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Speech of his Excellency Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic conference
At the thirty-third session of the Islamic conference of foreign ministers
Baku – Republic of Azerbaijan 19-21 June 2006.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a distinct honour for me to welcome you all to this 33rd Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers. Allow me, at the outset, to say how much honoured we are and grateful to the people and Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan for hosting this Conference, and for all the marks of hospitality as well as the gracious and warm welcome with which we met.
I would like to pay a special tribute and express my sincere thanks to H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan for his patronage, and for gracing our meeting by his personal presence. His keynote address will, surely, guide our deliberation.
I would like to thank him, for his keen interest in the OIC and its work, for his personal visit to the headquarters of the OIC in Jeddah. We highly appreciate his hosting two OIC ministerial meetings in Baku this year.
Moreover I would like to recall the fond memory of the late President and the founding father of the Republic of Azerbaijan, late Heydar Aliyev, a great Islamic leader whom I had the honour of knowing closely and to appreciate his true and sincere dedication to the flourishment of Islamic civilization in the Caucasus region. May his soul rest in peace.
I recall with deep esteem the late Heydar Aliyev kind acceptance to patronage and to pronounce a keynote address delivered at the high level Academic Symposium on Islamic Civilization in Caucasia, organized jointly by the OIC subsidiary IRCICA and the Azerbaijan Academy of Science in 1998. In his speech the late President highlighted the prevalence, in the whole of Caucasia, of the principle of tolerance as a distinct feature of Islam. Azerbaijan was the starting point from which Islam spread at the beginning of the 7th Centaury to the northern Caucasis and beyond.
We are happy to assemble in this beautiful city of Baku, a bastion of Islamic civilization, a shining beacon of Islam, and the capital city of Azerbaijan, a country which embraced Islam in its very early days and which remarkably contributed to enrich the Islamic civilization through its illustrious sons of eminent philosophers, scholars, thinkers, historians and poets like Nizami and Khaquani, Fuzuli, Bakhmanyar, Masud Ibn Namdar and many others.
I wish also to thank our outgoing Chairman H.E. Dr. Abubaker Abdulla Alquirby, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Yemen. We are grateful for his wise guidance and sincere dedication to Islamic causes. I am sincerely grateful to him for all the help and assistance he rendered to the General Secretariat in discharging its duties throughout a year full of work and achievements.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We meet in turbulent and troubled times. The Muslim world is in the vortex of a changing world and facing daunting challenges both externally and internally. These challenges flow from foreign intervention, from our economies, social and human underdevelopment, from our dependencies and vulnerability, and from our divisions and differences.
As an Ummah, we are going through a defining moment in history, we can either seize the moment and define history, or we can leave the moment define our destiny.
I think that we must turn the challenge we are facing into opportunity for the sake of our people, and we must keep alive the immutable message of Islam and its glorious legacy.
It is a good omen that the 33rd Session of the ICFM takes place at a very felicitous juncture of the history of the OIC. Coming after the Makkah Third Extraordinary Summit, which marked the course of the joint Islamic action, this session is the first occasion for us to ponder on how to chart our way towards the new horizons promised by Makkah Summit.
As we meet today we find ourselves overwhelmed, but proud and elated. Overwhelmed by the sense of historic responsibilities placed on us all by the Ten-Year Programme of Action, which awaits implementation. Satisfied and proud because we have finally managed to shift the focus of our endeavours from rhetoric and passing resolutions to actions and tangible deeds.
Indeed, the Ten-Year Programme of Action came to offer a timely and practical response to the often repeated ideas, that reforms and regeneration of Muslim societies and States, can only come from within the authentic vision of Muslims themselves, and through their own efforts.
