the democratic process, and the assumption of power by a new leadership,

32 OIC Journal August - November 2016

there are evidence of a ceaseless and systematic campaign of violence and terror against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

He pointed out that after the lapse of four years of violence in 2012, in the state of Rakhine, nearly 120,000 Rohingya persons still live in camps for the internally displaced. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims were also forced to ask for asylum in neighboring countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As long as these asylum seekers cannot return to their homeland, the burden on the hosting countries are likely to increase.

The Secretary General emphasized that the OIC attempted to work with the Myanmar authorities on various levels and called upon it to adopt transparent and comprehensive policies towards religious ethnic minorities.

The OIC stressed the necessity to find a means to citizinize the Rohingya people and stated that the government must take concrete and positive steps towards preventing the ongoing acts of discrimination and systematic violations.

The Meeting reviewed the report presented by the OIC Special Envoy for Myanmar, Mr. Tan Sri Hamid Albar. At the conclusion of the Meeting, a report was issued in which the Contact Group urged the Myanmar government to commit to its obligations under the international law and human rights conventions, to take all measures necessary to put an end to the acts of violence and discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims and to cease any ongoing attempts to deprive them of their Islamic culture and identity.

The Meeting called once again upon the Myanmar government to reinstate the citizenship of the Rohingya that was revoked by the Citizenship Law of 1982. It also called on the government to take concrete steps towards preventing any further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State and to guarantee the provision of

www.oic-oci.org

SPECIAL REPORT

the rights of all individuals to live and move without fear and persecution on the basis of their religion or ethnicity.

The Meeting also requested the Myanmar government to revive the agreement on opening an OIC office for humanitarian affairs in Yangon after signing a memorandum of cooperation between the two parties. The Office will engage in providing humanitarian aid to those in need and the victims of violence without discrimination.

Develop National Policies for Youth The OIC Ministers of Foreign Affairs held a brainstorming session on the means of enabling youth in the Member States, on the sidelines of the 43rd Session of the CFM. The Session was held under the theme: “Expanding Opportunities and Enhancing the Creative Capabilities of Youth Generations�.

The Session emphasized the need to develop and strengthen the ministries, departments and sectors operating in the area of youth affairs as well as to develop national policies for youth with respect to laws and legislations and to take positive measures to ensure equality between youth of both genders.

www.oic-oci.org

The Session emphasized the need to develop and strengthen the ministries, departments and sectors operating in the area of youth affairs The participants emphasized the need of the Member States to organize policy awareness campaigns to show national commitment to the issues concerning youth and their enablement, fight the extremism discourse and emphasize the importance of youth participation while maintaining the welfare of the society.

The participants also called for the establishment of a joint network between the or-

ganizations concerned with enabling youth and building capacity, while focusing on developing employment sectors, civil participation and dialogue platforms on policies and thought leadership.

The Session recommended the organization of an OIC expert group meeting to specify the additions to curricula or the high-impact focus areas that can contribute to providing proactive activities intended to address the economic and social challenges faced by youth.

It is worth noting that the OIC currently comprises one fifth of the world youth population and is expected to comprise one third of the world youth population by 2050; nevertheless, the share of patent rights in the region is no more than 1.8% of the worldwide share of patent rights.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 33

HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

OIC Conducts a Successful Eid Ul Adha Campaign in Central African Republic The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has conducted a campaign to bring succor to many Muslims in Central African Republic (CAR) during the last Eid Ul Adha celebration, by slaughtering 392 lambs.

A cow was also slaughtered and made available to officials of Ngarabba prison in Bangui the capital Bangui which hosts more than 200 Muslim inmates.

The lambs were distributed to imams and religious leaders as well as their countrymen to give them the opportunity to slaughter a sheep for Eid celebration, for they could not do so for many years due to the high cost of sheep after the regretful events which shook CAR for the last four years.

The campaign, which was conducted from 12 to 14 September 2016 in Bangui and surrounding suburbs, was jointly run by the Humanitarian Affairs Department of the OIC General Secretariat and the OIC Humanitarian Funds Secretariat in Doha in cooperation with partner NGOs such as Qatar Eid Charity, Munazamat Al Dawa Al Islamiyah and RAF. Extensive efforts were made to buy the necessary sheep due to scarcity of sheep in Bangui following the socio-political instability and strife, which has been prevailing in CAR for years.

The crises has forced many Muslim herdsmen to flee CAR and seek refuge in Chad, Sudan, Cameroon and DR Congo among others.

OICHF and partner NGOs expended $83,861 for the success of the campaign, as a result of which trucks loads of sheep were taken to several places in Bangui and its surrounding suburbs and distributed in mosques located in Ngaragba, Bimbo, Pettevo, Lackongo, Gobongo, Kina, Yapere ets. These areas also have strong Christian communities.

However, assistance could not be provided to PK5 area due to the attitude of its unruly youth whose members have taken the enclave hostage by terrorizing its inhabitants.

Similar attempts were made during Ramadan to provide some humanitarian assistance to PK5 but it did not work well.

Therefore, this time around, it was decided to distribute some sheep in the district of Kina, which is roughly 5 kilometers from PK5.

Things started well, until gangs of youth broke in the middle of the ceremony and made things very difficult.

“The situation in PK5 needs to be addressed by the current government and members of the international forces,” said Hesham Yousif, OIC Assistant Secretary General for

34 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Humanitarian Affairs.

“Serious efforts have to be made to address this situation for it does not help needy people especially widows, orphans, disabled and the aged still confined in that area,” he added.

Members of the joint delegation met with the Minister of Labour and his colleague responsible for Tourism and Information.

Members of the joint delegation expressed their appreciation to the Ministers for attending the Eid Ul Adha ceremony who in their turn noted that people of CAR have to move forward and forgive each other after the terrible and sad events, which engulfed the country between 2012 and 2015.

The Ministers also expressed their gratitude to both the OIC Secretary General and OICHF and invited OIC Member States to play more active role in the socioeconomic development of CAR. The joint delegation paid courtesy calls on the Ministers of Tourism and Information.

The Minister of Employment also visited the delegation at their hotel and he indicated that he has informed both the Prime Minister and the President of CAR about the humanitarian efforts and initiatives made by the OIC and the OICHF during the Ramadan period and for the Eid Ul Adha celebration.

www.oic-oci.org

HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS OIC Workshop to Improve Coordination and Services of NGOs in Humanitarian Field The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) organized the “Building a Better Response: Strengthening Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Capacity and Engagement in the International Humanitarian Architecture Workshop” in Nairobi, Kenya from 20-21 July 2016. It was organized with OIC partners, USAID and a consortium of International Medical Corps, Concern Worldwide and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. The workshop was attended by twenty-three participants from OIC Member States NGOs in Uganda and Somalia, and one NGO from Kenya. Also three guests and facilitators from UN-OCHA and USAID, respectively, took part.

Ms. Mia Beers, USAID/OFDA Director made some remarks at the opening of the Workshop in which she paid tribute to the partnership between the OIC and USAID in the

humanitarian domain. She thanked the participants for their enthusiasm to attend the workshop which will result in an exchange of experiences, improved coordination and service delivery by the NGOs, leading to timely interventions to alleviate the plight of vulnerable people and save lives.

Mr. Saidi Kasajja, Professional Officer at OIC Humanitarian Affairs Department (ICHAD) conveyed a message from Ambassador Hesham Youssef, OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. He stressed the crucial role played by NGOs in the humanitarian field; the successes registered in various countries through their timely interventions; and the need to do more in the area of capacity-building to reinforce the NGOs capacities to deal with the ever-growing challenges.

Mr. Omar Taha, Project Manager/Humani-

tarian Response Training Unit/International Medical Corps was the Head Facilitator at the Workshop and was assisted by Ms. Michelle Dann of Concern Worldwide and Megan Weaver of International Medical Corps. Ms. Luluwa Ali of UNOCHA, Nairobi also facilitated sessions at the workshop.

The workshop aimed to strengthen the capacity of national and international NGO personnel, as well as other humanitarian actors, to engage with the humanitarian systems and architecture in a manner that improves overall coordination and response to the needs of affected populations, including the cluster approach, humanitarian country leadership, and humanitarian funding mechanisms, as well as to review the humanitarian principles that guide humanitarian assistance.

UN-OIC Joint Mission to Afghanistan to Raise Awareness of Humanitarian Situation High-level officials from the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation commemorated World Humanitarian Day on 19 August in Kabul urging increased international partnerships to address the root causes of humanitarian needs, reduce communities’ vulnerability to disasters and raise awareness of Afghanistan’s protracted humanitarian crisis.

Civilians in Afghanistan continue to bear

the brunt of a conflict, which has grown in intensity and geographic scope, affecting the lives of at least 6.3 million Afghans.

Over 210,000 people have been newly internally displaced by conflict in 2016 alone – some 1,000 people per day. The continued conflict and displacement create recurring humanitarian emergencies, which place further strain on already overstretched and insufficient basic services.

The mission included Rashid Khalikov, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Partnerships with the Middle East and Central Asia, Ambassador Hesham Youssef, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in the OIC, and Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Thani, Chairman of the OIC Humanitarian Funds’ Board of Trustees.

Floods and Landslides in Indonesia

The General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed its solidarity with the Government and people of Indonesia in confronting destructive floods and landslides, which ravaged Java Island, killing scores of people, leaving some missing,

www.oic-oci.org

and destroying homes and property.

The excessive amount of rain caused the Cimanuk River to overflow its banks, sending torrents of water hurtling down the hillsides.

OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. He also expressed the hope that Member States and civil society organisations would provide urgent support to the people of the Island in confronting these floods and reducing the plight of the affected regions.

Torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 19 villagers.

The worst hit was Garut district, where 16 people were found dead and others missing after two rivers overflowed.

National Disaster Management Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that about 1,000 villagers were evacuated to army barracks and other temporary shelters.

He said three villagers were killed in Sumedang and one person was still missing after landslides that buried two houses.

Rains frequently caused landslides and widespread flooding across much of Indonesia.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 35

OIC NEWS The Secretary General Conducts Official Visits to Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan

Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razzak

Sheikh Hasina

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iyad Ameen Madani, conducted a tour of some OIC Asian countries in August starting with Malaysia where he was received, on 16 August 2016, by Hon. Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razzak, Prime Minister of Malaysia at the Putrajaya International Convention Center at the sidelines of the International Conference on Blue Ocean Strategy (ICBOS).

During their meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, in particular issues of concern for the OIC pertaining to the region of South-east Asia. Malaysia’s prospective role in the 2017 OIC Summit on Science, Technology and Innovation to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan was one of the salient points of discussion. Some unresolved issues for the upcoming Council of OIC Foreign Ministers were also touched upon. The Prime Minister thanked the Secretary General for his efforts and renewed Malaysia’s assurances of continued support for the OIC causes.

Secretary General Madani went to Malaysia at the invitation of Prime Minister Razzak as a speaker at the ICBOS’s first panel on ‘Creating blue oceans in national development’ in order to explore After that, the Secretary General traveled to Bangladesh where he was received on 18 August 2016 by the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, at her official residence ‘Gono Bhaban’.

The OIC Secretary General reaffirmed OIC’s unflinching support of Bangladesh in its fight against terrorism in the aftermath of the unprecedented terror attack that shook the country recently.

“Terrorism has emerged as a global threat. Killing innocent people in the name of Islam is ultimately undermining our beloved religion, a religion essentially driven by the values of peace, harmony and compassion,” said Prime Minister Hasina.

Madani briefed the Prime Minister on OIC’s counter-terrorism initiatives, underlining that addressing the root causes of terrorism is a key component of the Organization’s anti-terror campaign.

The two leaders concurred that Muslim countries should be able to come together and resolve their own issues, be they political or economic, without external interference. The Secretary General invited the Prime Minister to take a leading role in this regard in implementing OIC’s initiative on ‘Islamic Rapprochement’ as adopted by the 13th OIC Islamic Summit.

On the economic front, Madani appreciated the socio-economic impact of the micro- savings scheme initiated by Hasina, showing keen interest in the concept and its implementation process.

36 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Sartaj Aziz

Ashraf Ghani

Later during the day, Secretary General Madani held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister, Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, at the latter’s office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. Besides following up on the issues discussed with Prime Minister Hasina, Madani and Ali exchanged views on the agenda items for the upcoming Session of the Council of the Foreign Ministers, inviting Bangladesh to take on a pro-active role in resolving some of the pending issues. Additional issues of concern for the OIC within the region, including the Rohingya dossier, was discussed at length in the meeting.

During his one-day official visit to Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, on 20 August 2016, the OIC Secretary General Madani met with H.E. Mr. Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting, the Secretary General was briefed on the latest alarming situation in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) including the grave human rights violation of the Kashmiri people and excessive violence used against them. Both sides also reviewed the additional actions that the OIC needs to adopt in order to further help the Kashmiri people.

Mr. Sartaj Aziz and the Secretary General also discussed some regional issues in addition to the major items on the agenda of the upcoming Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) to be held in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan in October 2016.

In Kabul, the Secretary General met with H.E. President Ashraf Ghani, the Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan, H.E. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and the Afghan Foreign Minister, H.E. Salahuddine Rabbani on 21 August 2016.

During his meetings, the Secretary General reaffirmed the OIC’s continued support to the Afghan people and the Government. He also discussed with the Afghan leadership some important regional issues as well as issues relating to the upcoming Council of Foreign Ministers session in Tashkent. They also reviewed ways and means to further improve bilateral relations and cooperation.

