Statement By The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) H.E. Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu At the Closing Session Of The Third Conference of OIC Humanitarian Organizations

Date: 10/03/2010

7-8 March 2010 Doha - State of Qatar Mr. Chairman, Honorable Heads of Humanitarian Organizations, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatu Allaahi wa Barakatuhu, I am very pleased to catch up with this meeting and be with you at the closing session of the Third Conference of Humanitarian Organizations in the OIC Member States. At the outset of my address, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the State of Qatar under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, may Allah preserve him, for the unstinting support he has always demonstrated for humanitarian action in the Muslim world. My sincere thanks go also to the Qatar Charity Society for hosting this Conference. I am indeed delighted that the Third Conference of Humanitarian Organizations in the OIC Member States stands out both in terms of form and content. The event has attracted more than seventy organizations and the conferencees have managed to achieve a palpable outcome with respect to the code of conduct and the mandate of the Office of Humanitarian Organizations. The Conference has also discussed in depth the issue of disasters in the Islamic world, working out a set of joint mechanisms under the OIC to address such disasters. These positive results will certainly have a tangible impact on strengthening the relations of cooperation between the OIC and humanitarian organizations in the Member States, which will help us design clear policies for grappling with disasters and development in the Islamic world. To be sure, these results underline the importance of the decision taken by the 3rd Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah following the paramount initiative launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud, which s directed under the framework the Ten-Year Program of Action (TYPOA) for the need to foster relations of cooperation and coordination between the OIC General Secretariat and civil society organizations being regarded as key partners in development. Distinguished Ladies & Gentlemen, Today the Muslim world is facing daunting challenges in the fields of development and reconstruction due to natural disasters and the multiple conflicts unraveling in many of our countries. At present, more than forty of the OIC Member States are plagued by disasters and conflicts, just as climate change exacerbates and its negative impact, manifested notably in floods, droughts, earthquakes, food shortage, outbreaks of epidemic diseases, and environmental degradation, have led to the defragmentation of the social fabric and to the collapse of both basic relief services and development in many of our societies. For this reason, we need to embrace a new approach to address issues of development and humanitarian support, one that should be founded in the coordination of efforts between governments, civil society organizations and the private sector. Lending support to this tripartite approach is an imperative at this critical juncture in order to carry out peace-building and to fast-track the development process in our countries. We are deeply gratified to see the positive results achieved by this Conference. I would like to assure you that we will work together in a bid to implement the recommendations of this Conference whose implementation will positively reflect on the development and reconstruction processes in our Member States. I should point out that our work in this field will be conducted in close coordination and cooperation with all international organizations and institutions operating in the developmental and humanitarian fields, especially UN agencies which undertake important actions across the Islamic world. I would like to congratulate you once again for your excellent deliberations during this Conference and the positive results you have realized. And I wish you every success in your important humanitarian work. Wassalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

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