Allow me at this juncture to pay a rich tribute to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz for calling and for hosting the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit in Makkah Al-Mukarramah which proved through its Ten-Year Programme of Action, to be a decisive turning point in the history of the OIC.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the last twelve months, and even before Makkah Summit, I have committed myself to a mission of continuing reform at the level of General Secretariat, expanding the scope of the Organization’s action, and diversifying its work in order to break loose from the vicious circle of the routine into larger scope dealing with vital and major Islamic issues. This has been made possible thanks to the introduction of a new practical reforms inspired by the new work ethics, new perspectives and goals we set to guide our various activities. We dedicated extra efforts to raise the performance and enhance services rendered to Member States, including updating the documents in terms of content, form and language to match the international standards. Similar efforts were made to rationalize the OIC recommendations and resolutions in terms of number as well as content and language.
Over the past year we have adopted innovative approaches in the way of conducting our work. We started with an initiative to enhance interaction with the Member States through holding meetings with their Permanent Representatives to the OIC, to debate certain emergency issues or matters of relevance to our work. So far, two such meetings took place. One at the level of Permanent Representatives, and the second at the level of Foreign Ministers.
We have also embarked on new initiatives by focusing on the general policies adopted by the Members States with a view to enlarge the scope of our implementation effort to a wider context, allowing for more indepth involvement to secure settlement of issues or confidence building, appeasing tension or defusing the crisis etc. We used these methods in issues like Palestine, Iraq, the Philippine or Somalia. We had a sense of real satisfaction as we saw our efforts gained credibility and esteem, bore fruits, and met with welcome and encouragement from the parties concerned.
Similarly, we have made a point of playing an active role in the international arena, through an extensive contribution to international endeavours, at the highest levels. We have worked hard to make our voice heard in international fora and in the major political decision-making spheres. We have laid out bridges of communication with the international and local media and press circles so as to project the voice of the Islamic world to the Western societies in particular, and to the world public opinion in general.
As an illustration, we have managed the crisis of the blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in such a manner as to have turned this rude act into an opportunity to draw the attention of the West to the truth about the Muslims’ strong attachment to their faith, to their sanctities and to their culture.Yet, our objective was to prevent the recurrence of such defamatory acts and emphasize Islam’s noble values, and the need to respect Muslim’s feelings. In this regard and in cooperation with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN), we issued the first-ever joint statement, which emphasized that “the mass media and printed publications have a moral responsibility to refrain from provocation or inciting hatred”.
This work has been going on in tandem with the creation of the OIC Observatory on Islamophobia at the General Secretariat, which is mandated to monitor and document all activities indicating hatred of Islam around the world and, more particularly in Europe, with the aim of tackling this issue head on. The OIC Observatory has started its interactive work.
We also started our drive against Islamophobia over a year ago when the latter began to spread around the Western world. We began by raising the issue at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva last year, where we were able to successfully coordinate with the Islamic Group there in obtaining a United Nations resolution providing for the respect of religion with particular reference to Islam. The same success was achieved at the levels of the United Nations General Assembly, and UNESCO.
In this context, just a few weeks ago, we held an unprecedented international conference at the Wilton Park Center in the United Kingdom on the theme of “Challenging Stereotypes in Europe and the Islamic World: Working Together for Constructive Policies and Partnerships”. The Conference—which was attended by a large number of representatives of Western countries and international organizations as well as eminent Western and Muslim statesmen, academics, intellectuals, and scholars—sought to open a new era of political dialogue between Western governments and their Muslim counterparts by focusing on the role of the media in promoting dialogue and helping eliminate the root causes that fuel hatred and bigotry in both the West and the East.
We have engaged the European intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and others, and opened with them lines of communications, particularly in the fields of mutual interests. Similar contacts were established with the officials of some European States like the United Kingdom, Russian Federation, Austria, Holland, Denmark etc. with a view to entering into dialogue focusing on issues concerning the Muslim causes.
Moreover, we initiated contacts with “the councils of Muslim Ambassadors” in several world capitals to establish an interactive relationship with them, particularly in international decision-making centers, such as the United Nations in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Paris, Moscow, and elsewhere, to ensure an adequate defense and closer follow-up of the causes of the Muslim Ummah.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Despite the fact that only a short period of time has elapsed since the adoption of the Ten-Year Programme of Action, we, at the General Secretariat have managed to achieve a marked progress in the area of implementation of the programme. We have developed a Roadmap to facilitate the implementation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action, and implemented a good deal of issues reserved to the General Secretariat. For example, the Programme requested the General Secretariat to set up an Executive body, composed of the Troikas of both the ICFM and the Summit. This was done, and the new “Executive Committee” met twice.
