ISLAMABAD – The extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on Sunday unanimously passed a resolution, envisaging establishment of a Humanitarian Trust Fund to serve as a vehicle to channel humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan including in partnership with other international actors.
The resolution calls upon the Islamic Development Bank to expeditiously operationalize the Humanitarian Trust Fund by the first quarter of the next year.
The OIC, through its resolution, 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.
Taking into consideration financial constraints of Afghanistan, the forum called for unfreezing Afghanistan’s financial assets to prevent an economic collapse and help revive the economic activity.
The OIC decided that a process will be commenced with the UN system organizations to devise a road map for mobilizing actions at the relevant fora to unlock the financial and banking channels to resume liquidity and flow of financial and humanitarian assistance.
The organization also decided to launch an Afghanistan Food Security Programme, urging the Islamic Organization for Food Security to undertake necessary work in this regard.
It decided to appoint a special OIC envoy on Afghanistan to coordinate aid and assistance efforts, and pursue economic and political engagement with the country.
It was agreed that the OIC will play a leading role in the delivery of humanitarian and development aid to the people of Afghanistan.
The forum stressed for engaging with donor financial institutions to provide necessary humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan as well as Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries.
The resolution reaffirmed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan and ensuring that the territory of Afghanistan is not used as a platform or safe haven by any terrorist group or organization;
It called upon Afghanistan to take concrete steps against all terrorist organizations in particular Al-Qaeda, Daesh and its affiliates, ETIM, and TTP.
The forum reaffirmed that peace, security and stability in Afghanistan would also contribute to the safe and dignified return of all Afghan refugees.
It urged the international community to remain cautious against the possibility of incitement and the role of spoilers, both inside and outside the country, to derail efforts aimed at peace and stability in Afghanistan.
It called upon the Afghan authorities to continue to work towards greater inclusiveness and including by developing a roadmap to strengthen participation of all Afghans including women and girls to participate in all aspects of the Afghan society.
The Extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers also unanimously adopted Islamabad declaration condemning the illegal colonial measures undertaken by Israel to colonize the Palestinian territory.
Declaring the Israeli measures illegal, null and void, the declaration read that the OIC does not recognize any changes affecting the pre-1967 borders particularly with regard to Al-Quds Al Sharif. It called upon the international community including the UNSC to hold the Israeli colonial occupation accountable for its violations and take all necessary measures including imposing sanctions against Israel to stop these violations.
The declaration also condemned the repeated attacks by Israeli occupation authorities on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its continuous attempts to change the historical and legal status quo there using flimsy religious pretexts.
