Jeddah, 23 August 2021 (TDI): The Organization of Islamic Cooperation summoned an open-ended meeting of its Executive Committee of permanent representatives to discuss the situation of Afghanistan at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), General Secretariat, on Sunday.
This meeting was convened by the Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit and the OIC Executive Committee at the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
During the meeting, the OIC member states expressed solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and reassured their promise of helping them to bring peace, security, stability, and development to Afghanistan.
The meeting highlighted the need to protect and respect the right to life, security, and dignity of the people of Afghanistan in line with Islamic principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by providing safe evacuation corridors to Afghan people.
Shedding light upon the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan due to the influx of IDPs and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, OIC called on its member states and the Islamic financial institutions and partners to cooperate to improve the situation. Moreover, the meeting appealed to the Secretary-General to work with financial donor institutions to provide aid to the IDPs in Afghanistan and the Afghan refugees abroad.
In addition, it underscored the need for an inclusive dialogue between all Afghan parties while further stressing the parties to work towards ensuring public interests and restoring security and civil order in the state.
The OIC confirmed its pledge towards supporting the “Afghan-led and owned” peace process to get to a permanent political solution in Afghanistan. The meeting also requested the future Afghan leadership and the international community to ensure that terrorists no longer find sanctuary in Afghanistan. It drew the international community’s attention towards helping Afghanistan in its post-conflict socio-economic reconstruction while staying away from interfering in its internal matters.
In the end, it called upon the Secretary-General to observe the events in Afghanistan in coordination with the members of the Executive Committee to present a report on it in its next session.
