In a unanimously-adopted resolution, 57 OIC member states agree to set up humanitarian fund, launch food security programme for Afghans in a serious crisis situation
ISLAMABAD — The 57 OIC member states on Sunday vowed to play a leading role in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of war-torn Afghanistan.
At the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, which was convened by Saudi Arabia and hosted by Pakistan at the Parliament House in Islamabad on December 19, the OIC member states unanimously agreed on setting up a humanitarian trust fund, launching a food security programme and engaging with the World Health Organization (WHO) to secure vaccines and medical supplies for the Afghan people.
The Sunday’s OIC summit in 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. Around 3.2 million children and 700,000 pregnant and lactating women are at the risk of acute malnutrition in the war-ravaged country.
The resolution adopted after day-long deliberations in the Pakistani capital expressed solidarity with the Afghans and reiterated the commitment of the OIC member states to peace, security, stability and development in Afghanistan.
The OIC extraordinary meeting was convened after the UN warned that 60 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million people were facing “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.