For its part, the Afghan leadership underscored the important role of the OIC and reconfirmed the Afghanistan commitment to support any effort in line with the implementation of the relevant OIC resolutions for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

During his visit, the Secretary General also met the Chairman of the Afghanistan Ulema Council and the Chairman of the High Peace Council and discussed with them different issues of mutual interest.

www.oic-oci.org

OIC NEWS OIC Strongly Rejects HRC Resolution on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly rejected the resolution on “protection against discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity” adopted during the recently concluded 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council.

While reaffirming OIC’s strong commitment to combating all forms of violence and discrimination against any person or group on any ground, the OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani reiterated OIC’s firm stance that the notion of sexual orientation is alien to the international human rights norms and standards as well as against the fundamental precepts of not only Islamic but many other religious and cultural societies.

Pushing and adoption of this resolution, particularly the establishment of an independent expert to promote and protect this topic, amounts to imposing one set of

values and preferences on the rest of the world and counteracts the fundamentals of universal human rights that call for respecting diversity, national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds; as clearly set out in various international human rights instruments, he added.

Mr. Madani appreciated the good work done by the OIC Ambassadorial Group in Geneva that took lead in spearheading the opposition against this resolution and aptly explained the non-relevance of this subject to the international human rights discourse during its presentation. Views of the OIC Member States were supported by a number of non OIC countries from Asia, Africa and Europe, which led to some key amendments being included in this resolution that call for importance of respecting the national, regional and religious particu-

larities, avoiding external pressures or coercive measures to avoid influencing views of developing countries and the need for implementing the resolution in accordance with national laws and in conformity with universally recognized international human rights law.

Mr. Madani urged UN Member States to avoid introducing such concepts and notions in the UN that have no legal foundation in international human rights law and directly impinge on the socio-cultural and religious sensitivities of a large group of UN countries. He warned that such moves would only lead to further polarization of the human rights council and seriously undermine its important work that strives to build the international human rights edifice in a cooperative and consensual manner.

The Secretary General Discusses Preparations for Hosting 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, conducted a working visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan, on 12-13 September 2016.

The Secretary General was received by His Excellency Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with whom he discussed the preparations of forthcoming OIC functions at the level of Foreign Ministers.

He also discussed work being undertaken

by the Republic of Azerbaijan as the host of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG), to be held in Baku on 12-22 May 2017. In this regard, in his meetings with Their Excellencies, Mr. Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Mr. Azad Rahimov, Minister of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Madani’s main objective was to ensure OIC readiness and full support in ensuring that all necessary steps are taken for the successful holding of the 4th ISG.

In this context, the hosts while expressing satisfaction of OIC support, conveyed that awareness campaigns were being made in all related sports fora, including the recently held Olympic Games, so as to ensure massive participation of Member States’ athletes and all sport fans. In the same vein, details were shared and suggestions were made with a view to making the 4th ISG an event celebrating the cultural expressions and diversity in OIC Member States as well.

OIC Secretary General Visits Guyana and Surinam During his one-day official visit to Georgetown, Co-operative Republic of Guyana, on 27 September 2016, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Ameen Madani, met the Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana H.E. Mr. Carl B. Greenidge.

Focusing on further strengthening the existing relations between the OIC, its institutions, and Guyana, Secretary General Madani and Minister Greenidge underlined the importance of issues like Palestine, OIC Strategic Plan of Action 2025, microfinance, cooperation in the field of women, youth and sports and other issues of mutual concern on the agenda of the upcoming 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign

www.oic-oci.org

Ministers (CFM).

Minister Greenidge also briefed the Secretary General on the regional challenges facing Guyana, with particular reference to Guyana-Venezuela land and maritime border dispute. Madani in this regard conveyed to the Minister the OIC’s readiness for any possible assistance.

The Secretary General also visited the Office of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) and interacted with its high officials. He took a tour of the school run by the CIOG and visited the Central Mosque of Georgetown.

The Secretary General then paid an official visit to the Republic of Suriname from 28— 29 September 2016. During his two-day

stay in the capital Paramaribo, the Secretary General met with the leadership of Suriname and exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest and explored ways and means of further enhancing the existing bilateral cooperation between the two sides.

On the first day of his visit, Mr. Madani met with the Foreign Minister Her Excellency Ambassador Niermala Badrising and representatives of the private sector. On the second day he met with members of the Inter-religious council, and later in the day the Secretary General and his accompanying delegation were received in audience by the President of the Republic H.E Desire Delano Bouterse.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 37

HUMAN RIGHTS IPHRC Calls for Global Consensus to Convert Declaration

on Right to Development into a Binding International Convention

Opening session of IPHRC meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abu Dhabi – Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), an organ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called for a global consensus to convert the Declaration on the Right to Development into a binding International Convention for full and effective implementation of human rights based approach in all development processes and plans.

The commission made the call during its 3rd Annual Seminar with the theme “Right to Development” (RtD) in collaboration with the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the ‘UN Declaration on Right to Development’ (RtD) in Abu Dhabi on 12-13 October 2016.

While acknowledging the adoption of DRtD as a milestone achievement, the OIC Human Rights Commission IPHRC expressed concern that, despite passage of three decades and umpteen reaffirmations of this right in international instruments, the goals of the RtD have not been achieved.

Furthermore, the Commission supported the call made by most developing countries to transform the Declaration into a binding International Convention on the Right to Development.

The Commission stressed the need to scale up international cooperation against corruption, which continues to plague countries across all geographical regions and seriously undermines as well as adversely affects people’s human rights including the

RtD. In his message to the seminar, OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani recalled that, OIC Member States are obligated by the OIC Charter to work for the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance, rule of law and accountability in their respective countries.

He assured that OIC will continue to reach out to all OIC Member States, specialized institutions, media and civil society to implement right to development based on distributive social justice, participation and transparency and international cooperation on transnational issues to build inclusive, peaceful and resilient societies taking into account cultural, social and political particularities.

Also speaking at the conference, UAE Assistant Minister of Legal Affairs in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Abdul Rahim Al Awadi, welcomed partnership with the OIC-IPHRC

While acknowledging the adoption of DRtD as a milestone achievement, the OIC Human Rights Commission IPHRC expressed concern that, despite passage of three decades and umpteen reaffirmations of this right in international instruments, the goals of the RtD have not been achieved

38 OIC Journal August - November 2016

in organizing the seminar and expressed willingness to strengthen it further.

He stressed the efforts and commitment of the UAE government to implement the RtD by adopting comprehensive development policies including empowerment of women and investment in human resource development of its people without any distinction.

He also conveyed details of the UAE’s generous international assistance, which is directed mostly towards development initiatives.

For his part, the OIC-IPHRC Chairperson Amb. Abdul Wahab emphasised that RtD remains one of the priority areas of work for OIC-IPHRC, which shall continue to collaborate with all the stakeholders to promote human rights-based approach in all development processes ensuring participation, accountability, non-discrimination, equality and equity and consistency with international human rights standards.

Experts and panelists in their presentations on the evolving concept of the RtD described it as an indivisible and interdependent, interrelated and mutually inclusive individual and collective right.

They reminded States of their obligations at three levels for effective implementation of RtD: internally, through the formulation of national development policies and programs affecting persons within their jurisdictions; internationally, through the adoption and implementation of policies extending beyond their jurisdictions; and collectively, through global and regional partnerships.

The OIC-IPHRC therefore urged international community to take firm steps to overcome the political hurdles involved in the full and effective realization of the RtD in line with the UN Charter provisions of international cooperation for meaningful promotion of socio-economic progress for all.

The two-day event was attended by members of the IPHRC along with experts from multilateral and intergovernmental organizations and representatives of OIC Member and Observer States including their National Human Rights Institutions.

www.oic-oci.org

OIC NEWS IIFA Intervenes on the Controversy over the

Conference in Grozny on Who Are the Ahlu-S- Sunnah

Participants in the Grozny Conference

The Secretariat of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, a subsidiary Institution of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has intervened to douse the controversy that trailed the definition of Who are the AhluS- Sunnah (People Of Sunnah) as canvassed by a meeting of some Muslim Scholars in Grozny.

In its intervention on the controversies that trailed the statement issued by the Grozny conference, the Secretariat of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), affirms that the unity of Muslims is one of the most important obligations prescribed by the religious law.

IIFA noted that unity is an essential trait of the Muslim Ummah, buttressing its point with quotations from Holly Qur’a where Allah says: “Hold fast to Allah’s rope all together; do not split into factions.” Allah also says: “Verily, this community of yours is one community. And I am your Lord, so serve me.”

The Almighty also says: “As for those who have divided their religion and broken up into factions, have nothing to do with them [prophet].” This was confirmed by the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him) when he said: “The blood of Muslims is of equal value; they unite against

www.oic-oci.org

their (enemies) and can be represented by the lowly amongst them.”

The Secretariat of the IIFA therefore appealed to Muslims in all parts of the world to work towards uniting their voices and ranks and to avoid all sayings and actions that could dismember the Ummah, thereby weakening and fragmenting it. Allah says: “Do not quarrel with one another, or you may lose your heart and your spirit may desert you.”

The IIFA Secretariat also added that it believes that the Ahlu-s-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaa‘ah is anyone who testifies that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, who respects the companions of the Messenger of Allah, who has high regard for members of the Prophet’s household and loves them.

The IIFA also affirms that Ahlu-s-Sunnah wal-Jamaa‘ah is anyone who believes in the articles of faith, who is certain about the pillars of Islam, who does not deny any information that is self-evidently part of Islam, including making lawful what is prohibited by religious law such as killing.

The IIFA reiterated that it is committed to combating extremism and terrorism with wide ranging activities and to explaining the Islamic approach with centrism and modera-

tion.

The IIFA says it trains scholars and Islamic callers who know the truth of Islam, who are attuned to the reality and challenges, who understand ways of presenting discourse and utilize it with knowledge. They master the various disciplines of religious knowledge: theology, Qur’an and exegesis, Hadith sciences, jurisprudence and its principles, biography of the Prophet and ethics.

The IIFA therefore calls for participation of academic institutions across the Ummah namely, fatwa (religious edicts) academies and councils and universities in pioneering scholarly projects. The IIFA added that it is in support of diversity and facilitation for educational institutions. It rejects all forms of deviation in religious scholarship and endeavours to prohibit such. It seeks to uncover all types of defects and corruption, and calls for dialogue and cooperation. It encourages moderate religious knowledge, which understands Islam as revealed by Allah. It calls for the expansion of the fields of Islamic education in schools, universities and various guidance and information institutions in order to train specialists who understand the challenges and diligently preserve the path.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 39

FAMILY

AFFAirs

Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers Call on Youth to Combat Terrorist Organizations 189 of the 13th Islamic Summit Conference’s Final Declaration.

The conference also stressed the need to develop Youth Exchange programs to put them at the disposal of the youth of the OIC Member States, and request the OIC Member States to introduce programs to bolster their improvement in sports, culture and arts in an attempt to prevent them from resorting to violence, extremism and harmful habits.

Istanbul – The 3rd Session of Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers (ICYSM) organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ended with a call on youth within the OIC Member States to join hands in combatting terrorist organizations.

The conference, which was held from 5-7 October 2016 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, stressed the importance of raising awareness among youth within the OIC Member States to shun terrorist organizations that cause the Muslim Youth to deviate and move away from Islam by disseminating extremist ideologies and views among them.

The 3rd Session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers focused on youth and the necessity of their inclusion in the development of the Member States, which is in line with the new OIC Ten Year Programme of Action (OIC 2025) that was adopted at the 13th Islamic Summit in Istanbul last April.

The authorities in charge of youth and sports in OIC Member States used the Conference to address the necessity to counter the spread of violent extremism, radicalization, Islamophobia, critical unemployment as well as precarious issues faced by young populations in Member States.

The Conference also served as an avenue to highlight the OIC’s position and activities on youth as a national priority of Member States and an important factor in society.

In a communique issued at the end of the

conference tagged Istanbul Declaration, it acknowledge the major role of the “OIC 2025 Program of Action” in prioritization of youth and sports for the global development agenda.

The communique reaffirmed the importance of developing strategies to instill values, foster youth forums and programs to fight against extremism and all kinds of

The meeting also emphasized the importance of youth development, capacity building and increasing the role of the youth in promoting development, peace and safety social illnesses and promote capacity building, youth exchange programs, youth employment, provision of high-quality education, entrepreneurship, and improvement of occupational skills as enshrined in the principles and objectives of the OIC 2025 Program of Action.

The meeting also emphasized the importance of youth development, capacity building and increasing the role of the youth in promoting development, peace and safety in general among the Muslim communities in line with the implementation of article

40 OIC Journal August - November 2016

The Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers also appreciated the efforts of the nongovernmental organizations of the Member States operating in youth-related issues and called on the OIC General Secretariat to take necessary measures to promote cooperation and joint actions with these organizations in order to serve the objectives of the OIC. The meeting specifically condemned the Israeli occupation for hindering the endeavor of the Palestinian youth and seeking to undermine the efforts of the State of Palestine in sport fields, and urged the youth and sports institutions, Olympic committees and sports federations of the OIC Member States to support the position of Palestine in international sports organizations on regional and international levels.

The conference also expressed gratitude to the General Secretariat of the OIC and the Government of the Republic of Turkey as the host for their efforts to hold the 3rd Session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers in a successful manner and hoped the conference will lead to fruitful outcomes for the youth and sports of the Islamic Ummah.

The conference also considered the Draft OIC Joint Youth Strategy and requested Member States to submit their inputs by 31 December 2016 to the General Secretariat to pave way for the convening of a Meeting of Experts on Youth to be held in April 2017 in Jeddah to finalize the Strategy.

www.oic-oci.org

OPINION How well did Muslim countries perform in Rio Games?