The General Secretariat was called upon to review the status of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in a bid to establish a mechanism of coordination in the field of religious rulings (Fatwa). A new Statute was drafted. An open-ended working group met on 11 June 2006 and finalized the draft of the new Statute of the new International Islamic Fiqh Academy which will be submitted to our meeting for approval.
Regarding the revision of the Charter, an Advisory High Level Panel has already met in Istanbul to consider the revision of the Charter. The Panel mainly discussed the “new visions” which should guide the drafting, reviewed the present Charter, and introduced some preliminary amendments. A second meeting will be held later this year.
In the same manner, a similar meeting of a Committee comprising members of the Permanent Council of the Islamic Solidarity Fund, experts from various OIC Member States and Philanthropists took place for the preparation of a full fledged study on ways and means to strengthen and develop the role of the Islamic Solidarity Fund.
The Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a special fund within the IDB to help address and alleviate poverty and to provide job opportunities in the OIC Member States. To that end, I attended the 31st meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB which was held in Kuwait on 30-31 May 2006, and approved a decision to that effect. The Board called on member countries to announce financial contributions to the Fund and to extend technical and moral support to its establishment and operations. As a result of these decisions the IDB’s authorized capital was increased to 30 billion Islamic Dinars.
We held a meeting at the General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah with all the OIC Subsidiary Organs, Specialized and Affiliated Institutions, on 5 March 2006, to consider the implementation of the provisions of the Ten-Year Programme of Action, related to each one of them. After identifying the common policies on this issue, the institutions are now carrying out their respective implementations.
We are gratified to see that quite a number of Member States have devoted considerable attention to the implementation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action. Some of them have communicated to the General Secretariat the part of the Programme that has been integrated in their domestic economic or social plans for the purpose of implementation. We feel encouraged by this positive response and wish that other Member States will follow suit.
Pursuant to the decision taken by the last Summit Conference, an important OIC Ministerial Conference on the Problems of Refugees in the Muslim World is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November this year in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While I highly appreciate the offer by the Government of Pakistan to host this event. I would like to take this opportunity to strongly appeal to all Member States to generously contribute towards the budget of this conference.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As for Palestine, we welcomed the result of the Palestinian legislative elections, as an expression of the free will of the Palestinian people. I have called upon the new Government to deal realistically with the requirements of the prevailing international conditions.
Under the prevailing circumstances, disputes erupted between Palestinian factions over the ways of dealing with the crisis, and I have called on all the Palestinian parties to resort only to dialogue in settling Palestinian in-house problems, and undertook repeated contacts with the leadership in the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian new government, at the highest level, to bridge the gap and appease the tension as well as alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people under siege.
We deplored Israel’s continued withholding of the Palestinian tax and custom revenues in addition to the suspension of international aid, a fact which has contributed to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The recent declaration of the Israeli Premier on his intention to impose unilateral solution to the Palestinian question is totally rejected. I would like to reiterate the OIC’s condemnation of the Israeli illegal practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, such as the extrajudicial killing of Palestinians, building settlements, the construction of the apartheid wall and the excavations underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
As for the Iraqi question, we always condemn merciless killings and kidnappings as we rejected sectarian attacks and practices of violence and vandalism. We were pleased at the formation of the new Government. Such progress gives us cause for optimism that the security crisis is finding its way to resolution. That is why, the General Secretariat is preparing to set up an OIC Contact Group on Iraq, and look into the possibility of opening an OIC Office in Baghdad, in addition to organizing a personal visit to Iraq.
