A specially convened meeting of the 57 member states of the OIC Sunday vowed to play a leading role in delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of war-torn Afghanistan and unanimously agreed on establishing a Humanitarian Trust Fund, launch a Food Security Programme and engage with the World Health Organization for securing vaccines and medical supplies.
The meeting of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, held on the initiative of Saudi Arabia and hosted by Pakistan was attended by around 70 delegates from the member states, international aid agencies and special representatives.
The unanimously adopted Joint Resolution brings a glimmer of hope for the 22.8 million people – more than half the population of Afghanistan – who face acute food shortage; while 3.2 million children and 700,000 pregnant and lactating women are at a risk of acute malnutrition.
RESOLUTION: OIC agrees to set up Humanitarian Trust Fund; launch food security program for Afghans
The document adopted after day-long deliberations here at the Parliament building also expressed solidarity with the Afghans and reiterated the commitment of the OIC Member States to help bring peace, security, stability, and development to Afghanistan.
The extraordinary meeting was convened as the UN’s estimates warned that 60% of Afghanistan’s 38 million people face “crisis levels of hunger” and that the situation was getting worse every day. The OIC also expressed deep alarm at the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier in his keynote address warned; “Unless action is taken immediately, Afghanistan is heading for chaos.” He said “chaos suits no one” and urged the world to understand the gravity of situation and reach out to the Afghan people who were facing starvation.
Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing the 17th OIC CFM Moot in Islamabad
The Council of Foreign Ministers also took into account the fact that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, has pointed that 665,000 people have been newly displaced within Afghanistan between January and September 2021 – in addition to the 2.9 million people already internally displaced by conflict in Afghanistan.
Expressing deep concern over the breakdown of Afghanistan’s health system, disease outbreaks and severe malnutrition, in particular in the face of COVID-19 pandemic, the OIC decided to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund, under the aegis of the Islamic Development Bank; which would serve as a vehicle to channel humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan including in partnership with other international actors.
The Council of Foreign Ministers decided that the OIC General Secretariat, together with the Islamic Development Bank and Humanitarian Trust Fund, shall commence discussions with the UN system organizations to device a road map for mobilizing actions in relevant fora to unlock the financial and banking channels to resume liquidity and flow of financial and humanitarian assistance. It would also devise a mechanism for the disbursement of urgent and sustained humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
In this regard the Islamic Development Bank was urged to expeditiously operationalize the Humanitarian Trust Fund by the first quarter of 2022. Meanwhile the meeting called on the OIC Member States, the Islamic Financial Institutions, donors and other international partners to announce pledges to the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan as well as to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
The meeting expressed deep alarm at the worsening economic situation in Afghanistan, which it pointed was further compounded by the continued freeze of overseas Afghan assets as well as other international assistance, exacerbating the urgent cash-flow problems, including payment of remuneration to public officials, and hindering the provision of essential public and social services