Veeramalla Anjaiah The writer is a senior journalist at The Jakarta Post English daily, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Although women constitute almost 50 percent of their populations, Muslim countries send very few female athletes to the Olympics

www.oic-oci.org

Brazil successfully hosted the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and other cities from Aug. 5-21.

With 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze medals, the US topped the medal tally. Great Britain came second with 27 gold medals and China took third position with 26 golds.

So how did the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) perform in the Rio Games?

As in previous Olympics, OIC member countries performed poorly in Rio. Eighteen members won medals, with only nine countries -- Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan -- winning a total of 16 out of the 307 gold medals at stake. Uzbekistan topped the list with four golds. Another 29 silver and 44 bronze medals were also won. Kuwaiti shooters, competing under the IOC banner, meanwhile, won one gold and one bronze medal.

Although the 57 OIC members have been participating in the Olympic Games for many decades, 33 countries have never won a gold medal, with 20 never winning any medals at all!

We have around 2 billion Muslims worldwide and they constitute 25 percent of the world’s 7 billion people, but their role in the world sports arena is a very small one.

What is wrong with Muslims and OIC member states in the field of sports? Look at the top-three winners at the Rio Olympics — the US, Great Britain and China -- and consider the major factors behind their success.

Believe it or not, women have been the key to success in the Olympics for many decades. More than 50 percent of all medals won by the top-three winners in the London Olympics were won by female athletes.

American sportswomen, for example, contributed 28 of the country’s 46 gold medals.

Only two women athletes from OIC countries -- Bahrain’s Jebet Ruth (in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase) and Indonesia’s Liliyana Natsir (badminton) -- won gold medals this year.

In the Rio Olympics, the US fielded a large contingent of 550 athletes, including 292 women. In the US Olympic team, hijab-wearing Muslim woman fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad won a bronze medal.

Although women constitute almost 50 percent of their populations, Muslim countries send very few female athletes to the Olympics. Twelve countries sent only one female athlete to Brazil, 15 countries sent two each, and seven countries three each. Iraq, meanwhile, did not send a single woman to Rio. The achievements of women athletes from Muslim countries were outstanding in the Rio Games, Maljinda Kelmindi, a judo athlete from Kosovo, won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for her country. Likewise Bahrain’s Ruth created history by winning the first-ever gold medal for her country in Rio. Shuttler Susi Susanti won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Indonesia in Barcelona in 1992.

The first female Muslim athlete to take part in the Olympic Games -- in Berlin in 1936 -- was Turkish fencer Halet Cambel. Morocco’s Nawal El Moutawakel was the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal (in the 400-meters hurdle) in Los Angeles in 1984.

Women in many Muslim countries face discrimination as well as harassment over their choice of sportswear and discouragement in the fields of sports, arts, education and culture, despite the fact that Islam encourages men and women to acquire knowledge, to be healthy and to stay fit.

“Their [Muslim women’s] biggest hurdle preventing girls from taking up sports is religious extremism, particularly for those living in conservative Muslim countries. Although there is nothing in the Quran forbidding women and girls from exercising and playing sports, religious scholars are making Islam more restrictive than it should be through misinterpretations,” said noted women’s rights activist Shaista Gohir on the Huffington Post website recently.

In an effort to encourage sports among Muslims, the OIC established the Islamic Sports Federation to conduct the Islamic Solidarity Games. The first Games were held in 2005 in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia hosted the third Games in Palembang in 2013. The next Games will be held in Baku in 2017. However, the standards at these Games still remain relatively low.

Another big mistake that OIC members make is poor selection of sports and strategy. Learning from leading sports nations, it is clear they focus too much on multi-medal events rather than concentrating on more specialized events that offer fewer medals.

With a greater focus on women athletes and better strategies, hopefully OIC member states will shine in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 41

FAMILY AFFAirs

World Muslim Women Summit 2016

Calls for Urgent Interventions

to Create Real Opportunities for Women Kuala Lumpur – A special summit of Muslim Women from all walks of life has called on all relevant institutions and parties to act now in order to create real opportunities for women to enable them face the new challenges and changes taking place in the Islamic world.

The call was part of the declaration made at the end of the 1st World Muslim Women Summit and Exhibition 2016 (WISE 2016) held from 23-25 September 2016 at Putra World Trade Centre, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Summit was jointly organized by the Government of Malaysia, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), World Islamic Forum, Turkısh Asian Centre for Strategic Studies and the International Islamic University Malaysia.

The WISE 2016 declaration, which was arrived at after extensive deliberations by participants at the summit, reaffirmed the need to strengthen cooperation among Muslim countries on the empowerment of women and their comprehensive engagement in peacebuilding and societal development activities.

The declaration also stressed the need to enhance the role of women in combatting Islamophobia, extremism, gender bias and to engage Muslim Women in outreach and exchange programs within OIC member countries and beyond through creating platforms and mechanisms for solving problems faced

by Muslim women from different regions.

In his message to the summit, Secretary General of the OIC Iyad Ameen Madani

noted that the summit comes in the context of new historic developments at the OIC, as the organization has started working towards fully implementing its Ten Year Plan of Action OIC-2025 which clearly highlighted the position and efforts of the OIC for the advancement of women.

“Recently, the OIC General Secretariat appointed highly experienced women in the political, economic and media fields to occupy leadership positions in the General Secretariat, as a way of crystalising the OIC’s vision on women empowerment and enhancing their role at all levels,” said Iyad Madani.

“Since its establishment in 2010, the Department of Family Affairs at the OIC General Secretariat has been exclusively devoted to issues concerning women, family, children and youth. The OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights IPHRC commission is also mandated to ensure the rights of women in OIC member states are being observed,” he added.

In her keynote address to the summit, the Vice Chairperson of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) Ambassador Ilham Ibrahim Ahmed urged the Islamic World to empower women through equal access to quality education, health care and enhanced participation in decision making mechanisms.

She called on the OIC Member States to expedite on-going review of various institutional frameworks and legislations pertaining to women, family wellbeing and development with a view to improve their

42 OIC Journal August - November 2016

enforceability and create synergies with gender sensitive international development mechanisms; foster enabling environment through advocacy and inter-sectoral coordination and governance; and integrate women role and their enterprise in the affairs of the State including policy and decision making, providing equal access to opportunities.

In his intervention during proceeedings at the summit, the Director General of Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) Haji Othman Bin Mustapha noted that involvement of Muslim women in decison making has become more pertinent because of the intensification of conflicts and clash of Civilisations in recent years.

According to him: “Many authors and journalists are fond of highlighting Muslim discrimination against women. Sometimes they support their argument by providing superficial evidence. It is our responsibility to correct misconception about the status and role of women in society.”

He also expressed his happiness with the launch of 100 scholarships under OIC-Malaysia Academic Support Program for young Muslim Women from conflict zones and war-torn countries to study in Malaysia.

The scholarships are worth 15 million Malaysian Ringgitt and are fully sponsored by Malaysian public Universities.

The Summit tagged Liqa’ Ul Salam 2016 also featured World Muslim Women NGO Meeting and international exhibition which showcased the best products that are relevant to modern Muslim women.

www.oic-oci.org

FAMILY AFFAirs OIC Workshop Adopts Recommendations for Effective Implementation of OPAAW

Ankara – At the end of a two-day workshop on the ‘The role of women in the development of OIC member states’ participants adopted a set of recommendations for effective implementation of the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW).

The workshop was organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), a subsidiary organ of OIC, on 3-4 October 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. It heard from representatives of OIC member states, OIC institutions and NGOs concerned with women issues on the conditions of women in the OIC member states and how to improve their status and overcome the challenges in enabling women politically, economically and socially.

The participants invited OIC Member States

to identify focal points at the institutions in charge of women affairs or in line with their national mechanisms; develop guidelines; and build capacity for effective implementation of the OPAAW document, which was updated from its 2008 version. They also called for establishing a framework for OIC cooperation with nongovernmental organizations and civil society institutions related to women and the family in accordance with the OIC rules and regulations. In order to enhance cooperation, collaboration and awareness, the workshop called for considering the establishment of an OIC Women Media Monitoring Centre.

Meanwhile, the participants reiterated the need to adopt effective policies to address the actual situation of many women in the Muslim world who are affected by the armed conflicts, foreign occupation, violent extremism and other forms of abuse. They

also reiterated the call upon OIC Member States, which are yet to do so, to sign and/ or ratify the statute of the OIC Organisation for the Development of Women, to be based in Cairo, Egypt.

The recommendations will be presented to the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of OIC Member States to be held on 1-3 November 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The workshop was opened on Monday, 3 October 2016, with a statement by Ambassador Musa Kulaklikaya, Director General of SESRIC, followed with a statement

by Ms. Mehla Talebna, Director General of Cultural, Social and Family Affairs Department of OIC, and by Ms. Gulser Ustaoglu, Director General of the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs of Turkey.

Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa A delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) participated in the ‘Capacity Building Workshop for Traditional, Religious Leaders and Parliamentarians on Ending Child Marriage in Africa’ organized

by The African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with its supporting partners.

The objective of the workshop held from September 15-17, 2016 at its Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was to provide an understanding of child marriage and other harmful traditional practices, focusing on the role of religious and traditional leaders as well as parliamentarians as important agents of change in ending child marriage in Africa.

The four-day event was organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) through its (End Child Marriage Campaign) and its supporting partners including the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Relief, UN Women, Girls Not Brides, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) International and Inter-

www.oic-oci.org

African Committee.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Olawale Maiyegun, Director of Social Affairs, the African Union Commission (AUC) emphasized that no single religious institution in Africa supports child marriage, but child marriage is prevalent in Africa, in various forms and manifestations and is not limited to any particular region.

Dr. Ahmed Abdulaleem, Director of Research and Studies at the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) presented a statement on behalf of the OIC during a session on “Child Marriage from Islamic Perspective”.

He stressed that no religion encourage violating human rights especially on children, and that Islam protected and saved humanity from all harmful practices that were predominant before Islam, such as burying little girls alive as they were considered as a shame on the family.He pointed that although governments are trying to intervene with policies and laws to eliminate Child Marriage, but traditions, customs and poor economic situ-

ations drive communities in many countries to ignore the laws limiting marriage to the age of 18 and sometimes 21.

The OIC is yet to adopt a resolution on a specific age for marriage, but has always condemned harmful traditional practices against children including FGM, Child Marriage and other harmful practices.

The OIC has also adopted a legal document protecting the rights of child in Islam since 2005, which is “the Covenant on the Rights of Child in Islam,” that has a vast number of articles securing and protecting child’s human rights, safety and security.

Worldwide, more than 700 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, according to UNICEF’s 2015 report titled: A profile of Child Marriage in Africa. 17% of them, or 125 million, live in Africa. More than one in three of these women and girls (over 40 million) entered into marriage or union before the age of 15.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 43

FAMILY AFFAirs Rehabilitation of Children of War in Pakistan’s Swat Valley Islamabad (DPA) – Until the year 2009, Swat Valley was one of the bloodiest battlefields in the battle between the extremists against the state of Pakistan; the Taliban leader in Pakistan, Mullah Fadlallah is from this region, and it is the same place where the young activist Malala Yousuf was shot in the head during the year 2012.

Tens of thousands of young people and children were exposed to the extremist ideologies and beliefs of the Taliban in that climate.

However, in the past several years, a simple program began in Swat Valley that tries to rehabilitate child soldiers or children of war, whatever the label may be.

It involves changing their way of thinking towards the state they fought and the life that some of them were ready to sacrifice, and also towards their religion, which was introduced to them as based on revenge and violence.

Dr. Fariha Paracha, the director of the nongovernmental institution ‘Sunrays’ in Islamabad: “When I first saw those I dealt with, I only thought of my wish to return their childhood to them.”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ The first to approach the well-known clinical neuropsychologist is an elite army officer after the army captured in 2009, for the first time, a large group of child soldiers in the Swat Valley.

Dr. Paracha says: “In fact we had great fear from these children. We were aware of what has been instilled in their heads.”

The army found children in different areas trained and ready to commit suicide attacks.

Thousands of them were helping Taliban agents as messengers or spies or even as servants to wash dishes or serve tea, all the while training them to take up arms. The question was: What should be done with these extremist children?

Dr. Paracha began reading about centers for rehabilitating and countering extremism that were established since 2001 in several countries, mostly Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, and Malaysia.

She then created her own program.

The program of the psychiatrist consists of several stages: the first is called examining, which includes collecting as much information about the child with his help him and the help of the army; what the child withholds is as important as what he reveals.

Then comes the second phase, which involves converting extremism based on psychological support, school and religious rehabilitation, vocational training, as technicians in air-conditioning for example, along with meetings with the youngsters’ families and lots of physical exercising.

The organizers of the program try at this stage to address the reasons for such extremism, such as poverty, lack of aspirations, lack of qualifications, or distorted views of Islam. The matter of discipline plays an important role by creating an external system that overcomes internal anxiety.

Then comes the phase of social reintegration outside the program, which may last for two years and where soldiers and psychologists visit the youngsters periodically. However, before this happens, the program trainers must be convinced about the young man’s ability to completely and explicitly leave the previous Taliban’s lifestyle.

‘Sunrays Institution’ welcomed in 2009, the first 32 children in the program, and during 8 years of its work, 226 children participated in the program, and there are still 41 children inside in the program until now.

57 social and psychological specialists and teachers work with the children, and they have the last say on the time period the children should spend inside the program, where some of them need only six months, while others may need six years.