Regarding the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the OIC has already condemned—through its successive resolutions—the persistent occupation by Armenia of the Azerbaijani territories. We also called on Armenia to comply with the many resolutions of the United Nations Security Council on this illegitimate occupation. We denounced the elections conducted by the Armenian authorities in the Azerbaijani territories last June and the continued settlement of Armenians in these territories. We have made an appeal for assistance to Azerbaijani displaced persons and intend to send an OIC delegation to visit them. I would like to urge Member States to generously assist the internally displaced persons and refugees in Azerbaijan.
In Somalia, we have been deeply concerned over the recent escalation of violence in the country, particularly in the capital Mogadishu. I would, therefore, like to strongly appeal to all Somalis, particularly the leaders of different factions, to exercise utmost restraint and a high sense of responsibility.
I had dispatched a high-level OIC fact-finding mission to Baidoa, the provisional capital of the Government. The Mission held meetings with the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament and several Cabinet Ministers. I would urge everyone to support all efforts aiming at ending this fratricidal conflict to cope with the serious recent development in Somalia. I have recently dispatched another mission to Somalia to undertake political contact with the transitional government and with the Islamic Court Movement with a view to defining a practical role for the OIC in managing this crisis.
After multiple contacts with the Prime Minister and Ministers as well as with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Hassan, the Leader of the Islamic Courts, the mission came to the conclusion that all concerned parties in the Somali conflict welcome the efforts of the OIC, and invite it to play a larger role in the much needed reconciliation efforts, and to complement the efforts already done by other regional organizations.
The mission sensed that the recent development in Somalia is conducive to lead the way to real settlement to that conflict.
For this to happen, an urgent financial and political support to the present government is needed as well as a greater effort to disarming and dismantling the local militia. In a bid to try to reach that end, we in the General Secretariat will persevere in our effort to arrive at such a result.
As for the issue of Kashmir, we have continued our support to the Kashmiri people and their just cause in conformity with the U.N. Security Council resolution. The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir continues to convene its meetings alongside the OIC conferences, in order to keep the OIC focus on this dispute. We have also welcomed the defusing of tension in relations between Pakistan and India.
In the Sudan, we have pursued our efforts and good offices in order to end the crisis in Darfour region and combined this policy with supporting the efforts being made by the African Union (AU). A peaceful resolution to this dispute has now been achieved in Abuja and we hope that the parties concerned will follow the example of the Government in putting an end to this fraternal feud.
On Cyprus, the General Secretariat has been working, on developing a Plan of Action to help the Muslim Turkish Cypriot People overcome the difficulties they are suffering from, through initiatives designed to break their isolation. A high level delegation from the General Secretariat recently visited the island. In my report on the Cypriot issue, I appealed for the need of adopting several measures to alleviate the suffering and put an end to the isolation imposed on the Muslim Turkish Cypriots in all economic, cultural, and social fields. We also welcomed the new Turkish initiative announced on 24 April 2006 on ending this isolation.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As recommended by the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit, with regard to the Muslim minorities, we have stepped up our efforts dealing with this important issue. We continued to champion the cause of Muslim minorities, and to defend their civil, cultural and political rights.
In Southern Thailand, and despite the OIC fact-finding mission which visited Thailand in June 2005, followed by exchanging letters between us and the Government of Thailand, the situation in that part of the country is a matter of serious concern. The root causes of the present unrest should be addressed in a way which takes into consideration the cultural, religious and the linguistic particularities of its population.
With regard to the Philippines, ten years have elapsed since the final peace agreement was signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996. Regrettably, this peace agreement did not bring real peace. Disagreement on the interpretations of some provisions of the agreement led to the resumption of hostilities.
The OIC being a full-fledge party to the peace process was forced to act to contain the conflict, and save the peace process.
Despite that, we are now pleased for the working relationship we have developed with the Philippines regarding the conflict in the southern part of the country.
I opened lines of communications with the Government of the Philippines, and agreed to send an OIC fact-finding mission to evaluate the situation. I have contacted the President of the Philippines Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and appealed to her to consider the fragile health of Mr. Nur Misuari, and the necessity to treat him humanely. The President kindly responded positively and released Mr. Misuari from detention, and after a short stay in a hospital he was transferred to live in a house in the outskirts of Manila under official surveillance.
