It was certainly a historic moot of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which was held in Islamabad last Sunday (December 19) at the initiative of Saudi Arabia and enthusiastically hosted by Pakistan, which dilated at some length on different humanitarian, financial and health related problems and issues concerning the people of Afghanistan- and it also took some appropriate decisions after day-long deliberations.
The OIC member states through their Foreign Ministers also expressed solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, reiterating their commitment of helping in bringing much wanted peace, security, stability and development of their country.
The 17th Extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers quite expectedly and appreciably vowed to play a leading role in delivery of humanitarian assistance on emergency basis to the Afghan people who have suffered of 40 years of civil war, and accordingly unanimously agreed to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund, launch an Afghanistan Food Security Programme as well as engage with the World Health Organization (WHO) for securing vaccines and medical supplies in view of the consistent prevalence of the covpd-19 pandemic.
The unanimously adopted Joint Resolution, which is also called the Islamabad Declaration, has indeed brought a glimmer of hope for the 22.8 million, more than half the population of Afghanistan, who are facing acute food shortage while the large number of 3.2 million children and about 700,000 pregnant and lactating women who are facing grave risk of acute malnutrition and even death.
The extraordinary meeting was convened after the United Nations’ concerned agencies had warned that as many as 60 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million people were facing a crisis level of hunger, and the situation was getting worse with every passing day in the face of winter season setting in and further aggravating the situation and further worsening the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan in his keynote address strongly warned that unless action was taken immediately Afghanistan was heading towards chaos which needless to say suited none. He also exhorted the world to understand the gravity of the situation, and reach out to the Afghan people who were at the verge of starvation.
An immediate donation of one billion Riyals was announced by the Saudi Foreign Minister. Pakistan has already committed to provide assistance of $30 million to the people of Afghanistan. No more pledges were immediately made but hopefully doors have now been opened and help and assistance would start pouring in not only from OIC Member States but also from the international community and organizationsÂ
Availing the opportunity of presence of Islamic countries representatives, PM Imran Khan emphatically reminded them that not only the people of Afghanistan but also the suppressed and oppressed people of Indian-Occupied Kashmir and Palestine were also looking towards them as they were being denied the right of self-determination for decades together and the international community continued to be ignorant and in deep slumber.
The moot also expressed deep concern over the breakdown of the health system, outbreaks of diseases and severe malnutrition in Afghanistan, particularly in the face of the covid-19 pandemic and decided to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund under the aegis of the Islamic Development Bank which would serve as a vehicle for channellizing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. As per decisions of the moot, the OIC General Secretariat together with the Islamic Development Bank and Humanitarian Trust Fund will initiate discussions with the UN system organizations to device a road map for mobilizing actions relevant to unlocking the financial and banking channels for resuming liquidity and opening the doors for flow of financial and humanitarian assistance, besides devising a mechanism as well for the disbursement of urgent and sustained humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
The Humanitarian Trust Fund will accordingly be operationalized by the Islamic Development Bank by the first quarter of 2022. The moot also expressed deep alarm over the worsening economic situation in Afghanistan which was being 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 to the people of Afghanistan.
The moot also underlined the dire need for supporting Afghanistan in addressing poverty, creating employment opportunities and provision of essential services to its citizens, in particular food, clean drinking water, quality education and health services.
While deciding to launch an Afghanistan Food Security Programme, the OIC representatives requested the Islamic Organization for Food Security to undertake necessary work in this regard using the capacity of the Organization’s Food Security Reserves when necessary. The OIC member states, international donors, the UN Funds and Programmes and other international actors were also urged to generously contribute to the Afghanistan Food Security Programme.
The Muslim Ummah’s foreign ministers also made an urgent appeal , according to the Islamabad Declaration, to the OIC Member States, the international community including the UN system, international organizations and international financial institutions, to continue providing all possible and necessary recovery, reconstruction , development, financial, educational , technical and material assistance for Afghanistan as policy tools for promoting realization and employment of fundamental rights and freedom by all Afghan citizens.
The gathering also recognized that development, peace, security, stability and human rights all were interlinked and mutually reinforcing and reaffirmed strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan.
As for the pledges to the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan and for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan were concerned, an immediate donation of one billion Riyals was announced by the Saudi Foreign Minister. Pakistan has already committed to provide assistance of $30 million to the people of Afghanistan. No more pledges were immediately made but hopefully doors have now been opened and help and assistance would start pouring in not only from OIC Member States but also from the international community and organizations. Needless to mention here in the passing that all participating delegates appreciated the host Pakistan for making appropriate, adequate and nice arrangements and warm hospitality  for the OIC important historic moot which also endorsed its oft-repeated stance for peace, security and stability in Afghanistan besides a government inclusive of all Afghans there. Pakistan and Afghanistan’s peace, stability and security are indeed inter-linked with each other and also important for the region at large. The moot has also established a welcome and appreciable fact that Pakistan is not not isolated in the comity of nations and the successful hosting of the moot was a testimony to this.
This was not all. The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers also deliberated on issues of Afghan refugees, terrorism , women and human rights and freedom and a lot more.