One of these cases is Zarin, who is currently 18-years-old although he entered the center at the age of 12. He is a small thin young boy with a light beard. Zarin had voluntarily

44 OIC Journal August - November 2016

engaged in extremists’ groups at the age of ten.

He plainly said, “I liked their lifestyle,” but he points out that he was merely an assistant doing some cleaning work only.

One psychiatrist points out that there are indications that his father, one of Taliban’s agents, may have equipped him to commit a suicide attack. The specialist does not feel satisfied because of Zarin’s tendency to violence, since he just renounced violence two years ago. He must continue to speak candidly about his past.

Other participants avoid speaking frankly in detail about the time they spent with Taliban.

One of them said, “I try to forget,” while another said, “I am not that person anymore.”

The non-governmental institution along with the army conducted a statistical study on the boys’ origin. The study revealed that many of them came from families with many children, and about two thirds of them came from poor families, while 65% of them do not have a father figure at home.‬ Among the most important findings from the data is that 42% of them may accept to return to work with the extremists even after spending two years in the ‘Sunrays’ center.

This is a very high percentage compared with the other existing rehabilitation programs in the world, where the average is between 10% and 20%.

This illustrates the difficulty of renouncing extremism, which is related to the child’s original environment, or the environment he will ultimately return to.

www.oic-oci.org

CULTURE HEALTH

Freetown is Sierra Leone’s capital. It is the major urban, economic and political centre of the country. Located in the Western Area of the country, it is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1787, the British took possession of the location of Freetown that would later become the capital of Sierra Leone. Its name (Freetown) is suggestive of the slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean in general, especially the arrival, at a first time, of a group of 400 formerly enslaved Black Britons from London, before others arrived in from the United States and Jamaica.

The city’s economic profile Freetown has an abundance of historical landmarks connected to particular points of its history, especially to the settlements of Afro-Americans, liberated African slaves, and West Indians. Most significant among such monuments is “King’s Gate”, built in stone with a statement inscribed on its pediment, which reads, “Any slave who passes through this gate is declared a free man”.

Freetown is the economic centre of Sierra Leone. The city abounds with headquarters of major national and international companies. The city’s economy revolves largely around its harbor, Queen Elizabeth II Quay, which is the largest natural harbor in Africa.

Industries based in Freetown include food and beverage processing, chemical production and petroleum refining.

The staple food is rice. It is omnipresent in

www.oic-oci.org

‫دين‬ ‫ثقافة‬ ‫شؤون الصحة‬

Freetown African Region’s Capital of Islamic Culture 2016 the menus of major wedding ceremonies, funerals, initiation rites etc. Rice grains and the palm tree are national symbols par excellence. They are immortalized in the national currency. An instance of the importance of rice is that the Mende people, for example, have over 20 different words to describe it.

In education, Freetown is home to the famous Fourah Bay College, the first university in West Africa, which was founded in 1877.

Central Grand Mosque – Freetown Indeed among the followers of the two revealed religions, and in the absence of statistical data in the territorial limits of Freetown, one may say that Islam has grown steadily since the independence of Sierra Leone. Introduced and spread by the Mande, Peul and Hausa groups, Islam was practiced by 35% of Sierra Leoneans in 1960, 60% in 2000 and 71% in 2008.

On the other hand, Christians represent 10% of the population of Sierra Leone, with a majority of Protestants. But other sources estimate that the Christian population is 21%. Islam and Christianity coexist peacefully, and mixed marriages illustrate such a harmonious coexistence.

Freetown’s attractions Today, Freetown is a buzzing capital and is lively by day or by night. In the main city centre and further towards the east is mainly the commercial area although more businesses today are moving towards the west to avoid overcrowding.

On a busy day, Freetown echoes with the sound of hooting cars, local traders and passers-by. The west of Freetown is mainly residential and further west (South-West) you will find some of the country’s most beautiful beaches.

The markets in Freetown are colorful and can be noisy as every trader tries to capture your attention, but just like Freetown and Sierra Leone, there’s a certain charm to it.

Some of Freetown’s attractions famous structures include The Cotton Tree, Freetown Law Courts, the Slave Gate and Portuguese Steps, Foulah Town Mosque (built in the 1830s) ,Sierra Leone Museum (featuring the Ruiter Stone and original drum of Bai Bureh), Victoria Park, creole and colonial architecture, the lively markets and fantastic beaches.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 45

Media

One Belt, One Road: Appraising China’s Engagement with International Community on Silk Road Economic Belt The government of the People’s Republic of China continues its aggressive propagation of its efforts to revive the old Silk Road through its One Road, One Belt program by inviting international participants to carefully organised events to promote the concepts.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation was invited and participated in several of such events including a Seminar for Media Heads from countries along “The Silk Road Economic Belt” held at Urumqi capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region northwest China between 16 -28 July, 2016.

“One Belt, One Road” was proposed by President Xi Jinping of China in 2013 during his visit to Central Asia and South East Asia, to jointly build Silk Road Economic Belt and 21 Maritime Silk Road, an initiative that could benefit the economic prosperity and regional cooperation among varying civilizations and promote world peace and development.

The organizers of the Media Seminar explained that Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region of China was selected to host the seminar because of the important role it played and will continue to play in the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Xinjiang is located in northwest China, and is the biggest provincial administrative division of China in terms of landmass.

Xinjiang borders eight countries from northeast to southwest; Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Xinjiang according to the officials is home to multi-ethnic groups and abounds in cultural resources. 23 million people hails from 55 ethnic groups, including Uygurs, Han, Kazakhstan, Hui, Mongols,

46 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Kirghiz, Xhibe, Manchus, Tajik, Uzbek, Daur, Tatar and Russian.

There are diverse religions in Xinjiang, which include Islam, Bhudism, Christianity, Catholicism, Orthodox Eastern Church and Taoism, which are practiced side by side; cultures of the east and west meet and mingle.

The media seminar was designed to include lectures and visitations across four different cities: Urumqi, Kashgar, Kezilesu and Beijing.

Most of the places and areas visited during the seminar are either economic zones or areas densely inhabited by Chinese nationals of Islamic faith or related to their cultural heritage.

24 delegates (most of them journalists) attended the seminar from 17 countries among them OIC member countries, which include Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Mongolia, Philippines, Russia, France, Japan, and South Korea.

During the visit, participants met with local, regional and national officials of the government of Peoples’ Republic of China and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

OIC representative at the seminar observed that Chinese officials were interested in knowing more about the activities of the OIC and what role it could play in dispelling what they called ‘misconceptions’ about Xinjiang region and the success of the Silk Road Economic Belt; a belt, which include many OIC member countries.

It was clear during the visit that Chinese government officials are keen to explore more areas of further collaboration between People’s Republic of China and OIC. The seminar was not limited to discussing the conditions of Mus-

www.oic-oci.org

MEDIA lims living in Xinjiang region, it also centered on various issues of economy and development in the region which further affirmed that China sees OIC as a partner not only on issues related to Muslim minority in the country but on other issues of economy and development.

There are a lot of ongoing developments in the region, from constructions of high-rising buildings, to new and ‘state of the art’ high speed railway station, industrial and economic zones, new factories, rebuilding of Old Kashgar town and introduction of policies to lift up rural residents out of poverty among others.

Chinese officials used the seminar to counter what they call distorted image of Xinjiang region propagated in the ‘Western Media’ which portrays it as a region where ethnic violence and religious freedom of ethnic minority are blocked by the government.

Officials at the seminar stressed that the government protects and respects freedom of religious beliefs which are in keeping with the national laws of the Peoples Republic of China.

However, it is observed that the Chinese state policy that banned members of Communist Party of China from practicing any religion is inhibiting wider participation of Muslims in holding government positions.

Also the policy banning the teaching of religious studies in public schools is also a setback for Muslim children who want to learn teachings of the Islamic faith because children must be above the age of eighteen before they can be given religious education.

However, one of the lecturers at the seminar La Disheng, former Vice President Xinjiang Academy of Governance insists that Chinese policy on religion guarantees religious freedom for all. “Each individual has the right to practice religion freely except for members of China Communist Party. They are not allowed to practice any religion,” he added.

Another lecturer at the seminar, Ma Pinyan, who is a research fel-

low at the Institute of Religious Studies, Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences explained that people in Xinjiang practice different religions with Islam as more dominant religion.

He added that there are 24,800 worship centers in Xinjiang but 24,400 of them are for Muslims.

The lecturers at the seminar also highlighted that there is a Chinese government central policy that Uighur (mostly Muslim) ethnic group’s cultural heritage Al-Muqam elements must be protected.

Muqam refers to the Uighur classical music sets consisting of song, music and dance.

In 2005, UNESCO designated the Uighur Muqam as part of the intangible heritage of humanity.

The seminar was rounded up with several visitation to key places with historical links to Silk Road including Kashgar Old City ‘Reconstruction’ Project, Kashi Special Economic Zone, ID Kah Mosque, Kezilesu Autonomous Prefecture and ended with a state banquet in Beijing.

OIC Stresses the Role of Media in Connecting People at the Media Forum in China The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stressed the important role of the media in promoting dialogue and fostering relations between it and the People’s Republic of China. At the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information held in Urumqi, China on 19 September 2016 on the sidelines of the 5th China-Eurasia Expo, the Director of the Information Department of OIC said: The media can convey success stories in business, science and arts; bring people closer together through better understanding of society, history and traditions; and improve business ties, tourism and education opportunities.

“We think there should be more emphasis on media including social media when mapping our future mutual relations so ordinary people and Chinese Muslims in particular could feel the connection and proximity with their fellow-Muslims in other parts of the world,” said Maha Akeel.

www.oic-oci.org

In her speech, Akeel said that over the years of friendly exchanges, China and the OIC have found a way for different cultures, different religions and different social systems to get along. She referred to the significant meeting that took place between the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani and the President of China Xi Jinping on 19 January 2016 in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where both sides emphasized the importance of solidifying and developing the relations between OIC and China in various spheres.

Within the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative of China and bringing Muslim communities closer together, Akeel highlighted the need to think of arranging media programs, workshops and field visits for journalists and representatives from OIC media institutions to visit China in order to have firsthand knowledge about its development, harmony, multiculturalism and dai-

ly life of ordinary Chinese Muslims, which they in turn will reflect to the whole world, including the Arab and Muslim world to appreciate the efforts put towards these achievements.

The Forum, held under the title “Connectivity: New opportunities for media cooperation”, was opened by Ms. Cui Yuying, Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Deputy Director of the State Council Information Office, who spoke about the role of the media as an important bridge for culture, people, and trade in the new Silk Road.

The Forum also featured as speakers the information ministers, deputy ministers, and other high-level government officials from Belarus, Cambodia, Egypt, Myanmar, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and New Zealand.

The opening session was followed by sessions of media representatives.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 47

‫إعالم‬ “Let me start by saying that the Human Face of Ramadan Photo Contest and its end result is the best thing that has happen to me in my entire memory. I have been praying earnestly to have the opportunity to perform Hajj. Luckily, this chance came my way in the manner of a special photo contest

by OIC. I took the pictures, posted and prayed. Alhamdulillah, I won and I have performed Hajj.”

Those were the exact words of one of the winners of the OIC Human Face of Ramadan Photo Contest Saidu Hamdullahi.

His Hajj trip was fully sponsored by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as the prize for winners of the maiden edition of its photo contests tagged Human Face of Ramadan.

The Photo Contest which began on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan 1437 and continued until Eid El-Fitr, was aimed at encouraging the contestants who are non-professional photographers from the member states to depict Ramadan’s spirituality, generosity, spirit of sharing, gathering, divers Muslims’ traditions and cultures during Ramadan, which all fall within the OIC’s objectives of promoting Islamic solidarity, brotherhood and cultural awareness.

The six winners who emerged at the end of a rigorous selection process are: Heba Ismael Mohamed Obeidiya from Palestine, Sami Ucan from Turkey, Ahmed Jamal Ali Hassan from Egypt, Saidu Abdulkadir Hamdullahi from Nigeria, Yusef bin Saud from Morocco, and Ahmed Fadlil Imran from Indonesia.

Some of the winners who claimed their prize described their journey throughout the contest: “The day I received a call from an official of the OIC notifying me and congratulating me as one of the winners, I hardly slept that night and the next day due to excitement.

which is their prize for winning the competition.

Another interesting episode of the competition was the fact that one of the winners of the contest Ahmed Jamal Ali transferred his winning slot to his father to perform Hajj and the father who shed tears during the reception organised by the OIC for the winners in Jeddah praised his son for the selfless decision.

“I am very proud of my son for giving me a chance that I wasn’t even dreaming of. People continue to congratulate me for performing the Hajj and for raising my son well to make him sacrifice his Hajj slot for me to perform the pilgrimage. It is a blessing from Allah,” said the elated father.

As for what they think of their winning pictures, this is what one of the winners said: “I will live my life cherishing my winning photo and the gift it fetched me. Whenever I look at that picture, it reminds of the basic fact that it was the reason I went to Hajj, it is therefore very dear to me.”

The OIC Human Face of Ramadan Photo Contest enjoyed extensive participation from individuals and received hundreds of photos that were worthy of consideration from more than 30 OIC member states and some non-member states as well.

One of the contestants had these parting words on his hope for the competition in the future: “I will live my entire life to remember this contest. It has been a single important reason through which I performed my Religious obligation, Hajj. I am proud to be one of the pioneer winners of the contest and wish that this exercise continue so that it can offer more Muslims from all parts of the world the rare opportunity to perform Hajj as we did this year.”