In this context, an OIC mission was recently dispatched to the Philippines from 17 to 24 May 2006 and managed to talk to the two parties concerned. Out of respect and consideration to this mission, an agreement on a limited suspension of military operation was reached between the two parties. The Government of the Philippines acceded to the mission’s demand to extend the suspension of hostilities indefinitely.
The mission was received by the President in presence of her close advisers, and a joint communiqué was issued to the effect of holding a tripartite meeting in Jeddah, later this year, comprising the Government of the Philippines, the OIC, and the Moro National Liberation Front. The joint communiqué indicated the necessity of extending the suspension of military action to all the territories of Mindanao. The mission filed a report which I will circulate to you for your consideration.
On the other hand, we have always insisted that the Turkish Muslim Minority in Western Thrace should enjoy its full rights prescribed by international conventions. We would also like to reiterate our appeal to the Government of Greece to respect the rights and the specific identity and culture of the Muslim community there.
The plight of the Muslim minority of Arakan in the Republic of Myanmar is acute and disturbing. We, in this regard, call upon the Government of Myanmar to respect its international obligations under international law and various conventions, and uphold the principle of human rights.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The economic issues,
and enhancing economic and trade relations between Member States were
always highly present in our activities. We firmly believe that developing
economic ties between the countries of the Muslim world is an
indispensable ingredient to sustain Islamic solidarity. In this context,
we were very pleased at the outstanding success of the First Round of
Trade Negotiations among the Member States, which were organized under the
Framework Agreement for the Trade Preferential System among OIC Member
States, and culminated in developing the Protocol on the Preferential
Tariffs Scheme (PRETAS). I believe that its entry into force will
immensely contribute to achieving the target of 20 per cent level of
intra-OIC trade, as stipulated by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of
Action. I also welcome the offer of the Republic of Turkey to host the
Second Round of Trade Negotiations. In this regard, I would like to
express our thanks and appreciation for the tireless efforts exerted by
the Standing Committee for Economic and By the same token, I would like to praise the efforts of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) for the new ideas they introduced for the implementation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action, and for revitalizing its performance to better serve the private sector. We have also supported other Islamic initiatives within the framework of capacity-building projects that have started to yield concrete results. In this connection, I would like to voice my deep sense of appreciation to the Governments of Malaysia and Turkey for demonstrating solidarity with the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), particularly in Africa. I would like to mention the Malaysian initiative of Capacity Building Programme for Poverty Alleviation and the Turkish initiative, namely “African Development Strategy”. These programmes aim at contributing to the socio-economic development in Africa and reducing poverty in LDCs. On the other hand, the issue of developing the economic and social situation in the African countries is still one of our top priorities. We were keen to undertake concrete initiatives on this subject at several levels, including innovative economic initiatives jointly executed between raw-material producers in Africa, investors, and technical-assistance providers. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the social level, contacts are being made with “ISESCO” as well as “UNICEF”, with a view to implementing the Rabat Declaration on the Rights of the Child in the Muslim World.
Efforts that we have been exerting in collaboration with the Member States concerned and the World Health Organization have succeeded in notably reducing the incidence of poliomyelitis and containing this scourge in four Member States. In this regard, I am pleased to pay tribute to the Muslim countries that have made generous donations in favor of the programme designed under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. I would also like to praise the funding of the Islamic Development Bank for this purpose. I appeal to the Member States to hasten to make their generous donations for this noble cause so as to help completely eradicate polio by the end of next year.
We are also grateful to the Turkish Government for its kind initiative to host the First Islamic Conference on the Status of Women in the Muslim World, which was called for by the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit.
As for cultural affairs, I must take this opportunity to renew my appreciation for the commendable effort undertaken by ISESCO in its vast and diverse fields of activities. I would also like to highly commend the efforts deployed by the Research Center for Islamic History, Art, and Culture (IRCICA) in documenting landmarks of Islamic heritage in Palestine and compiling a database on Islamic architectural sites by using the satellite Global Positioning System, in addition to studying the cultural implications of globalization.