“Winning the OIC Human Face of Ramadan Photo Contest is the best thing that has happened to me” In fact, hardly any moment passed there after without a thought of it. That was how I felt till the day we flew to Jeddah and subsequently into Makkah, Haram, for Umrah and Hajj.”

The OIC hosted a reception at its General Secretariat in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where the winning photos were exhibited and plaques were presented to the winners.

After the reception, the winners of the photo contest proceeded to the Holy City of Makkah to perform Umrah and Hajj,

48 OIC Journal August - November 2016

www.oic-oci.org

MEDIA OIC Experts Review Mechanisms to Counter Islamophobia through Media Experts from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC Member States and its relevant Institutions met at the headquarters of the organization on Monday 24 October 2016 to review the OIC media strategy for countering Islamophobia.

The meeting discussed the OIC media strategy and ways to counter Islamophobia in light of the recent developments and hate campaigns in different parts of the world, especially with the increasing number of Muslim refugees in Western countries and the mounting hate discourse in a manner that causes serious concern.

In his opening statement at the meeting, the representative of the Republic of Sudan, Vice-Chairman of the Tenth Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Minister, Dr. Yasser Khidr, Deputy Information Minister of Sudan, outlined the critical conditions through which the Islamic Ummah is going through.

He highlighted the serious role played by the outside media in crafting a negative image of Islam and Muslims as well as the

broad space it offers for the spread of extremist and perverted ideologies.

He underlined the need to evolve a detailed information strategy for remedial campaigns to counter the hostile ones.

The representative of the OIC General Secretariat, Director of Information Department, Mrs. Maha Akeel, also delivered a statement in which she reviewed the General Secretariat’s information efforts to counter Islamophobia within its available resources.

The Director of Information stressed on the need for concerted efforts between the General Secretariat, Member States and OIC subsidiary organs in favour of intensified consultations and coordination to ensure a well-thought-out and unified action to counter Islamophobia through the evolvement of practical and actionable steps and through provision of the necessary financial and logistical resources.

The meeting agreed on clear and practical mechanisms that involves youth, civil soci-

ety and innovative approach for a counterIslamophobia media campaign that highlights the true noble image of Islam and contributes to halting the ongoing deliberate defamatory campaigns waged in different Western fora. They agreed to establish a Consultative Council to follow up on the implementation.

The OIC’s information strategy and executive mechanisms to counter Islamophobia was adopted at the Ninth Session of the Conference of Information Ministers, held in the Republic of Gabon on 19-20 April 2012, and was further endorsed for implementation by 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in the Republic of Djibouti on 15-17 November 2012.

The 13th session of the Islamic Summit which was held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on 14-15 April 2016, had called for expediting the implementation of the OIC Information Strategy to counter Islamophobia.

OIC and Anadolu Agency Sign a Cooperation Agreement

Maha Akeel and Metin Mutanoglu sign MOU in Ankara (AA)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation signed a Cooperation Agreement with Turkey’s state-run news agency, Anadolu Agency, on Wednesday, 5 October 2016, in Ankara.

The Agreement was signed by the Director of Information Department Maha Akeel and Anadolu Agency’s Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief Metin Mutanoglu at the headquarters of Anadolu Agency. The agreement mainly covers general partnership, news exchange, circulating informa-

www.oic-oci.org

tion in the OIC member states and training.

Commenting on the signing of the Agreement, Akeel said, “For us it’s very important to have this cooperation with Anadolu Agency because it gives us access and communication to know about the issues of the Muslim world and follow up on them.”

On covering news concerning Muslims such as Islamophobia, she said, “The media play a very important role in portraying events, and it’s our duty to counter the negative images and perceptions.”

“I look forward to cooperating with Anadolu Agency on projects, programs, training, raising awareness, focusing on certain issues about Muslim communities around the world,” She added.

For his part, Mutanoglu said Anadolu Agency’s groundbreaking Muslim World News package is “very important for us, because there is a vacuum right now, which was identified by us.”

He added, “So of course we need each other, and this is actually the reason why we created the Muslim World News Package. Because we are trying to establish and strengthen connections with all Muslim countries.”

“We believe that the missions of the OIC and Anadolu Agency can cooperate together. We have offices in 43 countries and representatives in 80 countries,” he stated.

“Our goal is to strengthen ties between Muslim countries,” said the Agency’s Deputy Director General. “We are happy to work together with the OIC. It’s a big advantage to sign this agreement together with the OIC.”

OIC Journal August - November 2016 49

MEDIA OIC Partakes in International Conference on Media Role in Combating Terrorism and Extremism

Emphasis on Initiative for Enriched Arab Digital Substance Amman – The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) participated in an international conference on “The Role of the Media in Combating Terrorism and Extremism – Virtual Information: A New Weapon of Terrorism”, which was organized by the Arab Satellite Broadcasting Authority in partnership with the League of Arab States, on 27-28 September 2016 at the Royal Hotel in Amman, Capital of Jordan.

The conference was under the patronage of the Jordanian State Minister for Information and Communication, Dr. Mohamad Al Moumini who stressed in his opening address, delivered on his behalf by the Secretary General of the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), Mr. Faysal Al Sheboul, the need for cooperation in all manner and at all levels in order to consecrate the role of the media in spreading security and stability worldwide. He noted the escalated challenge with terrorist groups and extremists taking advantage of modern-day communication tools and social media to spread their toxic ideologies and recruit sympathizers. He indicated that confronting terrorist ideologies through the same tools that are used by the terrorist gangs has become an even greater challenge, thus calling for increased cooperation and coordination and greater efforts and exchanges of expertise on what must be done to combat the forces of evil and extremism.

The Chairman of the High Commission of the Arab Satellite Broadcasting Authority, Mr. Mohamed Al Adayla, announced in his welcoming address the Authority’s launch of the initiative for “Enriching the Arab Digital Substance”, in cooperation with regional and international institutions. Al Adayla said that terrorism and extremism are a subject of concern for all peoples and governments in view of their serious effect on the security and stability of states. He noted that, in view of the grave impact of the phenomenon and the collective duty to face up to it, the Arab Satellite Broadcasting Authority had organized this conference in an attempt to spotlight the serious effects of terrorism and ways to deal with it based on the initiative launched by the League

media’s security role in combating terrorism and extremism.

of Arab States represented by its Information and Communication Department, as well as the Arab organizations and organs along with civil society bodies, to rally forces in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestation.

On her part, Dr. Hayfa Abu Ghazala, Assistant Secretary General for Information and Communication at the League of Arab States, said that reshaping the information message and facing up to the rampant discourse of hatred and prejudice to religious coexistence has become an urgent imperative in view of the hate speech that has taken root on the internet. She also referred to the Arab joint information strategy to combat terrorism and the program for its execution, as well as to the information initiative for social media driven dialogue under the title of “Our Future: Free of Violence and Extremism”.

The Conference’s program included multiple working sessions that dealt with a host of subjects foremost of which: Islam and the Media; the Internet as a new weapon of terrorism; the psychological and social dimension of terrorism and extremism; terrorism and extremism in the arts; and the

confronting terrorist ideologies through the same tools that are used by the terrorist gangs has become an even greater challenge

50 OIC Journal August - November 2016

The representative of the Information Department at the OIC General Secretariat, Dr. Abdelhamid Salhi, in his intervention outlaid the OIC’s efforts in combating terrorism through the various media including new media by projecting the authentic image of Islam, organizing seminars, and condemning terrorists’ acts as totally alien to Islam. He noted that the OIC will soon be launching a website for its new Centre for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding which will strive to counter the incitement to terrorism, violence and extremism, through innovative modern-day modalities.

Key among the ideas advocated by the participants and included in the final declaration of the conference was an emphasis on the role of the Arab media in focusing on moderation, constructive dialogue, anchoring the ideals of democracy, and confronting the phenomenon of Islamophobia, extremism and violence through all available educational tools. The Conference also encouraged satellite channels and other media outlets to revisit the Palestinian scene and cast a beam on the endurance and sufferings of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Conference called for setting up training centers for preachers and clerics to rectify the religious discourse, towards civility and moderation and steering it away from sectarian or doctrinal division, in the tradition of the noble faith of Islam. Also, the participants underlined the need to impress upon the Arab media outlets to include in their programs and editorial planning, information material and programs that call for religious and doctrinal tolerance and to encourage dialogue programs that aim to achieve rapprochement between religions and sects; and to benefit from the national success stories of some countries in terms of establishing centers for social peace that offer reorientation counseling to the terrorists to correct their views and prompt them to renounce their erroneous and deviationist misconceptions.

www.oic-oci.org

MEDIA OIC urges Media to do more in their Coverage of Developments in Sustainable Transport Sector

Jakhonghir Khasanov, Head of Development and Infrastructure Division in OIC Economic Department speaking at the Forum

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has emphasized the need for media organizations to do more in creating awareness on new developments in sustainable transport sector.

Mr. Jakhonghir Khasanov, Head of Development and Infrastructure Division in the Economic Department of the OIC General Secretariat made the statement at a Media Forum dedicated to the First Global Conference on Sustainable Transport, which was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on16-17 September 2016.

He noted that the OIC lays emphasis on the media component of ensuring sustainable transport systems among its member states by using every possible opportunity to highlight the role of its organs and departments in achieving sustainable development goals.

Khasanov highlighted OIC efforts at strengthening intra-Islamic economic and trade cooperation among its member states.

In this regard, he emphasized that OIC has been engaged in coordinated and deliber-

www.oic-oci.org

ate efforts at promoting execution of transport networks among its member states, including from Central Asia.

«OIC is supporting the efforts to open up the Central Asian region to world markets through key railway projects in the region which include Kazakhstan-TurkmenistanIran Joint Railway, China-Kyrgyz RepublicUzbekistan railway and Almaty- Bandar Abbas line among others.»

In his opening speech, Mr. Batyr Niyazliev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan highlighted measures taken by the Government of Turkmenistan to develop all types of transport including automobile, railroad, air and maritime in the country.

He emphasized the importance of international cooperation in transport sector and establishing interstate transport corridors in the interests of peoples of the region and the world.

He also added that Turkmenistan, located at the crossroads of main transport and transit routes in Eurasian region, has become important transport, transit and commu-

nication hub because of large-scale projects, aimed at modernizing and developing transport infrastructure of the country.

Within this context, he highlighted that the convening of the Global Conference for Sustainable Transport to be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 26-27 November 2016 under UN auspices would further contribute to deepening of international cooperation in transport sector.

The Media Forum on Sustainable Transport was attended by more than 60 journalists from 30 countries, as well as representatives of a number of regional and international organizations.

The organisations include the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and the Organisation for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD), among others.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 51

MEDIA Developments and Opportunities in Islamic Themed Television and Online Video Content

Muslims represent a core viewer segment in the global $443 billion television broadcasting and online television industry according to a recent report released by Thomson Reuters, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, and DinarStandard.

The report noted that close to 2 billion Muslims account for an estimated 5 percent of global culture and recreation spent in 2014, which includes media and entertainment.

Muslim viewers are diverse, and are a key target market for mainstream media content.

In Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, television-advertising revenue spent by language shows the top three languages are Arabic, Turkish and Bahasa Indonesia. Together, these languages account for 67 percent of total OIC media and recreation spend in 2015.

Media and recreation spending increases during special events or times of the year; for example there is an increase in viewing activity during Ramadan, which accounts for 11 percent of annual advertising budgets for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Muslims are also increasingly viewing Is-

lamic- themed media that addresses their Islamic values, in particular following the increased negative western media coverage of Muslims post-9/11.

The (Thompson Reuters et al. 2016) report titled “Developments and opportunities in Islamic themed television and online video content” identified close to 200 Islamicthemed media television and online channels, with the top three countries Saudi Arabia (33 channels), Pakistan (20 channels) and the United Kingdom (17 channels).

The report added that there has been notable evolution in the genres addressed by television content for Muslims, which include, core religious lectures, reality television, children’s television, film, documentaries, and comedy.

Top OIC media markets Culture and recreation spending in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) markets in aggregate accounted for $117 billion in 2015, representing 3 percent of global spending in 2015.

This is projected to grow by 8.1 percent CAGR to reach $172 billion by 2020 according to the report.

52 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Television advertising in the top three OIC language markets (Arabic, Turkish and Bahasa Indonesia) totaled $6.9 billion in 2015, accounting for 3 percent of global television advertising spending, but is projected to grow by 11 percent cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $12 billion in 2020, driven by population and GDP growth.

MENA’s growth is driven primarily by Saudi Arabia, which is projected to see advertising growth of 16 percent CAGR over the same period.

More than 70 percent of MENA TV advertising comes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.

Indonesia’s healthy economic situation is fueling growth in TV advertising revenue, and terrestrial broadcasters dominate the market.

Television advertising spending in Turkey is the second-fastest growing spending segment in the media and entertainment market, after spending on internet access (including subscriptions), and ahead of digital advertising.

TV advertising for OIC markets in aggregate could be an estimated $10 billion in 2015.

This figure is derived by extrapolating from the top three markets.

Growth Opportunities There are significant growth opportunities for key stakeholders, including mainstream or dedicated Islamic television channels, investors, and advertisers, in addressing the Muslim demand for Islamic-themed television content.

Although there are close to 200 Islamicthemed channels, there is a significant focus on traditional discussion programs that involve lectures or recitations from prominent religious scholars according to the report.

This format may have appealed to older generations, but millennial Muslims have become a more prominent viewer segment and are accustomed to mainstream television programs encompassing a range of genres: documentaries, entertainment, reality television, and cultural programs.

Thus, there is a wide array of opportunities to be innovative and develop new styles of Islamic-themed content: Broaden the genres covered by the channel, and create complementary products Expand the channel internationally Allocate more funds during Ramadan

www.oic-oci.org

MEDIA

Ambitious Independent Cinema in Uganda Producing Films Comparable to Tarantino’s Kampala (DPA) – At the end of an un-asphalted street that is full of holes stretching along a canal with repulsive odors in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, there is a metal structure of an old helicopter surrounded by a group of soldiers and gangsters, from which lands someone shouting: “Welcome to the Wakaliood”, akin to the iconic world cinema, Hollywood. The filmmaker, Isaac Nabwana, accompanied by a number of actors, came to the random poor neighborhood of Wakaliga to shoot some scenes for an action movie, with a very limited budget, and unrealistic visual effects. Despite the circumstances, the young director’s films are filled with scenes of blood, violence and comedic ironies as well, so much so that his fame far exceeded the limits of Wakaliga; it even became universal.

The 43-year-old Nabwana considers himself the Ugandan Quentin Tarantino, the director of such famous films as ‘Best-selling story’, ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Ugly bastards’ and lastly ‘Jingu’. The comparison does not come from void. Nabwana’s movie ‘Who killed Captain Alex’ in 2010 achieved more than a million views on YouTube. His company ‘Ramon Artistic Production’ imitates Hollywood films but with an African perspective, using low budgets that do not exceed two hundred euros, and with a lot of imagination.

For example, the machine guns that appear on the screen, are merely remnants of motorcycle engines, while bullet shots are made of wood, and most of the actors are

www.oic-oci.org

unpaid amateurs, but they share in half the profits gained by the production company from selling DVDs, in exchange for one euro per DVD, which are distributed by peddlers who roam the city’s houses and shops.

Although Nabwana is the director, he also acts, produces, does the montage and effects, and helps with carrying the camera.

However, he earns no more than a hundred euro per film. He has made dozens of films, but complains about pirated copies of his films.

Nabwana promoted his most famous film ‘Who killed Captain Alex’ and called it “The first Ugandan action film”. It was produced, filmed, written and edited by Nabwana. The film tells the story of the struggle of an army leader against the “Tiger” mafia; it includes scenes of intense violence, shot guns, hand fighting showing martial arts such as Kung Fu, as well as scenes of senseless bombings with voice comments and subtitling translation of Swahili, spoken by the indigenous people, into English language.

Nabwana works with a team of actors reaching thirty people including workers and technicians. The Ugandan director continues, “We teach and brace who apply to work with us, because there is no academy or university to teach the art of cinema in Uganda.” More than 300 fans visited the studio he founded – from Germany, Russia, Canada, France, and India – and some of them agreed to appear in scenes of some of his films, which are characterized by the death of all white people at the end. As an

expression of gratitude for their participation in these films, the foreigner fans received “Death Certificate” as a kind of appreciation for their role. He also allocated for them a wall in one of the studio corners with the names of fifty of them and the film in which they died in.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Among the most prominent of those white people is the American director Alan Hoffman, director of the Lake Placid Festival in the United States, who flew to Uganda especially to participate in one of Nabwana’s films and shoot a death scene in it, after he watched Nabwana’s famous film “Who killed Captain Alex.” Hoffman says, “It was a wonderful film, two weeks after I saw it, I was determined to travel to Uganda to get to know the director.”

After several visits to the African country, Hoffman decided to stay in Uganda and join Nabwana’s team. He participated in movies and assisted him in obtaining funds through the Internet. He says, “Wakaliood is not in a good situation, but I want to help elevate its level.”

Hoffman has succeeded in helping his friend Nabwana collect 13 thousand dollars, which helped the production company to purchase modern equipment to do the fire and explosions scenes more professionally. Nabwana hopes that his growing popularity helps attract more celebrities to contribute in fulfilling his dream of establishing a modern cinematic studio.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 53

HEALTH Islamic Advisory Group Supports Final Push for Polio Eradication and Expands Group’s Role Polio Final Push

Jeddah – The Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (IAG) adopted on 27 July 2016 a new work-plan to help in the final push to end polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two Muslim countries where the virus remains in circulation.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the third annual meeting for the Group held at the Islamic Development Bank’s headquarters in Jeddah, which also expressed the group’s intention to expand its role by supporting other vaccinations and initiatives that benefit mother and child health.

In the past few years polio eradication has been hindered in some Muslim countries due to misperceptions and lack of safe access to the children for vaccination. In a statement issued by the meeting, the IAG stated that it “reiterates its trust in the safety and effectiveness of polio and other routine childhood vaccinations as a lifesaving tool which protects children; and acknowledge that it fully conforms to Islamic rulings.”

The statement also affirmed the religious obligation of parents to vaccinate their children to keep them healthy.

Dr. Saleh Bin Abdallah Bin Humaid, President of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, reminded meeting participants of Prophet Mohammed’s call (Peace be Upon Him) to Muslims that they should “seek treatment, O worshippers of God, for God did not send down an illness except having sent down a medicine for it apart from aging.” Humaid also explained that seeking medical treatment to fight illness does not contradict putting one’s faith in God’s Will since that is equivalent to eating and drinking to tackle hunger and thirst.

The IAG was launched in 2013 after consultations between the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), Al Azhar Al Sharif, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) who make up the core membership of the group. The leaders of these organizations, as well as other religious scholars, technical experts and academics from the Muslim World participated in the meeting held today.

54 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Among the topics discussed during the meeting was the danger of leaving the public to fall prey to misperceptions and the important role Islamic scholars can play in rectifying people’s understanding about health matters.

The deputy of Al-Azhar AlSharif, Dr. Abbas Shouman, said that these misperceptions usually arise due to fatwas that are issued by non-specialists who as a result leave children exposed to handicap or death.

“It is the duty of Al-Azhar AlSharif to explain the truth to people and clarify the facts. Through its many awareness programs it has to explain that vaccination as a form of preventive treatment against disease is a manifestation of the purposes behind Islamic law which aim to protect lives and offspring,” said Shouman.

In his speech to the IAG, the Regional Director of the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Ala Alwan, said he had witnessed the positive role of the IAG through its local off-shoots during a recent visit to Pakistan in June.

“The impact of your work was evidenced through the positive contribution of the National Islamic Advisory Group (NIAG) in Pakistan at the national and provincial levels and down to Union Council and community level through its engagement with the local religious scholars in giving support and protection to the frontline health workers,” he said.

He also commended the role of the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan for their efforts to eradicate polio, an effort which came about partially through the support of the IsDB. “The bank has provided technical grants to support the efforts of the Somali government and the partners in order to control the outbreak of polio which spread across the Horn of Africa in 2013,” said Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the IsDB. “It has also provided an additional US$100 million of funds to support the efforts of the Pakistani government and the partners in order to eradicate polio by the end of 2018, with the Will of Allah.”

Ali urged the partner institutions of the IAG, especially Al-Azhar AlSharif and IIFA, to coordinate with WHO and other international organizations to transfer their experience in polio to other emergency and epidemic situations particularly in Africa.

Expanding their Role “Building on the successful experience in improving polio immunization services, the Islamic Advisory Group is now well placed to further help promote health care in the Muslim countries, which still carry a heavy burden of preventable causes of mortality and morbidity,” Ambassador Mohammed Naeem Khan, Assistant Secretary General of the OIC for Science and Technology told IAG members on behalf of Secretary General Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani.

As a reflection of this recommendation the IAG expressed through its statement “the need for this group to promote and influence better health outcomes for families, particularly mothers and children, and commit to expanding the scope of this Group to address other key mother and child health interventions.”

www.oic-oci.org

‫اقتصاد‬ State of Cancer in OIC State of Cancer in OIC Member Countries Member Countries

Countries Account OICOIC Countries Account 11% of the World forfor 11% of the World Cancer Cases Cancer Cases 5 Types of Cancer Account 5 Types of Cancer Account for 40% of Cases All Cases in OIC for 40% of All in OIC Countries Countries A new report by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), a subsidiary organ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), indicate that with over one and a half million new cases of Cancer diagnosed in 2012, OIC countries accounted for 11% of the world and 17% of the developing countries total cancer cases.

The report published in July 2016 provides a detailed analysis on incidence, prevalence and death burden of major cancers in OIC member countries.

Unlike the global trends, the report indicate that women are more likely to have cancer in OIC countries than men.

It is reported that age-standardised incidence of cancer in OIC countries was recorded at 127 per 100,000 population for adults and 128 for both men and women in 2012, which is lower than the world average of 182 per 100,000 populations for both sexes and 205 for men and 165 for women.

The findings of the report also indicate that, with 250 thousand new cases, breast cancer is by far the most prevalent cancer in OIC countries.

The second most prevalent is lung cancer, with 105 thousand, and then cervical cancer, with 90 thousand, colorectum cancer

www.oic-oci.org

with 85 thousand, and prostate cancer, with 67 thousand cases.

These top-5 cancers accounted for about 40% of all cases diagnosed in OIC countries in 2012.

According to the report, there are widespread gender-based differences in incidence of the most common cancers across the world.

While some of these differences are hormone-related others are largely because of behaviours like smoking and drinking.

Among men in OIC countries, the report finds that five most common sites of cancer diagnosed in 2012 were lung (23.9% of the total), prostate (17.0%), colorectum (12.2%), liver (10.9%), and bladder (7.3%).

These five cancers together accounted for about 72% of incidence among men in OIC countries.

Among women, the five most common sites of cancer were breast (49.9% of the total), cervical (18.0%), colorectum (7.3%), ovary (5.0%), and stomach (2.5%). These five cancers together accounted for around 83% of incidence among women in OIC countries.

The reports states that in absolute numbers, cancers in OIC countries caused about 1.02 million deaths in 2012, accounting for 17.4% of the developing countries and

12% of the global cancer deaths.

With 143 thousand deaths of adult people, lung cancer is by far the deadliest cancer in OIC countries.

The second most deadly is stomach cancer, with 85 thousand deaths, and then breast, with 74 thousand, colorectum cancer, with 64 thousand deaths, and cervical cancer, with 47 thousand deaths.

These top-5 deadliest cancers accounted for about 40% of all deaths caused by cancers in OIC countries in 2012.

In 2013, 39 out of 51 OIC countries (76%) have general availability of breast cancer screening at the primary health care level.

Such a ratio is comparable to the developed countries of 97% and the world average of 85%. A similar trend prevail for the screening for cervical and colon cancer.

OIC countries as a group recorded less than one radiotherapy unit available for 100,000 populations in 2013 compared to the averages of other developing countries (1.6) and the world (2.0).

In the light of these findings, the Report offers several policy recommendations to address some of the challenges faced by the member countries in the areas of cancer registry, risk factors, and treatment and medication.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 55

Education OIC Participates in ISESCO’s First Conference of Education Ministers in Tunisia Tunis – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC participated in the first Education Ministers Conference organized by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) aimed to «promote and activate joint Islamic educational work.»

In his address during the inaugural session of the conference, OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani stressed that developing and updating the educational curricula, and programs for science and knowledge to keep abreast of the scientific and technological advances forms part of the principles and foundations underlying the strategy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its specialized organs in the area of teaching and education.

He added that embracing the achievements of civilization and humanitarian values while preserving authentic traditions and noble values of Islam, a religion of moderation and tolerance are part of the objectives outlined in the OIC program of Action 2025.

Mr. Madani also stressed the need to empower youth and integrate them in the developmental programs, employment and productivity to protect them against sliding into the path of violent extremism and terrorism.

The Secretary General also paid tribute to ISESCO for its efforts and initiatives towards boosting education, science and culture in the OIC Member States.

For his part, the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri stated that the First ISESCO Conference of Education Ministers has adopted the amended version of the “Strategy for the Promotion of Education in the Islamic World”.

He noted that the strategy takes account of the rapid changes in the various spheres of education and accommodates the developments pertaining to education issues in the Member States.

He also indicated that the updated Strategy was aimed at developing the education sector through better teaching methods based on performance indicators, assessment of outcomes and impact, and efficient use of ICT. This requires, he added, reinforcing the entities in charge of educational planning, programme, curricula and guide development, monitoring and evaluation, school mapping, and good administrative, financial and professional governance of educational institutions.

The ISESCO Director General stressed that the conference also adopted the “Tunis Communiqué on Invigorating Youth’s Educational Roles in Entrenching the Values of Tolerance and Coexistence” and the “Tunis Declaration on Boosting Joint Islamic Educational Action”, which complement each other and converge towards the same wide prospects of better education in member countries.

Support to Jordanian and Palestinian Education Institutions The First ISESCO Conference of Education Ministers also issued a communiqué on offering support to Jordanian Educational Institutions Hosting Syrian Refugee Children and Students.

The ministers called for increased attention to the education-re-

56 OIC Journal August - November 2016

lated situation of the Syrian refugee children and students by taking measures and initiatives to facilitate their access to schools and universities in the host countries, as much as affordable to each party concerned, in line with the principle of Islamic takaful and solidarity.

They appealed to the international organizations, particularly the United Nations Children›s Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to increase financial, technical and logistical support for the Jordanian educational institutions to help them accommodate the large numbers of Syrian refuge children and students exceeding 150 thousand, while providing appropriate conditions to ensure their legitimate right to complete their studies in all education stages.

They equally thanked the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the praiseworthy efforts it has put in offering the Syrian refugee children and students access to its schools and universities and in attending to their needs, and urging the international community to honor its pledge to provide support to the Kingdom to enhance its efforts to fulfill its voluntary commitments in this connection.