Our efforts to secure financial support in favour of the Islamic Universities in Niger and Uganda have been successful. We have been able to obtain a Waqf endowment whose returns have been earmarked for the Islamic University of Niger by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Governing Council of Sharja, State of the United Arab Emirates. I would like, at this happy occasion, to express OIC’s sincere thanks and appreciation to this generous donation. In addition, the situation of the Islamic University of Uganda has been largely improved.
As far as the issue of Science and Technology is concerned, the OIC has now a clear mandate defined by the Ten-Year Programme of Action, with reasonable goals to be achieved by the Member States. High objectives to enhance the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) were also set, which would change the trend of Member States from being mere recipients of technology to innovators and original contributors to scientific knowledge. In this domain, the General Secretariat is working in close collaboration with COMSTECH and other relevant organs like IDB and ISESCO.
On the financial and administrative matters, major reforms were carried out for the first time. We have elaborated a new scale of Member States’ mandatory contributions to the annual budget of the General Secretariat after a long stalemate. It was based on multiple factors such as gross national income, as well as a host of economic, social, and developmental considerations. The new scale was also guided by the UN scale system. We also managed to ensure rational estimation in the budget preparation on the basis of actual expenditures needed to implement the annual plan of the Organization’s activities. We introduced new methods of management and accountancy, as well as new computerized accounting system which boosted efficiency, transparency and increased the sense of responsibilities.
Many measures were applied to reduce expenditures. In health care and medical services, for example, the expenditure were reduced, while improving the services rendered. We also introduced a new computerized fixed assets inventory system, a computerized payroll programming system and a new attendance monitoring system to control abidance to office working hours. Security measures improved drastically and a library is being installed. The marked improvement in the performance of the General Secretariat prompted many countries to pay their dues. The number of the Member States that regularly paid their mandatory contribution raised from 21 to 25, while the members that have never paid their contribution fell from 21 to 12. The number of the regular and irregular payers increased from 35 to 44.
The new tasks entrusted to the General Secretariat, and the implementation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action, naturally necessitated new expenditures. We did our best to reduce and limit these expenditures to the maximum possible, and asked for a nominal increase in the budget in the order of 10%. The Permanent Finance Committee at its Thirty-fourth Session held recently at the Headquarters of the OIC in Jeddah approved this increase. This will help us to embark on the implementation of the new task entrusted to us.
These highlights give but a glimpse of the efforts being made at the level of the General Secretariat. Detailed information can be found in the documents circulated to you. We hope to receive your feedback and comment, because it is only through such an interaction that we can ensure better performance.
Last but not least, I am duty bound to express my deep appreciation for the marks of care and support which we, in the General Secretariat, receive from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz. Latest magnanimous gesture has been the generous donation of a vast land in the city of Jeddah to build a new headquarter for the OIC General Secretariat. Designs have already been made for the new headquarter, and two of them were chosen. We hope that building work will also start soon.
I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Malaysia, the current Chairman of the Islamic Summit, for its continued support and valuable assistance to the OIC General Secretariat and to the Islamic causes. Its care and generosity are exemplary and worth of all praise and appreciation. By the same token, I would like to say how indebted and thankful we are for the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait for their valuable voluntary contributions to the OIC.
In conclusion, and as we are living in this defining moment of the history of our Ummah, I would like once more, to reiterate my appeal for a real and dedicated effort to implement the Ten-Year Programme of Action.
This Programme is unique in the annals of the OIC. It is a rare occasion and major turning point in the domain of Joint Islamic Action that cannot be repeated in the foreseeable future, and should not be missed. This fact makes it all the more important to seize this exceptional chance to rejuvenate the energies of our Ummah, and to summon all our potentials to pave the way for an historic revival and renaissance, from which every State will be a winner. I pray Allah Almighty to crown our proceedings and actions with his guidance, and infinite grace and mercy.
Thank you for your attention.
Wassalam Alaykum wa-Rahmatullahi wa-Barakatuh.
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