The conference also called for support to the National Educational, Cultural and Religious Institutions in Palestine and Al-Quds AlSharif following the restrictive measures and blockade imposed on them in occupied Palestine in general, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in particular.

Education in Somalia A high-level coordination meeting on preparations for the convening of the Donors’ Conference to Support Education Sector in the Federal Republic of Somalia was also held on the sidelines of the First ISESCO Conference of Education Ministers.

The meeting examined the organizational measures and the tasks entrusted to the parties concerned with convening this conference and ensuring the best conditions for its success.

www.oic-oci.org

ECONOMY 9th Forum for Businesswomen in Islamic Countries Calls For Easy Access to Finance for Businesswomen Riyadh – Participants at 9th Forum for Businesswomen in Islamic Countries, held on 25 May 2016, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the Theme “Investment Opportunities in the Islamic World” have emphasized the need for easy access to finance for businesswomen of OIC Countries and urged the relevant stakeholders to extend full support in facilitating it.

The objective of the Forum, which was organized by the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CSC) in collaboration with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA), was to strengthen the institutional role, in creating a sustainable channel for introducing investment opportunities in the Islamic countries.

It was also aimed at enabling the businesswomen to meet one another, interact and discuss new avenues for cooperation and commercial exchange.

The Businesswomen forum in its recommendations tagged “Riyadh Economic Declaration 2016” underlined the significance of the establishment of joint business councils for businesswomen in the Islamic countries because of their roles in promoting investment opportunities through the private sector, and called on the relevant institutions in the Islamic countries to further intensify the support for their establishment.

The Forum proposed to organize specialized Exhibitions and Trade Fairs to promote services and products offered by Businesswomen of OIC Countries and to enhance their outreach to the global market.

The Forum had discussed two major themes; “Institutional Role in Enhancing Investment Opportunities through the Private Sectors in Islamic Countries” and the “Investment Opportunities and enhancing the Role of Women in Islamic Countries.”

www.oic-oci.org

The Guest of Honor of the Forum was HRH Princess Nora bint Mohammed Al Saud, the spouse of the Governor of Riyadh and Head of the Coordination Council for Women Work. She delivered a keynote speech, in which she highlighted the importance of the empowerment of women, noting that businesswomen are partners in making the future of the Islamic countries as they were partners in making their past and present.

She stressed that the role of businesswomen and their participation in development in the Islamic world depend on the provision of the necessary adequate funding, appropriate financial facilities and tools to stimulate investment.

The Forum had discussed two major themes; “Institutional Role in Enhancing Investment Opportunities through the Private Sectors in Islamic Countries” and the “Investment Opportunities and enhancing the Role of Women in Islamic Countries.”

In her intervention, Mrs. Mehla Ahmed Talibna, Director General of Cultural, Social and Family Affairs of the OIC, spoke on the economic empowerment of women, which she viewed as an intersection of two vital paths; empowering women to maximize their contribution to the development of their country, and social equity to maximize the share of women and family in the fruits of development.

She added that the most important objectives of the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW) are women’s participation and representation in decision-making at all political, economic, social and cultural levels, providing equal opportunities for all women and girls to get access to quality education, vocational training, skills development, as well as programs to improved access to care, highquality public services and equal access to economic opportunities in the public and private sectors.

She highlighted the existence of several obstacles to the empowerment of women, including poverty, illiteracy and the difficulty of providing educational opportunities, low participation in decision-making, marginalization, discrimination and negative cultural legacies.

“Women interested in developing business projects are still facing difficulties in obtaining mentoring, capacity building, financial loans, property ownership as well as the complexity of the administrative procedures for obtaining permits,” said Telibna.

The Businesswomen Forum was attended by more than 250 participants from different OIC Countries, in addition to the representatives of the Embassies and Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the representatives of the OIC.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 57

‫اقتصاد‬

Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President of IDB, opening the bank’s Gateway Office in Nigeria

OIC Mobilises Emergency Support to

Tackle Humanitarian Situation in North-East Nigeria The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has reiterated its commitment to continue to mobilise emergency support to help in addressing the ongoing humanitarian situation in North East Nigeria.

The organisation’s Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, Ambassador Hameed Opeloyeru made the statement after leading an inter-agency OIC delegation that paid a five-day visit to Nigeria from 17-21 July 2016.

The objective of the visit was to assess the humanitarian needs of Nigeria, in the wake of the dire humanitarian conditions consequent to the terrorist activities of the Boko Haram militants and to explore ways and means of scaling up intra-OIC support for the multitude of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the affected North Eastern parts of Nigeria.

The visit was in line with the commitment made by OIC Secretary General, Iyad Ameen Madani during his audience with President Muhammadu Buhari in Makkah, Saudi Arabia on 25 February 2016.

Economic and humanitarian projects: During the visit to Nigeria the OIC delegation reviewed the current level of cooperation between Nigeria and OIC, ranging from development, accession to OIC instruments and other outstanding areas of joint collaboration.

In their deliberations with various Nigerian Authorities, the delegation presented an ex-

pose of the various on-going and proposed humanitarian and development responses of the OIC in both the North East and other parts of Nigeria.

On its part, one of the OIC’s specialized institutions - the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group - confirmed the on-going execution of a Bi-lingual Education Programme in 9 states of Nigeria, including the affected North Eastern States of Gombe, Borno and Adamawa, totaling US$98.07 million.

The IDB has also successfully completed an Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Project in Adamawa, Gombe and Yobe and similar projects are under formulation in the Northeast in the context of the Government’s diversification agenda through agriculture.

Under its “Lives and Livelihoods Fund”, the IDB along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide project and micro financing facilities for agricultural and rural development and food security for North East, through the pastoral livestock system, family enterprises and inputs and output markets for crops.

The foregoing is in addition to the Bank’s integrated rural development and water supply and sanitation projects in Jigawa, Illesa and Zaria.

Similar development projects in Nigeria were showcased during the visit, including some of the IDB’s Work Program for 2016.

They are: Dualisation of Bida-Mina Road, Niger State; Rehabilitation of Abakaliki

58 OIC Journal August - November 2016

Road, Ebonyi State; and PPP for the Second Niger Bridge.

The proposed actions by Islamic, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation ISESCO another OIC specialized institution represented on the delegation, include Support for Modernisation of Traditional Education in Nigeria; a Training Programme on the Management of Income-Generating Small Businesses for Women in Northern Nigeria and Regional Expert Meeting on Mapping Agriculture, Livelihood and Initiative for Food Security among others.

On its part, the Humanitarian Department of the OIC General Secretariat emphasized the desire to acquire sufficient data on the humanitarian situation in North East, while impressing on the appropriate Nigerian Authorities to allow access to the various camps for delivery of humanitarian assistance by the various member-organizations of the OIC Consultative Humanitarian Group.

During the visit, the delegation received first-hand information on the humanitarian and post-recovery needs assessment of Nigeria, following its audiences with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, and Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The delegation secured the commitment of the appropriate Nigerian Authorities to remove obstacles facing shipment of humanitarian supplies to Nigeria as well as access to IDP camps by partner organisations.

www.oic-oci.org

ECONOMY The team also had audiences with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Science and Technology; and Agriculture and Rural Development among others.

Areas of Current Nigeria’s Engagement with OIC The delegation informed the appropriate Nigerian authorities on some OIC projects and programs, which require active participation by Nigeria.

The projects include Regional Project on

Sustainable Tourism development in a Cross Border Network and Protected Areas in West Africa; OIC Dakar-Port Sudan Railway (and Multi-Modal) Line; and OIC Cotton Action Plan.

The delegation also expressed the need for Nigeria to ratify some of the OIC’s Charters, agreements and protocols which include the OIC Charter; the Statute of Islamic Organisation for Food Security; General Agreement for Economic, and Technical and Commercial Cooperation.

Others are Agreement for the Promotion,

Protection and Guarantee of Investments; Framework Agreement for Trade and Preferential System (TPS-OIC; and Protocol; and Rules of Origin of TPS-OIC. Members of the inter-agency OIC delegation include Dr. Mahmoud Y. Compaore, of OIC Department of Political Affairs, Mr. Abdoulaye Kebe, of the OIC Department of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Abdallah M. Kiliaki and Mr. Nasir S. Ingawa of IDB Group Country Gateway Office, Abuja, Nigeria and Dr. Abdul Aziz Yaouba, Program Specialist, ISESCO.

Nigerian President Lauds IsDB Group for Supporting Development in the Country as

New Gateway Office Opens Residents read a Nigerian army poster of wanted Boko Haram suspects in Bayelsa, Nigeria (epa)

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has applauded Islamic Development Bank IsDB’s significant contribution to development in Nigeria.

Buhari expressed his country’s eagerness to strengthen its cooperation with the Bank and affirmed its commitment to supporting IsDB’s developmental mission.

The president made the assertion during a visit by IsDB’s President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali who led a delegation to Nigeria to open IsDB’s new Gateway Office in the country in August 2016.

President Buhari added that his country is working closely with IsDB and with other development partners to ensure better living standards for the people in the country.

On his part, Dr. Ahmed Ali noted that the new IsDB Gateway Office in Nigeria will “help boost the existing cooperation between Nigeria and IsDB and strengthen cooperation and economic integration among countries of region,” said IsDB Group.

Dr. Ali praised President Buhari for the Nigerian Government’s major economic pro-

www.oic-oci.org

grams focused on peace building, stability, social harmony, infrastructure support and agricultural development.

He said that IsDB will continue to work with Nigeria to implement development programs across the country that will enhance the health and agriculture sectors and expand and improve road, water and power networks in remote areas.

Dr. Ali also said that the Bank will further support the education sector, particularly bilingual education and vocational training, in a bid to create community-based job opportunities for young people that will help curb extremism.

He expressed the Bank’s willingness to help raise funds to support development programs and projects in Nigeria Sukuk issues or through its cooperation with the Coordination Group.

The Coordination Group is composed of Arab regional and national institutions, development funds and the OPEC Fund for International Development.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria became an

IsDB member country in 2005 and is among its major shareholders.

Since then, total IsDB funding for Nigeria has been more than US $1 billion.

The Country Gateway Office will contribute in partnering with the private sector in Nigeria, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs).

It would also help in strengthening other sectors of the Nigerian economy such as transportation, electricity, health and education.

IsDB has approved contributions to several major development projects for Nigeria, including the National Food Security Program for the states of Anambra, Gombe and Yobe and water and sewerage projects in Osun State.

IsDB has also approved contributions to the Bilingual Education Program for nine Nigerian states: Adamawa, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Niger, Nassarawa, Osun and Kwara.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 59

Halal-Certified Food and Beverages Valued At $415 Bln In 2015 Global Muslim consumer expenditure on food and beverages grew 3.4 percent to reach $1.17 trillion in 2015, according to the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2016/17 report released by Thomson Reuters, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, and DinarStandard.

For the first time, the report put an estimated value on revenues for halal-certified F&B: $415 billion in 2015. This estimate includes expenditure by both Muslims and non-Muslims on halal F&B products and is based on interviews with a selection of certification bodies as well as a review of independent estimates.

On its Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI), the report named the United Arab Emirates as the country with the best-developed ecosystem for halal F&B, followed

by Australia and Pakistan.

UAE, according to the report, overtakes Malaysia as the leader on the GIEI halal F&B indicator this year due to a significant strengthening of its regulatory oversight, and a vast improvement in its awareness score, driven by strong publicity.

The report projects global Muslim expenditure on F&B to reach $1.9 trillion by 2021, representing a 9 percent CAGR from 2015.

It expects the industry to be driven by highgrowth segments halal organic and tayyeb foods, halal ingredients manufacturers seeking to address a core Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)-wide and global opportunity, halal B2B, and premium restaurant chains emerging to address Muslim

demand for farm-to-fork and fine dining.

The report highlights several notable private equity investments in halal F&B, which it says signals increasing investor appetite for halal food investments. However, it notes that the level of equity investment in the halal food industry remains low, which limits the sector’s growth.

It also highlights notable developments in the use of Islamic financing on stock exchanges.

Key challenges for the industry remain the significant resistance to halal food among non-Muslim consumers and in non-Muslim-majority countries.

The report also highlights a prevalence of haram ingredients in food items, with a lack of awareness among Muslim consumers and importing OIC markets.

Within the Islamic tradition, a person’s spirituality and the purity of one’s soul are very much tied to the food and drink we consume.

In an age of increasing commercialization, the food we consume can be devoid of God’s presence and the reverence for God’s creation that Islam requires. It is this gap that much of the Halal Food sector seeks to fill.

With the Quran not only calling for food to be Halal but also Tayyib, or pure, this has led to segments of the Halal Food sector creating produce of the highest quality, as can be seen in the rise of Halal organic food. Consequently, non-Muslim demand for such quality food is also increasing.

60 OIC Journal August - November 2016

However established this sector becomes, there seems to always be further room for growth and opportunity.

For example, there has recently been a rise in Halal online meal takeout and delivery platforms, particularly in non-OIC countries.

The UK-based HalalEat, Halalonclick in Singapore and the Russian HalalEda.me, are just a few examples that also highlight the transnational potential of the Halal Food sector.

Several notable private equity investments have occurred in the past year, signaling increasing investor appetite for Halal Food investments. ESP Capital and Kingsley Capital Partners invested $30 million in Janan Meat, a leading UK-based Halal lamb and mutton supplier, while Abraaj Capital and Texas Pacific Group invested $400 million in Saudi Arabia-based fast-food chain Kudu.

Unfortunately, there still remains much misunderstanding around Halal meat within non-Muslim majority societies.

Some European countries have even moved to ban Halal and kosher methods of slaughter.

Further financing and work is needed in the marketing and sales area in order to create a better understanding of the principles of Halal Food.

Nevertheless, the Halal Food sector’s growth shows no sign of slowing down as the report estimates Muslim food and beverage expenditure to grow to $1.9 trillion by 2021.

www.oic-oci.org

ECONOMY GCC Donors, Gates Foundation and IsDB

Launch Massive Anti-poverty Initiative of $2.5 billion Two years ago, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a major new fund to fight poverty was announced by Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who now dedicates his time to philanthropy. That announcement marked the beginning of work to create an innovative, large-scale fund that could fight disease and poverty across the Muslim world. On 29 September 2016, that initiative formally came to life with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Named the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, it has become the largest ever development initiative of its kind based in the Middle East. It officially launched through the first meeting of its Impact Committee on 29 September 2016. The decision-making body approved projects worth US$363m for the first of the five years that the fund will be operational.

Projects approved for the first wave of funding will be primarily in the Middle East and a number of Islamic and African countries.

The funds will be used to protect communities from the risk of malaria and HIV/ AIDS, increase access to water and primary healthcare, and empower poor farmers to grow more food through the development of necessary infrastructure.

His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of IsDB, stated that the fund represented a major milestone in the journey to improve lives in Muslim countries. “I am delighted to see the hard work of all the part-

www.oic-oci.org

ners pay off; these projects will save lives, and that is what we are here to do,” Dr Mohamed said at the sideline of the meeting.

The Lives and Livelihoods Fund will invest US$2.5 billion over the next five years on projects that help the poorest people in 30 of the poorest Muslim countries lead healthy and productive lives. Administered by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the fund combines US$2 billion of IsDB financing with US$500m in grants from donors.

So far, US$400 million in grants have been committed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (20% of the total up to US$100m), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (US$100m), the Qatar Fund for Development (US$50m), the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid Center (US$100m), and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (US$50m).

The Impact Committee met under the chairmanship of Maher Al Hadrawi, Executive Director of the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid Center. Mr. Al Hadrawi said he was delighted with the progress of the fund since its inception, adding that it was the result of the joint efforts of the parties involved, and that it will be active and effective in developing the lives and livelihoods of people in the beneficiary countries, particularly in rural areas. Mr. Al Hadrawi noted that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques had provided directives for the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid Center to contribute US$100 million on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to

the Lives and Livelihoods Fund. The aid from the King Salman Center will help support incomes, provide the means for dignified living, and strengthen infrastructure in 30 Islamic countries, and is an extension of the significant efforts made by the Kingdom to help those in need.

Qatar was the first donor country to join the fund, committing US$50 million in April 2016. Ali bin Abdullah Al Dabbagh, Director of Strategic Planning at the Qatar Development Fund, said: “We at Qatar Fund For Development are proud to contribute to this unprecedented initiative in the Middle East region. We have complete confidence that the management team of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, through its close cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank, will launch high-quality projects in vital sectors that will reflect positively on improving the living conditions of millions of people across the Islamic world.”

The UAE also joined the inaugural impact committee as a founding member, with a major commitment of US$50 million. Representing the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mohamed Al Suwaidi commented: “The LLF is a great example of the innovative financing mechanisms that we need in order to achieve the 2030 development agenda. We are proud to be a founding member of this joint regional effort and look forward to realizing the funds› full capabilities in reaching those most marginalized.”

OIC Journal August - November 2016 61

OCCASIONS Celebrating 47th Anniversary of OIC

The OIC Day Reception organized by IRCICA in Istanbul

The OIC Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), organized an OIC Day Reception in Istanbul on 1st October 2016 to commemorate the 47th Anniversary of the Organisation. The Reception was held in the presence of Turkey’s Former President H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gül, Vice Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Veysi Kaynak and OIC Secretary General H.E. Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani. A 200-strong audience of guests from diplomatic, academic, art and media circles attended the commemoration.

The OIC Day Reception organized by IRCICA at Conrad Hotel in Istanbul underlined the important role of the Organisation in addressing the Muslim world’s common concerns and challenges. Turkey’s Former President H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gül and Vice Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Veysi Kaynak gave addresses reaffirming Turkey’s support to the OIC and its institutions.

Assoc. Prof. Halit Eren, Director General of IRCICA welcomed the participants. Referring to the symbolic significance of anniversaries as reference points in institutional histories, Dr. Eren said that this acquires further significance in the case of an international organization such as the OIC, which ranks second after the UN for its membership and embodies multiple histories of international relations. It represents one-fourth of world population and refers to a geographical area from Kazakhstan to Mozambique and from Indonesia to Senegal, reaching Suriname and Guyana in South America. IRCICA Director General said “On this 47th Anniversary of the OIC which is also the 37th activity year of IRCICA, it gives us pride to glimpse at the big steps taken and long roads crossed during the past period in the Islamic cooperative action in diverse fields of development and international relations.”

62 OIC Journal August - November 2016

The reception of the Permanent Delegation of the OIC in Geneva

The Islamic Center for the Development of Trade (ICDT) based in Casablanca, Morocco also organized a reception on the occasion of the celebration of the 47th anniversary of OIC on 29 September 2016 in Rabat. Attending the ceremony were the ambassadors of the OIC member states and international and regional organizations accredited in Rabat, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Ministry in charge of Foreign Trade in the Kingdom of Morocco, former directors of the Center and many personalities, of which M. Alwi Chihab, the Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia to OIC. On the occasion, ICDT broadcasted a documentary film about the OIC since its establishment, which defined its different objectives and structures involved in the development of member states to promote the true image of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance, according to El Hassane Hzaine, Director General of ICDT. The Permanent Delegation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Geneva also organized a well-attended reception at the Palais des Nations on 26 September 2016. The ceremony was co-hosted by Ambassador Jamal M.I. Alghunaim, Chair of the OIC Group in Geneva and Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait and Ambassador Aissata Kane, Acting Permanent Observer of the OIC Delegation in Geneva.

The reception was attended by a number of UN eminent officials including the Directors General of UNOG and WIPO and the Executive Director of UNITAR, Ambassadors of OIC Geneva Group, members of the Geneva diplomatic community and OIC partners.

The event was the occasion to present OIC culinary diversity and meals offered by OIC Member States.

www.oic-oci.org

COUNTRY PROFILE Tunisia

Tunis is the sprawling capital of Tunisia, a country in North Africa. It sits along Lake Tunis, just inland from the Mediterranean Sea’s Gulf of Tunis. It’s home to a centuriesold medina and the Bardo, an archaeology museum where celebrated Roman mosaics are displayed in a 15th-century palace complex. The parklike ruins of ancient Carthage sit in the city’s northern suburbs.

The laid-back capital of Tunis also has two distinct urban-planning personalities. The new city, created by French colonials in the 19th century, is an orderly European grid, with wrought-iron balconies, cafes and patisseries bordering the boulevards.

The 8th-century, quintessentially Arab medina is the city’s historic and symbolic heart.

Here you enter a tangled maze of narrow streets with giant keyhole-shaped doors, scattering cats, artisans’ workshops and swarming souqs. All lanes, however twisted, eventually lead to the Great Mosque.

The city’s most well-known attractions lie out of the centre: the ruins of once magnificent Carthage, set among the great white mansions of Tunis’ contemporary upper classes; the astounding, enormous collection of Roman mosaics housed in the Bardo’s Ottoman palace; and the cliff-top village of Sidi Bou Saïd.

However grittily urban Tunis might feel

www.oic-oci.org

Official Name: Tunisian Republic Capital: Tunis Population: 10,982,754 (2014 estimate) Area: 163,610 sq km Official Language: Arabic Currency: Tunisian Dinar

compared with the rest of the country, you are never far from the beach. The suburbs stretch endlessly out along deep-blue seafronts, where in summer everyone walks in search of a breeze.

Geography Tunisia is situated on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Nile Delta. It is bordered by Algeria on the west and Libya on the south east.

Climate Tunisia’s climate is Mediterranean in the north, with mild rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The south of the country is desert. The terrain in the north is mountainous, which, moving south, gives way to a hot, dry central plain. The south is semi-arid, and merges into the Sahara

Sights in Tunis The Medina of Tunis: has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from the Almohad and the Hafsid periods. These ancient buildings include: Zitouna Mosque (Jemaa ez-Zitouna). EzZitouna Mosque or Ezzitouna Mosque or

Mosque of El-Zituna is a major mosque in Tunis, Tunisia. The mosque is the oldest in the Capital of Tunisia and covers an area of 5,000 square metres with nine entrances The souq in the medina makes for a fascinating stroll. Tiny shops overflowing with stuff; people selling, buying, milling about; skeletal cats lurking in the shadows; the smells of essential oils, spices, frying food and rotting garbage; the sounds of the muezzin, football on the radio, Arabic and French.

Bardo Museum (Le Musée National du Bardo), The Bardo National Museum is a museum located in Tunis, Tunisia. It is one of the largest museums in North Africa Bab Bahr (Porte de France). The Gate to the sea, which remains unchanged since its erection in 1848. It can be found on the Avenue de France and makes a good taxi destination.

Zitouni Hammam: The oldest and most atmospheric hammams (public bathhouse) are in the medina, keeping residents steamed and cleaned. Often recognisable by their candy-striped red-and-green doorways and undecorated domes, they feel as if they haven’t changed (or been cleaned) for hundreds of years. It’s an amazingly exotic, sensual and relaxing experience.

OIC Journal August - November 2016 63

VIEWPOINT Education and Enlightenment..

The Path Forward

Maha Mostafa Akeel Chief Editor

The leadership in Uzbekistan identified six priorities to be achieved during its CFM chairmanship, epitomized in the considerable role of education in strengthening the capacity of member states

The world continues to change and evolve, but at a much rapid pace than before. Whether it is because of the ever-developing advancement in technology and communication, or the shifting lines of political and social relations or the contorting factors underpinning economic and financial foundations, the fact is these changes and alterations are causing disruptions at micro and macro level.

This is more apparent in the Muslim world than anywhere else. Internal crises and upheavals compounded with external interferences and interests are creating new realities on the ground on almost a daily basis that are proving too difficult to many countries and people to adjust to. In such scenarios the most important ability is adaptability, which requires having the knowledge, skills and resources to realign quickly with the changing winds, shift gears and step on. The inability to do so exposed the lack of these fundamentals, which in turn caused chaos, stumbling and stagnation, leading in some cases to total failure.

The OIC has just adopted a new Ten-Year Program of Action to address the recent challenges and changes in the Muslim world that covers a wide array of issues from political stability, territorial security and good governance to economic development, social cohesion and scientific progress while confirming basic human rights and freedoms, humanitarian needs, cultural diversity and religious tolerance.

The scene on the ground reveals the extent of the multiple challenges facing the Muslim world and the OIC of ideological and sectarian conflicts, unprecedented humanitarian crises and social and economic upheavals. From the devastation and destruction in Syria and Iraq, the human suffering in Yemen, and the chaos in Libya, Somalia and Mali, to the human rights violations in Kashmir, Myanmar and Central African Republic, the economic hardships in several countries across the region, and the struggle for peace in southern Philippines, the picture looks gloomy.

The 43rd session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Uzbekistan in October 2016 put its finger on these burning issues that need immediate attention. The title of the session – Education and Enlightenment: Path to Peace and Creativity – is indicative of the priorities being considered. The theme stressed the need to consider the spiritual aspects in education, and strengthen cooperation among the youth. Making this emphasis in Uzbekistan, a country that enriched human history, through its scholars, such as: El-Bukhari, El-Termothy, El-Zamakhshary, El-Khawarzmy, El-Bairouny, and Ibn Sina, is fitting.

The leadership in Uzbekistan identified six priorities to be achieved during its CFM chairmanship, epitomized in the considerable role of education in strengthening the capacity of member states; enhancing creativity by promoting sciences and technology in order to achieve developmental, economic and social progress; ensure unity; capitalize on the core elements of the Islamic world through cooperation between the member states and other states; the provision of initiatives; and the prohibition of disseminating nuclear weapons. These priorities reflect the new determination and resolve to address the challenges facing the Muslim world in a systematic way.

Meanwhile, the attention and focus on education shines a spotlight on a key aspect for development, progress and creativity. It brings a ray of hope for and in our youth. The third OIC conference for youth and sports in the member states, held in Istanbul, made it clear the intention to encourage and involve the youth, who constitute a large segment of the Muslim population, in the efforts for peace, solidarity and development. The conference adopted resolutions for enhancing the capacities of the youth, providing them with the opportunities and guiding them away from extremism.

The OIC has also given greater attention to women’s issues lately. Several conferences, workshops and seminars were held addressing a number of issues concerning women’s role in leadership, peace, combating Islamophobia, extremism and gender bias as well as empowering women in various fields and allowing equal access to quality education, health care and enhanced participation in decision making mechanisms.

Similar attention was given to the media and its role in peace, dialogue, empowering women and youth and combating extremism and Islamophobia.

The OIC remains focused on its priority areas as leaderships change. The previous administration brought in a different dynamism, approach and vision that managed to achieve progress on various issues including on the main issue of the OIC, Palestine and Al Quds, as well as on peace and dialogue, women and youth empowerment, and in the areas of trade, investment and fighting poverty. The OIC moves forward with a new Secretary General towards the goals and objectives it outlined for itself and mandated by the Member States.

64 OIC Journal August - November 2016

www.oic-oci.org

Uzbekistan Hosts 43rd session of Council of Foreign Ministers

Of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Tashkent 18-19 October 2016